Light on: 10 crazy uses for your Fitbit

Do you always wear your Fitbit faithfully? Everything for those 10,000 daily steps (although it is doubted whether that really should be the golden rule). You probably know the Fitbit app by heart, just like the menus of the device. But there are still plenty of things you can do with a Fitbit that you probably have no idea about. You have to be a bit ingenious for it, but then you also have something. This way you can make even better use of your Fitbit.

10,000 steps. Have I now earned an Indonesian rice table? #fitbit

— Mark van Loo (@Mistervanloo) October 19, 2019

1. Transfer money

Okay, as far as we know this is not possible with a Dutch bank, but Americans can use If This Then That (IFTTT) to transfer money from their checking account at Capital to their savings account. It would be even easier if it could also be done the other way around, but we don’t know if there is an IFTTT for that. The idea here is not so much that you can transfer money: you can link it to your Fitbit’s performance that day. So you can, for example, set that when you have taken an x ​​number of steps, money will automatically be transferred from your current account to your savings account. Pretty cool, a kind of ‘reward’ out of pocket for your performance.

2. Talk to Alexa

If you have a newer Fitbit Charge or Versa, you can use the Fitbit skill. This is a skill of Amazon Echo speakers that allows you to ask, for example, how many steps you took that day, or how many calories you burned. You can just speak out loud to Alexa and she will tell you exactly what you need to know thanks to the sync with your Fitbit.

3. The wake-up light effect

Do you always find it difficult to get out of bed? If you have a Philips Hue smart lamp in your bedroom, you can use an IFTTT promotion. If Fitbit registers that you work more hours than 8 hours, your smart lamp will turn on. It pulses, so you don’t get used to the light too quickly. Rise and Shine!

4. Automatic spreadsheets with your data

You can of course use the app to see how you are doing so far in terms of sleep, weight or steps, but some people just really like Excellets. You can use IFTTT to have Fitbits automatically send data to a particular Google Spreadsheet. Handy, this way you can always see whether you are still on the right track, and that is slightly more specific and faster than is possible in the Fitbit app.

5. Let your phone be your coach

Would you prefer to take 10,000 steps daily and would you like to hear that from someone else, because otherwise you won’t go? There’s an IFTTT that will make your iPhone notify you to go for a walk. There’s also an option to have your Fitbit data sent to your personal trainer if you don’t meet your daily goal. In short, you can make yourself very uncomfortable with Fitbit (especially in combination with IFTTT), but mainly very comfortable.

Laura Jenny

When she’s not tapping, she’s traveling around the wonderful world of entertainment or some cool place in the real world. Mario is the man of her life,…