Great rowers, disappointing app experience
I’ve been a huge fan of FluidRower for years — the machines are rock solid and a joy to use. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the app. It feels neglected, with a clunky interface and missing features that many rowers now expect, like reliable workout tracking, smooth Health app integration, and meaningful stroke data.
After getting fed up, I started looking around and eventually found Oxun rowing app that works surprisingly well with my FluidRower. It’s a much more modern experience and has completely changed how I track and enjoy my workouts. I wish FluidRower would take a serious look at how far behind their app has fallen — their hardware deserves better.
After getting fed up, I started looking around and eventually found Oxun rowing app that works surprisingly well with my FluidRower. It’s a much more modern experience and has completely changed how I track and enjoy my workouts. I wish FluidRower would take a serious look at how far behind their app has fallen — their hardware deserves better.
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Constantly Crashes
Doesn’t work. Period.
Fluid Rower App
Good rowing machines. The app is utter rubbish. Was told by the salesman that it would link to my fitness apps but it doesn’t. And doesn’t allow the session to be exported. Unfriendly to use and flaky. Update it please!
Garbage
Don’t buy these water hours if you expect to use an app with you Apple Watch or iPhone. They are simply not compatible. The company is unreachable for support.
Rubbish
Simply doesn’t work
Not fit for purpose
Bluetooth doesn’t connect well
Doesn’t connect to my Wahoo or Garmin heart rate monitor
Can’t set distances correctly as unusable accurate sliding bar
No way to record to a third party app
Utter rubbish wish I hadn’t wasted so much money on a rower that has no practice app or able to record my workouts
Doesn’t connect to my Wahoo or Garmin heart rate monitor
Can’t set distances correctly as unusable accurate sliding bar
No way to record to a third party app
Utter rubbish wish I hadn’t wasted so much money on a rower that has no practice app or able to record my workouts
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Not of a merchantable quality
This App or should we call it a “mishap” is shambolic and is neither fit for purpose of a merchantable quality.
To think that this app is meant to partner rowing machines costing in the region of £1500 to £2000+ beggars belief. It is the app and connectivity that is used to sell these expensive machines but it simply does not work.
Here are just some of the design faults
Continually drops Bluetooth - that in itself is bad, but to put it in context, it is pretty soul destroying when the drop in connection occurs when you are 3500 m into a 5000m rowing challenge.
The app doesn’t communicate with any other app, in a way it’s not surprising as I cannot communicate with the rowing machine.
The app freezes repeatedly.
The UI has not been thought out. Adjusting target distances etc is by the use of imprecise slider scales, why can’t you simply input the distance etc required using a key pad.
It is quite obvious that the equipment manufacture and retailers Fitness Superstore have very little regard for their customers, as if they did this app would have been reworked ASAP and in the case of the retailers they would have delisted it. But customers only find out how shockingly bad the app and ultimately the rowing machine is once they have parted with their money.
To think that this app is meant to partner rowing machines costing in the region of £1500 to £2000+ beggars belief. It is the app and connectivity that is used to sell these expensive machines but it simply does not work.
Here are just some of the design faults
Continually drops Bluetooth - that in itself is bad, but to put it in context, it is pretty soul destroying when the drop in connection occurs when you are 3500 m into a 5000m rowing challenge.
The app doesn’t communicate with any other app, in a way it’s not surprising as I cannot communicate with the rowing machine.
The app freezes repeatedly.
The UI has not been thought out. Adjusting target distances etc is by the use of imprecise slider scales, why can’t you simply input the distance etc required using a key pad.
It is quite obvious that the equipment manufacture and retailers Fitness Superstore have very little regard for their customers, as if they did this app would have been reworked ASAP and in the case of the retailers they would have delisted it. But customers only find out how shockingly bad the app and ultimately the rowing machine is once they have parted with their money.
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Great rowing machine/terrible app
Considering how well the FluidRower is built and designed, this app does it a big disservice. It stops functioning mid workout and I must remove it and reinstall. This does not reflect well on First Degree Fitness. Considering the expense of the rower, the app should be without major flaws. Please improve this app.
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Who cares?
Certainly not the people who make the rowing machines! Expensive (and good) machine/bad joke of an app and zero functionality if a user should want to integrate the data with i.e. Apple Health.
Enjoy the machine, forgo any modern expectations of data use. Should have negative star rating. Better buy a different make of machine.
Enjoy the machine, forgo any modern expectations of data use. Should have negative star rating. Better buy a different make of machine.
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Great rower, terrible app
I love my rower but this app is terrible. There are a lot of problems with this app but my biggest gripe is that it doesn’t pair to Apple health or strava- having Bluetooth on the rower seems sort of pointless if this is all you do with it.
More or less useless
That’s it. There is no more to be said.
App = Fail
FDF’s water towers are, arguably, the best available. Too bad the Console and this app are basically useless - cumbersome to connect, don’t report HR, don’t share data with eg Strava (or anyone else).
I love my FDF/Life Fitness rower. I HATE this useless app.
I love my FDF/Life Fitness rower. I HATE this useless app.
Useless
Impossible to set distance. No way to clear workout once started. Can’t see results. The list goes on and on. Complete useless.
Pretty poor app to go with an expensive machine
Looks like a kid did it back in the early days of app development. Very basic.
Difficult to set distance.
The first screen and the screen screen are not significantly different.
I have never been able to get the pacer screen to work.
Cannot delete “test” rows.
Please invest into it so it matches the quality of your rower. Love the rower.
Difficult to set distance.
The first screen and the screen screen are not significantly different.
I have never been able to get the pacer screen to work.
Cannot delete “test” rows.
Please invest into it so it matches the quality of your rower. Love the rower.
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Hopefully this app is being rewritten from scratch?
As others have said it’s hard to see what this app actually does...
About the only useful feature is that it records a history of sessions but even that is botched; I’ve had duplicates logged and there doesn’t appear to be an option to pause a workout so stats are very close to useless.
Four out of five times it doesn’t even display the avg/500m pace (the instant 500m pace is displayed so this isn’t a hardware issue).
What’s needed is Apple GymKit integration so data can be recorded somewhere useful.
Thankfully FDF rowing machines are better quality than this app but you should certainly not buy one on the expectation that you’ll enjoy a useful companion app.
About the only useful feature is that it records a history of sessions but even that is botched; I’ve had duplicates logged and there doesn’t appear to be an option to pause a workout so stats are very close to useless.
Four out of five times it doesn’t even display the avg/500m pace (the instant 500m pace is displayed so this isn’t a hardware issue).
What’s needed is Apple GymKit integration so data can be recorded somewhere useful.
Thankfully FDF rowing machines are better quality than this app but you should certainly not buy one on the expectation that you’ll enjoy a useful companion app.
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It’s so bad
Truly awful app. Useless features. Impossible connectivity. And stupid bugs on top. I can’t believe anyone can market an app this unsuited to the basic requirement. I love my FDF rower but this app doesn’t.
Good machine shame about the app
This looks like a hobby app, not professional development at all.
Basic errors in design make it hard to use, and it delivers virtually no useful info.
1 star feels generous.
Basic errors in design make it hard to use, and it delivers virtually no useful info.
1 star feels generous.
Highly required to be connected with Apple Health Kit
It’s basic working with health kit if the app supports fitness equipment.
What’s this even do?
I can just see the information that’s on the rowing machine monitor on my phone? And that’s it? Doesn’t record the information and doesn’t interact with any other fitness apps? Not really sure what the point is, such a shame putting Bluetooth into the machine if this is all I can do with it? Are there any other apps you can connect to the rower via Bluetooth?
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Bluetooth Doesn’t Work with Kinomap
I believe that First Degree Fitness makes the best water rowers because of their patented variable resistance offering greater choice in using it, kind of like choosing a bicycle with gears versus no gears. I really like my horizontal Viking Pro V rower, however... it’s attached BLT monitor and current Fluidrower app leave much to be desired.
As of May 1, 2020 they are bringing out a new BLT monitor and I hope they will continue their legacy of giving customers greater choice and control. Below are items that I think, at a minimum, need to be improved as well as suggestions to improve the product offering.
1. You connect Bluetooth inside the fluidrower app, however, the app will not connect to kinomap for online rowing interaction.
2. Your rowing sessions are recorded into the fluidrower app but lack user control:
(a) you have no ability to delete “false starts”
(b) you cannot edit to make notes
(c) data stored is minimal (total time, total distance, avg. spm, avg. split) ... you don’t get calories burned or resistance level.
3. It is difficult to slide the tiny bar for how much distance you want to row - would be MUCH easier to use a “rolling cylinder” like when you enter dates.
4. Would be nice to integrate a semi-transparent music player button so you could easily press to forward Spotify WiFi music — would be impossible during a rowing session to stop to remove the smartphone and exit end training session to pick a new Spotify playlist or song.
5. You do not have the ability to choose popular benchmark rowing plans distances for 500, 2K, 5K and 10K
6. You do not have the ability to create and program your own High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) programs.
7. On the rower - provide greater customer adjustability with the ability to separately adjust straps up or down by 1/2” because not everyone has perfectly equal heel to ball length of foot.
8. On the rower - provide greater customer choice with a slightly wider, thicker, smoother heel cup to allow rowers to row in socks should they choose (often sneaker shoes have thick heel cushion versus forefoot). As it is now the plastic edges are sharp
9. On the rower - offer greater customer choice with a beautiful finished wood rowing handle with finger grooves (think sports car steering wheel).
10. On the rower - offer greater customer choice with a top quality breathable leather seat that has integrated gel pads under the sit bones (think bicycle seats).
Thanks much - Ann Marie Brown from Claremont, CA
As of May 1, 2020 they are bringing out a new BLT monitor and I hope they will continue their legacy of giving customers greater choice and control. Below are items that I think, at a minimum, need to be improved as well as suggestions to improve the product offering.
1. You connect Bluetooth inside the fluidrower app, however, the app will not connect to kinomap for online rowing interaction.
2. Your rowing sessions are recorded into the fluidrower app but lack user control:
(a) you have no ability to delete “false starts”
(b) you cannot edit to make notes
(c) data stored is minimal (total time, total distance, avg. spm, avg. split) ... you don’t get calories burned or resistance level.
3. It is difficult to slide the tiny bar for how much distance you want to row - would be MUCH easier to use a “rolling cylinder” like when you enter dates.
4. Would be nice to integrate a semi-transparent music player button so you could easily press to forward Spotify WiFi music — would be impossible during a rowing session to stop to remove the smartphone and exit end training session to pick a new Spotify playlist or song.
5. You do not have the ability to choose popular benchmark rowing plans distances for 500, 2K, 5K and 10K
6. You do not have the ability to create and program your own High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) programs.
7. On the rower - provide greater customer adjustability with the ability to separately adjust straps up or down by 1/2” because not everyone has perfectly equal heel to ball length of foot.
8. On the rower - provide greater customer choice with a slightly wider, thicker, smoother heel cup to allow rowers to row in socks should they choose (often sneaker shoes have thick heel cushion versus forefoot). As it is now the plastic edges are sharp
9. On the rower - offer greater customer choice with a beautiful finished wood rowing handle with finger grooves (think sports car steering wheel).
10. On the rower - offer greater customer choice with a top quality breathable leather seat that has integrated gel pads under the sit bones (think bicycle seats).
Thanks much - Ann Marie Brown from Claremont, CA
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