Then, at which point does the device and app stop being something we want to use entirely?<\/p>\n
Stressed and excited<\/p>\n
Or maybe not<\/p>\n
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I began to notice the Fitbit app sending its Body Response notifications almost immediately after I started wearing the Pixel Watch 4<\/a>.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what the notifications say:<\/p>\n Your device identified potential signs of stress or excitement starting at [a time]. Reflect on your mood to better understand what may have caused a response.<\/p>\n Under the alert is the option to log your mood, start a breathing exercise, pause the notifications, or learn more.<\/p>\n If you decide to log your mood, it opens the Fitbit app on your watch and presents you with eight mood options, such as happy, sad, worried, or frustrated.<\/p>\n How does it know if you\u2019re stressed or excited?<\/p>\n According to the Body Response guide in the Fitbit app, the feature uses heart rate, skin temperature, and micro-sweat levels, and also states that things like caffeine, alcohol, and illness can affect its results.<\/p>\n Obsessed with stress<\/p>\n Even if I\u2019m not stressed<\/p>\n Whatever the Pixel Watch 4 and Fitbit are measuring, the results are all over the place, at least during the week I\u2019ve been wearing the smartwatch, and more often than not, the alerts did not match with my mood at all.<\/p>\n The first few times it told me that my body was either stressed or excited, I was working at my desk. I wasn\u2019t stressed or excited, and the only option in the mood logging list that fitted was \u201cCalm.\u201d So far, not very insightful.<\/p>\n The odd timing continued with more alerts, but I stayed with it until times got more difficult.<\/p>\n What about times when I was stressed? On an afternoon where I dealt with a range of frustrating phone calls as I tried to fix a problem on a time limit, the Pixel Watch 4 and Fitbit stayed entirely silent.<\/p>\n If someone had asked me how I felt after the fourth phone call that got me nowhere, I would have said stressed and frustrated. What a shame the Fitbit app didn\u2019t ask.<\/p>\n The final straw<\/p>\n I can\u2019t even be lazy in peace<\/p>\n The alerts were quite annoying, but I persevered. I can\u2019t review the Pixel Watch 4 without using its features.<\/p>\n Then, on Sunday night, the Pixel Watch and Fitbit app became quite concerned about my stress and excitement levels.<\/p>\n Over the course of Sunday evening, I got at least four alerts from Fitbit\u2019s Body Response feature telling me I was stressed or excited.<\/p>\n Each alert came while I was relaxing on the couch, and I was neither stressed nor excited, ill, or drunk. Instead, I was being supremely lazy.<\/p>\n I was being lazy because for the last day-and-a-half I\u2019d been moving furniture, rectifying problems, and organizing things for an upcoming trip.<\/p>\n My body was under stress during a lot of this, so how many alerts do you think Body Response showed me over those 36 hours? None.<\/p>\n My Oura Ring 4<\/a> also tracks stress, and taking a look at its data showed one period of stress on Sunday, at a completely different time than when the Fitbit app recorded one.<\/p>\n When Body Response sent an alert, the Oura Ring showed a period of relaxation.<\/p>\n These are not medical devices, but the disparity shows measuring stress with a wearable may be a dark art neither has mastered.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t helpful<\/p>\n The data doesn\u2019t inspire<\/p>\n If Body Response had sent alerts when I was stressed or excited, there\u2019s a chance I would have forgiven its bizarre series of alerts when I was doing absolutely nothing.<\/p>\n Even then, would I have welcomed its interruptions? Probably not.<\/p>\n An alert from an app that thinks I\u2019m stressed when I\u2019m actually stressed sounds like something I wouldn\u2019t want to see either. But I\u2019d possibly be prepared to forgive its intrusions if the data were valuable.<\/p>\n In the Fitbit app, you can see a log of Body Response alerts (six on Sunday, for example), along with any mood you added.<\/p>\n Interestingly, the app says that when you log your mood, it only helps build personal awareness and doesn\u2019t state if it will help influence future results.<\/p>\n Stress Management, a related feature, breaks down physical signs of stress into three categories and adds a daily score.<\/p>\n Again, this appears to be about creating awareness, where you can see if a low score (which equals bad) matches with patterns in activity or sleep.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/fitbit-body-response-app.JPG\")
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