Byron Lahey and Issac Wallis talk about their process of hacking Treadmills @ echo::system, ActionStation#2-The Desert residency at the Art, Media and Engineering Department/Arizona State University. Direction: Grisha Coleman Robotics/Treadmills: Byron Lahey, David Tinapple Treadmill Sensing/Sonification: Harvey Thornburg, Alex Fink Software/Data Analysis: Stjepan Rajko, Todd Ingalls Music/Sound: Guillermo Brown, Issac Wallis Video/Video Processing: Carole Kim Architecture/Design: John Oduroe Movement/Dance: Sherwood Chen, Mic Croitrou, Elisa Radcliffe, Grisha Coleman, Marianne Kim Cultural Research/Narrative: Christopher Martinez Documentation/Reflection: Marlon Barrios Solano, Ryan Spicer.
![Nordictrack Ifit Hack Nordictrack Ifit Hack](/uploads/1/2/3/9/123927654/157171300.jpg)
Freddy Jones, May 19 07:26 AM: James, I fully understand that this is your issue, and what i'm trying to do is ensure that there is nothing further that we can do. As of right now, we are approaching a fix with the Nuvoton Console issue, and appreciate your patience with us.
I ensure contact between the Software Development Department and I remains eminent as we approach the fix. If you wish to cease troubleshooting, we may do so until I get further word on a fix. I apologize once again for this issue, and would be more than happy to reimburse you via a free workout from the Fitness Shop, or by adding the downtime to your iFit Account. Freddy Jones iFit Customer Care 1-866-608-1798 They must have the worst software developers on the planet. It has been 6 months now. I could have rewritten the code from scratch in a week.
Furthermore, NordicTrack should not be selling products that are known to not work! Still not fixed as of July 23, 2014. September 18, 2014 Still not fixed on Christmas Eve. Jamesrome, Dec 23 02:30 PM: It is over a YEAR now, and my iFit workouts are still not recorded to your site. There is no excuse for this! The fix was 'in testing' 6 months ago.
Freddy Jones, Dec 24 07:11 AM: I understand this, but I am doing all I can do for you at this point. I am in direct communication with our Software Development Department, and I assure you that if I had anymore information than this, it would be given to you. I sincerely apologize for the longevity of the issue, and I am certainly just as frustrated as you are.
I can offer as much downtime as you need at this point, to try to compensate for the waiting you've had to do. Freddy Jones iFit Customer Care 1-866-608-1798 It seems fixed!!!! Freddy contacted me to say that there were updates for my treadmill.
I applied them and tried it today, and finally, the iFit site registers my workout. At first I thought it was wrong, since it said I had climbed 21,000 feet today (and I would be dead for sure.) but it added all my previous workouts to today. When I listed them individually, they were correct.
Update September 24, 2015 I spent the summer swimming 1250 yards a day. But the pool closed, so I went back to use my treadmill and iFit again. I checked for firmware updates—there were none. I started my workout, and the doorbell rang. I hit the Stop button to go answer the door. When I returned, the iFit workout continued from the spot I had left it!
This is a great advance in their software, and the subject of most of their support requests (I believe). But there is still a big issue about altitude and how it is defined. As you can see, I have died after climbing 1695 feet in 50 minutes at a speed of about 2.5 mph. IFit must come clean about how they calculate the altitude. Several issues exist:. The route slope may (and usually does) exceed the range of your machine. You can tell this is happening when the machine is at maximum or minimum slope, and there is a beep, and nothing happens.
So what slope does iFit use—the machine slope or the program slope?. The treadmill altitude reading is of course useless because it gives the net altitude gain (subject to the above uncerttainty issue). It would be easy for NordicTrak to change the firmware to only count uphill gains. Is iFit correctly recording the altitude from the treadmill?
They keep assigning new people to the ticket. They want me to power it off and on. Thank you for contacting ifit support. Your console is what is called the nuvaton console. This type of console right now is temporarily having issues with contacting the ifit server. I do apologize for this error that is on our side but your console is working correctly it is on our side that the error is occurring.
I tell you this to ensure you that we are aware of the issue and that it is getting worked on currently to get it resolved. I want you to know that when you console does start working correctly I will credit your account so that you do not miss out on any downtime that you have experienced. This is a temporary error and we will have it resolved in a timely manner, thank you for understanding. Kyle AndersoniFit Customer Care1-866-608-1798. My 9500 is only three years old. It has NEVER worked properly. No one at ICON has a clue as to what is wrong with the software in this piece of junk.
I just want it to come on and let me run, no bells and whistles, no internet, no I-fit just RUN. They send me a Sim card looking thing ( charged $75.00 ), I follow all instructions, does not work and now I have a BLACK screen, probably finished it off. Now the answer is buy a new console.WHAT! $2300.00 are you people crazy!
OR.Buy a 1630 we have on sale for $999.00. IT'S ON SALE EVERYWHERE no deal here!With all the complaints I have seen I have to wonder why a 'inherent defect' law suit has not been filed. This is a scam, they have to know how to really fix it they just won't.
This is THE last product I will ever buy from Nordic Track and I WILL tell all the people I know( a lot) to not buy as well.Even if the company had to replace all the tablets it would be better than all this negative P.R. I am shopping for a treadmill with iFit compatibility and researching how effective this is. This review really helped me to make an informed decision and many many thanks to Jarome's detailed documentation and experience. Although i wonder, some of the problems mentioned here are specific to the type of machines that do not have touch screen consoles and had to connect an external device like a tablet to get the workout data transferred between ifit and machine and resulting in these issues. Anyone here knows if the built in ifit machines with tocuh screen consoles also having the same issues? I had the x9i for about one year.
The console and other components were replaced with no help. Every time I activate wifi, within 10 minutes of any routine, the console keys will all lock and the treadmill will lock in whatever particular speed and incline it had that second. The only solution is to push the stop or pull the safety key.
It works fine when not using wifi. No wifi means no Ifit. I demanded a refund, they refused and I sued in small claims. Then they settled. I really love this treadmill except this major deficiency. NordicTrack and iFit—Good idea, awful execution is 100% correct. When I use the treadmill only some of the data are logged if I do more than one exercise per day and it takes forever before the data are logged on my PC.
Log all the data 2-3 times - so if I do a walk/run on 15 km. And send the data to my PC it tells me Ive did 45 km.
So after few mounts all data I have logged are useless. Are OK but ICON Europa are total idi. I have now for 2 weeks tried to get my module repaired or replaced - first now they will have a look at it.
But even if I get a working module back all my logged data are completly useless - So when my supscriptions runs out I wont renew it. I bought a new elliptical ($1,000) from NordicTrack thinking they had a good name. I did not realize iFit was part of the price, and after the first year I needed to pony up $100/year to keep it.
Clearly HALF of the program functionality won't work unless you have iFit, so if you don't use it, your elliptical is basically worth much less than $1000. I actually had to buy a Wi-Fi Signal Booster to get it to work, and place the signal booster 5 feet from the machine.
Now that I FINALLY have iFit, I cannot figure out HOW or WHY to use it. Your post has given me a lot of insight into the fact that it is just a poorly designed product and I am not so stupid after all. I will never buy Nordic Track again. By the way, I have been using ellipticals at home and at the gym for over 20 years, so I know my way around that machine and the one I got is just worthless. My Norditrack T15.0 treadmill suddenly stopped when i was running at 14mph!!
This company has the best idea as far as the treadmill and the ifit module goes but their software is riddled with bugs that im seriously considering returning my equipment which is less than 30 days old. The ifit module is pretty much useless.i use Bitgym on my ipad which is very reliable unlike the ifit module. Spent DAYS trying to link up the ifit module and everytime i used it, as soon as i increased the speed, it freezes up.Dont know if its allergic to fast runners or something. PLEASE clean up your softwares Norditrack!
I was about to pull the trigger on a Nordic Track Commercial 2950 yesterday but am glad I spent some time investigating reviews of the machine and the company. Thanks to this site and others, I will be staying clear from Nordic Track as the reviews have been overwhelmingly horrible.
I even considered making the purchasing and keeping my fingers crossed that I would be the 'lucky' one without any problems. But it sure appears those chances are remote. As such, I'm staying clear from Nordic Track! Hi,Yesterday I almost buy a Nordictrack 1750 just because I was very interested in the Ifit technology. Every reviews that I read about nordictrack were so good that make me believe that it was the treadmill for me.
![Nordictrack Ifit Hack Nordictrack Ifit Hack](/uploads/1/2/3/9/123927654/797530816.jpg)
This is my first one, and here in Montreal (Canada) they seems to push alot Nordictrack. Because theh language issue and all the problems that people seems to have with IFit, I will stay away from that brand. My other choise would be Sole F-80 or F-85. Many thanks to everybody for this precious review ( Sorry for the mistakes I did in writing). I was just going to buy NordicTrack commercial 17.5, but (since for me this is a major investment) for exactly the same reasons you mentioned: 'A long track (I am big) Good shock absorption (bad knees) A fan (to keep me cool) And especially iFit' (my reason for this is for history tracking) I was not comfortable to press the 'Buy' button before doing some research & Thank God that I did!
This detailed review (and comments) opened my eyes that I was just going to pay a lot of money for a lot of problems. I understand that NordicTrack treadmills and software look good only 'pre-buying' - looks like I was in for a nightmare Many thanks for saving me!
I've just bought a second hand iFit module and tried to set it up for my treadmill. One reason I bought it was this iFit technology, but the module was an extra cost.
It's $200 to buy, with one year included. When I bought the treadmill, they didn't seem to have anything set up for Australians to renew after the first year, and I didn't go ahead and buy one.
Now I've gotten myself one, it's taken hours and hours to set it up as it refused to connect to my network. It finally connected to the wrong one, as where it will be located is closer to a different access point, but I couldn't set it up near there. Anyway, I've finally got it started.
It looks like it will be pretty good, but I decided to only buy the single month to try for now. If I choose not to continue, will any of my uploaded workouts continue to work without the iFit membership, or is it only going to work if it can connect and verify? I'm just not really certain that it's worth the cost to me, which is why I didn't want to pay $200 (AUD) straight off and find out I didn't really like it. I stupidly signed up for this, thinking I could walk tracks on my Nordic Track. That's all I wanted - just tracks to walk, virtually.
I don't want the support and all the other junk that this thing provides. For $9.99 a month. Then discovered, when checking it out, that I had to buy a $100 unit to make it work on my treadmill. I immediately put in a request to cancel iFit monthly membership, since I'm not going to buy the unit. NO help on cancellation. They owe me two months worth of charges, yet still keep charging me.
After repeated emails to their support address, doing what they said - call the billing and customer service numbers, only to sit on hold for well over an hour every time, (nobody ever answers!), I am forced to come onto this forum to try to get SOMEBODY, some human, to pay attention to my request. If this doesn't work, next step is Facebook! I don't want to do that, but if iFit support doesn't pay any attention to my repeated requests for help, or answer the danged phone!, I WILL go to FB and do what I have to, to make them stop charging me, and give me a refund!!! I have had a proform treadmill for about 4 years now that came with iFit, have never re-subscribed, and it has always worked. I am not even sure what the paid membership gets you. I can log into the iFit page, see my history and create new routes. Recently, I have been curious what the paid membership gets versus what I am currently getting for free and can't figure it out.
Just to add though, the Proform is much cheaper than Nordic and comes with iFit so there are cheaper ways to get it, if that is what folks want. I decided not to buy a treadmill based on whether it had iFit technology. Street view is neat and all but I don't like the click through images it uses. Thank you to the person who suggested the app BitGym.
This is a much better looking view but it does not interact with the treadmill so no automatic elevation changes and the speeds can be a little off. Conclusion: If elevation changes are what you want go with iFit. I suggest the Boston Marathon model that has HD video of the race path or bypass watching the scenery altogether and use NetFlix or TV while treadmill adjust elevation to your desired route. Otherwise, just get what ever treadmill best suits your needs and use a tablet with BitGym installed. I think this may be the best option as you are not investing into static software and can get a new better tablet in the future and chances are the app will keep getting better or new apps may emerge.
We bought the Nordictrack Elite 5700 with built-in iFit & display. We signed up for a year and so far are really liking it. We had Sears install it, no problems there. We had to create Google+ accounts, and it was a bit trying to get the secondary user set up. But we can now create new routes using iPads and MACs and they come up on the treadmill console pretty quickly.
I've enjoyed working through the Programs that come without charge - national parks, major cities, hikes in switzerland - it's mostly Google street views so you don't always get a good view of what's on the side, so some are better than others. But it's all better than looking at the wall, worth the $100/year but not more. Definitely enough free content to keep entertained and exercised for a long time. I don't get the whole 'scheduled workouts' thing - it seems that every program you sign up for adds itself to your schedule without checking to see what other programs are on that day. So I don't use the calendar.
There are some oddities in the app behavior. You can submit a support ticket, they thank you and close it, so who knows if anyone's really planning upgrades with your problems fixed. I like that it tracks my workouts, a great motivator to keep the list growing. I never thought I'd be a treadmill person, but I'm sold on getting glimpses of the world while getting my heart rate up, without leaving home.
I am having the same experience as you are. It's pretty good. Unfortunately, because I'm only 5'3', the angle is pretty bad.
Also, I wish there was better documentation. I would like to know what the little LOCK symbol next to the Map/Street/Satellite view option buttons mean. I'd also like to know if there is a way to set up a dual speed workout within a Google Maps workout where I can easily switch between my faster and slower speeds so I don't have to train my body to have both these speeds at even mph or repeatedly hit the +/- buttons. Also, Google Street View inside Google Maps on a computer lets you look from side to side. It would be really great if the workout included that option by swiping left or right on the screen. I'm thinking about getting a tablet to see if a larger screen and the lower position that it would sit at on the console would solve my 5'3' angle problem or at least make it a lot better.
Just purchased a Nordic Track Exercycle and decided, like you, to add the 144.00 one year iFIT subscription. Be aware, when you try to activate the product you already paid for it REQUIRES you to give the a credit card. This is so they can make it 'easy for you' to auto renew. I don't WANT to give them my card. Sorry.you have to. But I wasn't told this when I purchased the subscription.
Sorry.too bad. I'm getting ready to contact my bank and reverse the charge. Bottom line.they are a SLEAZY company! Hi Jim - This review is great and very helpful to people searching for unbiased information. I was wondering if you would be open to trying BitGym on your treadmill.
As other comments point out, it can be a much more engaging (and cheaper!) way to get interactive cardio tours. I'm one of the creators of BitGym, so this is definitely a plug - but to be honest I get so many emails from people saying they wish they had heard of BitGym before spending money on iFit I feel like some transparent self promotion can also be a service. Anyway, I'd be happy to send you a tablet and subscription so that you could try it yourself. If you have a TV in front of your treadmill I can also help you hook it up to that. Can you contact me at alex@bitgym to discuss? IFit is the worst piece of garbage I've ever used. They're totally incompatible with anything but their own products, their customer service is the worst of any company I've ever used, you can't get ANY customer service with registering their products (I didn't want to register because I thought I'd probably return the damn thing, and they wouldn't offer ANY customer service until I did).
They even force you to call from the number you registered with. If you don't, then their automated system says 'we can't find an account registered with the number you're calling from, please call back after you've registered your account.' NordicTrack gives you a customer service line that does the same thing.
I will never buy another NordicTrack product until they break from iFit. Oh my god this company is the WORST I have ever encountered. I finally got the treadmill working and connected the iFit app using my iPad. After my run (virtually through Paris which gave me a headache and vertigo) I turned off the treadmill and rolled out my yoga mat. I scrolled through the workout library and selected one of the yoga workouts and tried to play it. The app said it couldn't connect to my treadmill and to try again once the equipment was on. I want to do yoga!
So after fiddling, I sighed and went ahead and turned on the treadmill. Ok, so the belt starts rolling at 1mph and the girl on the screen comes on and she's standing on a yoga mat. Ok, no treadmill in sight. She says 'Let's start in Tadasana' and a regular yoga workout commences while the stupid treadmill is rolling along at 1 mph on the other side of the room. I went to LiveChat to learn what I'm doing wrong and that was a huge waste of my time. 'Keri' at LiveChat hung up on me twice and even now, I have been waiting for a Live Chat Agent for almost 45 minutes.
Their employees must be the most demoralized desperate people in any call center anywhere. They don't have any information or answers so when you ask a question they just hang up on you. This treadmill is going back to CostCo (thank GOD for their 100% money back guarantee) and I'm so glad I used my Amex card to pay for iFit because I can tell them to decline all charges. FYI: NordicTrack and Pro-Form treadmills are both owned by ICONservices - AVOID BOTH.
Freddy Jones, May 19 07:26 AM: James, I fully understand that this is your issue, and what i'm trying to do is ensure that there is nothing further that we can do. As of right now, we are approaching a fix with the Nuvoton Console issue, and appreciate your patience with us. I ensure contact between the Software Development Department and I remains eminent as we approach the fix.
If you wish to cease troubleshooting, we may do so until I get further word on a fix. I apologize once again for this issue, and would be more than happy to reimburse you via a free workout from the Fitness Shop, or by adding the downtime to your iFit Account.
Freddy Jones iFit Customer Care 1-866-608-1798 They must have the worst software developers on the planet. It has been 6 months now. I could have rewritten the code from scratch in a week. Furthermore, NordicTrack should not be selling products that are known to not work! Still not fixed as of July 23, 2014.
September 18, 2014 Still not fixed on Christmas Eve. Jamesrome, Dec 23 02:30 PM: It is over a YEAR now, and my iFit workouts are still not recorded to your site. There is no excuse for this! The fix was 'in testing' 6 months ago. Freddy Jones, Dec 24 07:11 AM: I understand this, but I am doing all I can do for you at this point.
I am in direct communication with our Software Development Department, and I assure you that if I had anymore information than this, it would be given to you. I sincerely apologize for the longevity of the issue, and I am certainly just as frustrated as you are. I can offer as much downtime as you need at this point, to try to compensate for the waiting you've had to do. Freddy Jones iFit Customer Care 1-866-608-1798 It seems fixed!!!! Freddy contacted me to say that there were updates for my treadmill.
I applied them and tried it today, and finally, the iFit site registers my workout. At first I thought it was wrong, since it said I had climbed 21,000 feet today (and I would be dead for sure.) but it added all my previous workouts to today. When I listed them individually, they were correct. Update September 24, 2015 I spent the summer swimming 1250 yards a day. But the pool closed, so I went back to use my treadmill and iFit again. I checked for firmware updates—there were none.
I started my workout, and the doorbell rang. I hit the Stop button to go answer the door. When I returned, the iFit workout continued from the spot I had left it! This is a great advance in their software, and the subject of most of their support requests (I believe). But there is still a big issue about altitude and how it is defined.
As you can see, I have died after climbing 1695 feet in 50 minutes at a speed of about 2.5 mph. IFit must come clean about how they calculate the altitude.
Several issues exist:. The route slope may (and usually does) exceed the range of your machine. You can tell this is happening when the machine is at maximum or minimum slope, and there is a beep, and nothing happens. So what slope does iFit use—the machine slope or the program slope?. The treadmill altitude reading is of course useless because it gives the net altitude gain (subject to the above uncerttainty issue). It would be easy for NordicTrak to change the firmware to only count uphill gains.
Is iFit correctly recording the altitude from the treadmill? They keep assigning new people to the ticket. They want me to power it off and on. Thank you for contacting ifit support. Your console is what is called the nuvaton console.
This type of console right now is temporarily having issues with contacting the ifit server. I do apologize for this error that is on our side but your console is working correctly it is on our side that the error is occurring.
I tell you this to ensure you that we are aware of the issue and that it is getting worked on currently to get it resolved. I want you to know that when you console does start working correctly I will credit your account so that you do not miss out on any downtime that you have experienced. This is a temporary error and we will have it resolved in a timely manner, thank you for understanding. Kyle AndersoniFit Customer Care1-866-608-1798. My 9500 is only three years old. It has NEVER worked properly.
No one at ICON has a clue as to what is wrong with the software in this piece of junk. I just want it to come on and let me run, no bells and whistles, no internet, no I-fit just RUN.
They send me a Sim card looking thing ( charged $75.00 ), I follow all instructions, does not work and now I have a BLACK screen, probably finished it off. Now the answer is buy a new console.WHAT!
$2300.00 are you people crazy! OR.Buy a 1630 we have on sale for $999.00. IT'S ON SALE EVERYWHERE no deal here!With all the complaints I have seen I have to wonder why a 'inherent defect' law suit has not been filed. This is a scam, they have to know how to really fix it they just won't. This is THE last product I will ever buy from Nordic Track and I WILL tell all the people I know( a lot) to not buy as well.Even if the company had to replace all the tablets it would be better than all this negative P.R.
I am shopping for a treadmill with iFit compatibility and researching how effective this is. This review really helped me to make an informed decision and many many thanks to Jarome's detailed documentation and experience. Although i wonder, some of the problems mentioned here are specific to the type of machines that do not have touch screen consoles and had to connect an external device like a tablet to get the workout data transferred between ifit and machine and resulting in these issues. Anyone here knows if the built in ifit machines with tocuh screen consoles also having the same issues? I had the x9i for about one year.
The console and other components were replaced with no help. Every time I activate wifi, within 10 minutes of any routine, the console keys will all lock and the treadmill will lock in whatever particular speed and incline it had that second. The only solution is to push the stop or pull the safety key. It works fine when not using wifi. No wifi means no Ifit. I demanded a refund, they refused and I sued in small claims.
Then they settled. I really love this treadmill except this major deficiency. NordicTrack and iFit—Good idea, awful execution is 100% correct. When I use the treadmill only some of the data are logged if I do more than one exercise per day and it takes forever before the data are logged on my PC. Log all the data 2-3 times - so if I do a walk/run on 15 km. And send the data to my PC it tells me Ive did 45 km. So after few mounts all data I have logged are useless.
Are OK but ICON Europa are total idi. I have now for 2 weeks tried to get my module repaired or replaced - first now they will have a look at it.
But even if I get a working module back all my logged data are completly useless - So when my supscriptions runs out I wont renew it. I bought a new elliptical ($1,000) from NordicTrack thinking they had a good name. I did not realize iFit was part of the price, and after the first year I needed to pony up $100/year to keep it. Clearly HALF of the program functionality won't work unless you have iFit, so if you don't use it, your elliptical is basically worth much less than $1000. I actually had to buy a Wi-Fi Signal Booster to get it to work, and place the signal booster 5 feet from the machine. Now that I FINALLY have iFit, I cannot figure out HOW or WHY to use it. Your post has given me a lot of insight into the fact that it is just a poorly designed product and I am not so stupid after all.
I will never buy Nordic Track again. By the way, I have been using ellipticals at home and at the gym for over 20 years, so I know my way around that machine and the one I got is just worthless. My Norditrack T15.0 treadmill suddenly stopped when i was running at 14mph!! This company has the best idea as far as the treadmill and the ifit module goes but their software is riddled with bugs that im seriously considering returning my equipment which is less than 30 days old. The ifit module is pretty much useless.i use Bitgym on my ipad which is very reliable unlike the ifit module. Spent DAYS trying to link up the ifit module and everytime i used it, as soon as i increased the speed, it freezes up.Dont know if its allergic to fast runners or something.
PLEASE clean up your softwares Norditrack! I was about to pull the trigger on a Nordic Track Commercial 2950 yesterday but am glad I spent some time investigating reviews of the machine and the company.
Thanks to this site and others, I will be staying clear from Nordic Track as the reviews have been overwhelmingly horrible. I even considered making the purchasing and keeping my fingers crossed that I would be the 'lucky' one without any problems. But it sure appears those chances are remote. As such, I'm staying clear from Nordic Track! Hi,Yesterday I almost buy a Nordictrack 1750 just because I was very interested in the Ifit technology. Every reviews that I read about nordictrack were so good that make me believe that it was the treadmill for me.
This is my first one, and here in Montreal (Canada) they seems to push alot Nordictrack. Because theh language issue and all the problems that people seems to have with IFit, I will stay away from that brand. My other choise would be Sole F-80 or F-85. Many thanks to everybody for this precious review ( Sorry for the mistakes I did in writing).
I was just going to buy NordicTrack commercial 17.5, but (since for me this is a major investment) for exactly the same reasons you mentioned: 'A long track (I am big) Good shock absorption (bad knees) A fan (to keep me cool) And especially iFit' (my reason for this is for history tracking) I was not comfortable to press the 'Buy' button before doing some research & Thank God that I did! This detailed review (and comments) opened my eyes that I was just going to pay a lot of money for a lot of problems. I understand that NordicTrack treadmills and software look good only 'pre-buying' - looks like I was in for a nightmare Many thanks for saving me! I've just bought a second hand iFit module and tried to set it up for my treadmill. One reason I bought it was this iFit technology, but the module was an extra cost. It's $200 to buy, with one year included.
When I bought the treadmill, they didn't seem to have anything set up for Australians to renew after the first year, and I didn't go ahead and buy one. Now I've gotten myself one, it's taken hours and hours to set it up as it refused to connect to my network. It finally connected to the wrong one, as where it will be located is closer to a different access point, but I couldn't set it up near there. Anyway, I've finally got it started. It looks like it will be pretty good, but I decided to only buy the single month to try for now.
If I choose not to continue, will any of my uploaded workouts continue to work without the iFit membership, or is it only going to work if it can connect and verify? I'm just not really certain that it's worth the cost to me, which is why I didn't want to pay $200 (AUD) straight off and find out I didn't really like it. I stupidly signed up for this, thinking I could walk tracks on my Nordic Track. That's all I wanted - just tracks to walk, virtually.
I don't want the support and all the other junk that this thing provides. For $9.99 a month. Then discovered, when checking it out, that I had to buy a $100 unit to make it work on my treadmill. I immediately put in a request to cancel iFit monthly membership, since I'm not going to buy the unit. NO help on cancellation.
They owe me two months worth of charges, yet still keep charging me. After repeated emails to their support address, doing what they said - call the billing and customer service numbers, only to sit on hold for well over an hour every time, (nobody ever answers!), I am forced to come onto this forum to try to get SOMEBODY, some human, to pay attention to my request. If this doesn't work, next step is Facebook! I don't want to do that, but if iFit support doesn't pay any attention to my repeated requests for help, or answer the danged phone!, I WILL go to FB and do what I have to, to make them stop charging me, and give me a refund!!! I have had a proform treadmill for about 4 years now that came with iFit, have never re-subscribed, and it has always worked. I am not even sure what the paid membership gets you.
I can log into the iFit page, see my history and create new routes. Recently, I have been curious what the paid membership gets versus what I am currently getting for free and can't figure it out. Just to add though, the Proform is much cheaper than Nordic and comes with iFit so there are cheaper ways to get it, if that is what folks want.
I decided not to buy a treadmill based on whether it had iFit technology. Street view is neat and all but I don't like the click through images it uses.
Thank you to the person who suggested the app BitGym. This is a much better looking view but it does not interact with the treadmill so no automatic elevation changes and the speeds can be a little off. Conclusion: If elevation changes are what you want go with iFit. I suggest the Boston Marathon model that has HD video of the race path or bypass watching the scenery altogether and use NetFlix or TV while treadmill adjust elevation to your desired route. Otherwise, just get what ever treadmill best suits your needs and use a tablet with BitGym installed. I think this may be the best option as you are not investing into static software and can get a new better tablet in the future and chances are the app will keep getting better or new apps may emerge. We bought the Nordictrack Elite 5700 with built-in iFit & display.
We signed up for a year and so far are really liking it. We had Sears install it, no problems there.
We had to create Google+ accounts, and it was a bit trying to get the secondary user set up. But we can now create new routes using iPads and MACs and they come up on the treadmill console pretty quickly. I've enjoyed working through the Programs that come without charge - national parks, major cities, hikes in switzerland - it's mostly Google street views so you don't always get a good view of what's on the side, so some are better than others. But it's all better than looking at the wall, worth the $100/year but not more. Definitely enough free content to keep entertained and exercised for a long time.
I don't get the whole 'scheduled workouts' thing - it seems that every program you sign up for adds itself to your schedule without checking to see what other programs are on that day. So I don't use the calendar. There are some oddities in the app behavior. You can submit a support ticket, they thank you and close it, so who knows if anyone's really planning upgrades with your problems fixed. I like that it tracks my workouts, a great motivator to keep the list growing. I never thought I'd be a treadmill person, but I'm sold on getting glimpses of the world while getting my heart rate up, without leaving home. I am having the same experience as you are.
It's pretty good. Unfortunately, because I'm only 5'3', the angle is pretty bad.
Also, I wish there was better documentation. I would like to know what the little LOCK symbol next to the Map/Street/Satellite view option buttons mean. I'd also like to know if there is a way to set up a dual speed workout within a Google Maps workout where I can easily switch between my faster and slower speeds so I don't have to train my body to have both these speeds at even mph or repeatedly hit the +/- buttons. Also, Google Street View inside Google Maps on a computer lets you look from side to side. It would be really great if the workout included that option by swiping left or right on the screen. I'm thinking about getting a tablet to see if a larger screen and the lower position that it would sit at on the console would solve my 5'3' angle problem or at least make it a lot better.
Just purchased a Nordic Track Exercycle and decided, like you, to add the 144.00 one year iFIT subscription. Be aware, when you try to activate the product you already paid for it REQUIRES you to give the a credit card.
This is so they can make it 'easy for you' to auto renew. I don't WANT to give them my card. Sorry.you have to.
But I wasn't told this when I purchased the subscription. Sorry.too bad.
Nordictrack Ifit Module
I'm getting ready to contact my bank and reverse the charge. Bottom line.they are a SLEAZY company! Hi Jim - This review is great and very helpful to people searching for unbiased information. I was wondering if you would be open to trying BitGym on your treadmill. As other comments point out, it can be a much more engaging (and cheaper!) way to get interactive cardio tours. I'm one of the creators of BitGym, so this is definitely a plug - but to be honest I get so many emails from people saying they wish they had heard of BitGym before spending money on iFit I feel like some transparent self promotion can also be a service. Anyway, I'd be happy to send you a tablet and subscription so that you could try it yourself.
If you have a TV in front of your treadmill I can also help you hook it up to that. Can you contact me at alex@bitgym to discuss? IFit is the worst piece of garbage I've ever used. They're totally incompatible with anything but their own products, their customer service is the worst of any company I've ever used, you can't get ANY customer service with registering their products (I didn't want to register because I thought I'd probably return the damn thing, and they wouldn't offer ANY customer service until I did).
They even force you to call from the number you registered with. If you don't, then their automated system says 'we can't find an account registered with the number you're calling from, please call back after you've registered your account.' NordicTrack gives you a customer service line that does the same thing. I will never buy another NordicTrack product until they break from iFit. Oh my god this company is the WORST I have ever encountered. I finally got the treadmill working and connected the iFit app using my iPad.
After my run (virtually through Paris which gave me a headache and vertigo) I turned off the treadmill and rolled out my yoga mat. I scrolled through the workout library and selected one of the yoga workouts and tried to play it. The app said it couldn't connect to my treadmill and to try again once the equipment was on. I want to do yoga! So after fiddling, I sighed and went ahead and turned on the treadmill. Ok, so the belt starts rolling at 1mph and the girl on the screen comes on and she's standing on a yoga mat. Ok, no treadmill in sight.
Hacking Nordictrack Ifit
She says 'Let's start in Tadasana' and a regular yoga workout commences while the stupid treadmill is rolling along at 1 mph on the other side of the room. I went to LiveChat to learn what I'm doing wrong and that was a huge waste of my time. 'Keri' at LiveChat hung up on me twice and even now, I have been waiting for a Live Chat Agent for almost 45 minutes.
Their employees must be the most demoralized desperate people in any call center anywhere. They don't have any information or answers so when you ask a question they just hang up on you. This treadmill is going back to CostCo (thank GOD for their 100% money back guarantee) and I'm so glad I used my Amex card to pay for iFit because I can tell them to decline all charges. FYI: NordicTrack and Pro-Form treadmills are both owned by ICONservices - AVOID BOTH.
I recently purchased a Nordic Track 9500 Elite Pro. This bad boy has a 10' android tablet built in. They really don't want you messing with the android part much, but I am sure there are plenty of other users out there like me that want to do more! This is my first post so I am unable to show the pictures via the link. Hopefully you can copy and past the text to view the images. I will try to repost on my website so it all flows.
I don't see where a post like this would go, I am not sure if at some point it would gain it's own device forum. That would be exciting.
So for now I will post here. I will also post my initial findings for others in the community that may want to purchase this treadmill and can't find any information regarding the built in Android Tablet with WiFi. This image shows the version information. From what I can tell it looks like they purchase an APAD from someone and then stick it inside of their device.
They also must have wrote some special drivers and software to interface with the equipment and hardware. I was very happy to see a mainstream current android OS. Android OS 2.2. I also noticed that the device doesn't have very much memory.
This could be due to the built in applications taking up so much space. It only had about 57MB of internal memory free, but it had a built in 2GB SD Card. I have not gotten to the point where I have needed to take it apart yet to see if there is a replaceable SD card. I may wait another 5 years for my warranty to end to do that. I have tried to install some apps but have not had very much luck. The only app that was I was able to install was the Last.FM. I tried the follow apps, and they didn't install: 1.
Angry Birds 3. Pandora Other disappointments: 1. Designed to not be in the Android Interface. They have an application that runs, and makes it tricky to get to the android desktop. It takes about 3 clicks to get from the main workout screen back to the Android Desktop.
The screen is not capacitive, it is resistive. I don't know how much more I need to say about that. Only 3 buttons. Back, Menu, Home.
Home takes you to their software not the android home screen. Long press on home does nothing. When i go to the desktop the Time is all over the place. I have tried changing settings in every spot possible but something is telling it what time to think it is, occasionally it is correct. Just don't get it. Even with the disappointments this thing is sweet.
I wish i could install more apps, stream videos from a PC over the WiFi connection and stream music from a PC over the WiFi connection. Maybe with the help of the community we will figure some of these items out.
Or I will be the only one who has this that knows about this website! Ntsteele, How is your experience up to now with your 9500? I am looking at getting the c1250, which is the same as the 9500, but with a smaller motor and no decilne. Is the 10' screen worth it?
The rep at Nordictrack told me the only differcence between the 7' screen is the web browser, the google maps display, and some basic apps. But overall the workout system is the same as the 7' display of the 1750 commercial and that you can view the google maps by logging in on ifit.com. Elvis karaoke cd.
Thanks for the info and screen shots. Where I work at there is a Proform Trailrunner 4.0 treadmill that has 10' Android tablet screen. From what I have been told nordic track and proform are made by the same manufacture or something. It was returned because of a broken display unit. Of course I wasn't going to let them throw the old one away so they let me keep it. I trashed the main display and now I have the 10' tablet but cannot power it because the treadmill doesn't operate without a magnetic key. How could I power this thing and see if it works?
I got the new incline trainer x9i which has the 10 inch android interface. I am interested to get in and try installing apps as you have but I am unable to even get to the android home screen.
The only time I see it is when I turn the machine on and it is booting up, the screen comes up for a few seconds to where I can hit on the applications button and see what is on it. But within a second after I see the apps it automatically gets routed into the machine exercise interface and I have not figured how to get back to the android home screen from there. How did you do it? It would sure be nice to install a different browser.
I hate the fact that I cannot create my own shortcuts. Anyway, love the machine. Ok, same question. I just got a C2150 which is a similar model to the 9500. Slightly smaller motor and belt, but same basic thing with the 10' tablet. I believe it's capacitive now, but still not great as far as that goes. I too have hit the setup icon when it's booting and it goes to the Android setup screen for a second and then continues to boot into the Nordictrack IFit proprietary stuff.
So I can't believe the posts with the images and no explanation of how you got there? Please share with the rest of us. Also, my console has a USB connector at the top of the thing. Any idea what if anything that'll let me do?
I took the tablet apart to see what information can be gathered. Apparently, HANNSTAR (TAIWAN) manufactures the board (HANNSTAR J MV-7); which uses a Samsung ARM8 CPU(5PV210AH-A0 1044); has 512MB; and a 4GB SANDISK FLASH (SDIN2C2-4G). I haven't been able to find sufficient info to track a compatible ROM, yet I can't imagine for the life of me that HANNSTAR would design this just for Nordic. I am posting some pics hoping that someone might be able to id the hardware, which in turn might help point to a more fruitful search for a workable ROM. Try to upload pics but not sure if it worked.
Download imo the world of magic gold hack. It's late, and I can't figure out how to do it smoothly yet.
The BeagleBone Black (BBB) linux board with a USB-WiFi module takes place of the old dashboard controller. I ripped off the top dashboard of the treadmill which left only a single cable going to the motor controller. This cable provides 12v power and receives the motor speed and incline signals. The desktop is provided by a Mac Mini and allows me to program code while walking. I pretty much zone out while I code so I stop noticing I'm walking and getting exercise so.bonus.!!! I wrote a program that provides a web-sockets interface and controls the PWM signal to the motor controller, a MC21xx series motor controller from NordikTrak. Apache server on the BBB serves up an interactive web page that keeps a constant connection to the Node.JS service via web sockets.
So I can control the treadmill from the Mac browser or from the BBB's LCD+Touchscreen. The LCD interface is the same web interface on Chrome running in Kiosk mode in x-windows. I bought a $35 board from Home Depot that looks like kitchen 'chopping block' but made of soft-wood. Real chopping block would have been nicer but was too expensive for me to justify.
The softwood board was.too. soft and immediately began to sag so I screwed some right-angle aluminum strips to the underside which secured it very well. I cut rectangular hole into the wood to recess the monitor but not necessary.
I caught a nice break when a standard door hinge from Home Depot fit the monitor perfectly securing it to the wood table. The hinge went in place of where the stand normally attaches on this HP Envy 27' monitor. I power the BBB using the DC-DC voltage regulator module, wiring the 12v from the old cable and it's 5v output into the BBB board. I wired the speed and incline signals into the BBB with just a 50ohm resistor in series. There is a speed feedback signal from the controller (measures actual speed) but I just ignore it.
Perhaps I'll use it in the future but to be honest it is not missed since with the exception of a bit of wind up delay the speed controller matches desired speed.