Anyone know how to hack Shapa scale?

ahoy_m8

I totally resent how much information —personal information— I have entered and how little— literally, nothing useful—it gives me. Tantalizingly, it says “calculating variance.... calculating muscle mass...” when I step on it, and I want those numbers! I want the variance, I especially want the muscle mass (knowing impedance yields large error, but still), and I’m a little curious about the algorithms used to compute those.

Background: my husband bought this scale (maybe free through employer—don’t remember). The shapa scale schtick is people obsess over the number on the scale when several factors are needed for a fuller picture. It has a smoothing algorithm to deal with variance & gives one of 5 colors as output. After providing a Cambridge Analytica type “personality quiz” and going through a 10 day “calibration phase” of twice-a-day weigh-ins, here’s what I get: green- you’re doing great, keep it up.

Honestly, I’m going to go out on a limb and say almost anyone who maintains weight and fitness goals does so with some effort and awareness. If you’re putting in the effort, you know generally where you stand against your goal. Does anyone know of a way to get actual numbers out of this very frustrating device/app?

ETA: I am aware users can opt to see “current weight” after smoothing on the “progress” tab. I’d like to see the raw data and muscle mass & variance calculations.

CharlieBeansmomTracey

if its a scale the muscle mass and other things are going to be off for many reasons. the only way to know how much muscle mass you are gaining is to get several dexa scans or something similar over the course of a few months or longer.as for actual numbers (I never heard of this scale) I would say no you wont get accurate numbers as it too is just a tool. as for muscle mass that will include lean mass too and a scale cant accurately tell you things. water retention and other things can skew the results. I would just use it for weight and thats it.nothing is going to be 100% accurate.

lorrpb

There are lots of formulas online that create a fictitious BF/MM % based on user inputted data, which is all the scale is doing. I would search for those and even try searching for your scale's formula. I would guess it's a closely guarded "secret". Honestly, just hope your hubby got it free and move on.

PAV8888

Given that the WHOLE MARKETING PLOY that the particular scale employs is predicated on NOT showing you your numbers, I would be surprised if their shrink wrap agreement(s) don't cover the issue in some detail!

So the chances of them giving your numbers voluntarily, I would say, are pretty slim.

This leaves whether they actually store your numbers and whether you can gain access to them, or they can be made to give them to you.

Social engineering, bribery, and malware attacks aimed to gaining control of your data and/or their database. At a guess, I would say these would all be illegal and could potentially create a privacy breach for thousands of other users who might then not be very happy with you!

You could, of course, talk to customer service and demand your data and a wipe of what they have on you as part of the termination of your relationship with them.

Or find an overpriced person who can somehow explain to them that your rights to your own private data exceed any agreements you may have clicked on.

Personally I do not see how I would be able to happily deal with a company that has such a diametrically opposite philosophical view to me when it comes to me knowing my own data!

However, I was recently posting on a thread of a person recovering from an ED who would probably benefit from not knowing their actual weight. And given how many times people get derailed by a "bad weigh in", there might be other people who benefit from this approach too.

These people are not me. And I would be quite likely to defenestrate such a device. With extreme prejudice.

ahoy_m8

Yes, PAV, very valid point and I agree. Completely. Hence needing to hack it to get something different. But its not worth anyone going to jail over it. It’s been on my bathroom floor for the better part of a year, so I started wondering, could I get something interesting or entertaining out of it? Can’t blame me for wondering. I also agree it’s an ok fit for folks triggered by numbers. I, by contrast, am a numbers person. So I’m gonna wonder.

I do use the navy bf formula. I’m not great at tape measuring, however, so I do have a passing curiosity how much it agrees (or doesn’t) with the impedance algorithm. BF scales use electrical impedance measures (notoriously high error) and online calculators use body measurements, so they are different algorithms. I was curious how they compare, but this app is not set up for that.

ahoy_m8

ETA: I did message the company to see how I could get my data. No response. And I didn’t mean “hack” in the security violating sense, but more in the “life hacks” sense. Seems like it has the right hw and sw, but data structured such that it’s just not useful. Or interesting. Boo...

kpsyche

Download the APK for the Shapa app, use 7zip to open it, find the .dex files and use something like jadx to decompile the .dex files to java

DahliaAnne

I’m a bit late but using the Shapa scale as well. I’ve been a bit confused by its color system and wish there were a community here who used it with whom I could chat!