Can't add children to family account

[ben86]

Hi

I can't set up family account to set up Childs ace 3

I bought a ace 3 for my daughter, im not a Fitbit user so had to set an account up 1st. I used my google account to log in. I set up my family how ever on my family it just say

to add children, make sure they're part of your family on Google, then set them up on Fitbit, their name will appear

I have made my daughter a account on my account as she is only 5 and added her to my family on google but nothing is showing up in my family on Fitbit app

please can someone help 

thanks

ben

[FitbitUser0801]

So, I have same situation: I've bought ACE 3 for my daughter and cant set it up, because my Google Family accounts are not showing up on the "My family" section in the Fitbit app, so I can't select user of my Google Family to be a "child" account.

I've just spoken to support on the phone. And they told me something new and absolutely annoying;)

So, the idea is following: to setup Child account in the Fitbit app I, as Guardian (parent account) need to have active fitbit device on by Guardian account. I do think that this is a mess 🙂

[PatB1111]

This information is not accurate. Google does not let you sign into a child's account on a parent device - this is new from Google I understand. Fitbit needs to update its app and method of adding children.

[AussieNanakaban]

Hey.
No wasn't using a business account. I tried every suggestion on here as as
well as fitbit support over the phone as well as email, I took them back to
Harvey Norman, and the boss man tried every which way to Sunday and back
for 2.5hours to no avail, so then he exchanged them for Garmin kids vivo
JR.3 ( I paid the difference) and he had both un boxed hooked up and
working in well under 10 minutes, no kids emails needed and both under the
same app. I told him that there are others on here with same issue, he said
he has sold a few of the kids fitbits and none that he is aware of have
been returned. But also he has never heard of such a drawn out long process
for kids smart watches

[refashionista]

We have an Android devices and my husband and I are having the same issue setting up our child's Ace3.

We already have Google Family and our daughter was already in it, so this should have been simple.

[Arius_Green]

After we bought one of these fitbit gadgets for our child, we ran into problems immediately during installation.  I then joined this discussion group in hopes of quickly finding a solution and moving on.  What I've found is that the technical issue is legitimate.  The issue has essentially been recreated on a multitude of devices, a significant number of which are described clearly on this forum.  The magnitude of the issue seems rather obvious to anyone who reads over the comments posted here. 

I have also called Fitbit support as well as Google's support line.  The issue has been "acknowledged."  There was a bit of finger pointing between the two entities but that's probably just a natural reaction to stress.  Tech support workers have tough jobs.  Software defects happen, and I imagine it's even more challenging working in a support role when products are fully tested before release.    

Overall, this was an unexpected and horribly discouraging experience.  I thought Fitbit and Google were reputable companies that stood behind their products.  I've learned otherwise here. 

The customer service at both companies has fallen short of what I would reasonably expect after purchasing their products.  Like many others, I reported a technical issues and was willing to work with them in good faith to get it resolved.  Perhaps I'm naive, but I did not expect the run-around or to be ignored completely. 

I engaged in this process looking for a solution.  For me, there's no other purpose to participating in any of this.  I try to be as forgiving as possible but I do feel as though this company took advantage of my family by selling us a product we can not install. 

Unbeknownst to me at the time of the sale, they were already aware of the issue.  Yet, they sold it anyhow.  I doubt any company would want to be known for this, but that's essentially what Google/Fitbit has done here.  

Moving forward, I will avoid Fitbit products due to this experience.  My loyalty to Google products in general is also ending.  Frankly, Google is not the only show in town.  I suspect there's an illusion of competency behind these big brands. 

Software defects happen.  It's how a company handles it that matters.  I'm moving on until they get their act together.  

To the moderators, you have my sympathy.  My only suggestion is to try to see things from a customer's perspective.  That's all.  

Best of luck to you all.    

Moderator Edit: Word choice

[born-in-pinawa]

This is exactly what we just came across.  We bought 2 of them for 2 of our kids.  Luckily our older son had an iPhone where we could register a kid on the app, set up the watch, delete the account from the phone, and repeat the other kid.  I hope I can sync their devices with my phone, not my eldest's phone.  But I'm going to assume I won't be able to, so there will be no tracking of the data.  Seems really ridiculous

[Eguipo]

I spent the entire evening trying to set up as explained on both an old android phone (kept for kids use) and a newer iPhone(mine).

I encoutered two issues:

Main one, as reported: coundn’t add anyone in My family: just a plain page with me alone and no options, only a message stating I had to add child to my family in google (which was done) in order to add it.

Second issue: couldn’t log in with google account on old android phone, probably because android was too old.

Final solution was that I ended up creating a fitbit account with a non-google email (and I refused the google migration request) and then I could add a child within my account and finish ace setup easily on both phones.  I started in the old android phone so maybe that had something to do with it as the app was not up to date but the the iphone app seemed ok as well with same account.  No need of family link or to have an email for my child afterall!

So hope this helps!  Not the best solution for anyone already having a fitbit account with google but I didn’t, so it was not a problem for me.  I own a garmin and will stick to it after this experience!

[FP83]

This worked for me.  My child already had a device and a Gmail (as did i) under supervision. I formatted his device, and deleted our existing family link.  At up a new Gmail for myself,  downloaded family link and set up my child IN family link.  Then on his device (formatted) I set it up using his new Gmail then downloaded fitbit and activated that way. For it to work the child needs to be set up in family link.  Not set up and added to family link. Took me 3 hours and now we both have extra emails which isn't ideal however my son is happy.  Huge flaw with Google/fitbit and in its current state I wouldn't recommend the product I persevered because I was refused a refund. Thank you Unknown Explorer.

[HCupid]

Thanks for this.

Problem is - my son does not have a device.  How can we use Ace-3 without attaching it to a device please?

[HCupid]

The issue is - when clicking on My Family I do not get any option to add my child.  I have them set up in Google Family already and that is working well.

If they can't be added the App. is unusable.

Help please.

[FP83]

Hi,

I had supervision before on my old email. I had to delete family link
completely and all cookies. Reinstall it with my new email first thing it
asks is does your child have an Gmail.... I clicked yes and then installed
his Gmail on his formatted phone and followed the instructions. It's not
the ideal solution by far but it did work. We are both now running on new
emails on devices and through family link. The old is redundant.

[Kroko07]

This doesn't work on either my wifes phone which no longer has a fitbit device or mine as I get an error I am not allowed to log into my sons gmail account on my device... She is on Motorola and I have a Pixel 7 so this best answer does not work...

[rl0726]

So are we in agreement that there is no way to set up or use the Ace 3 if you want to maintain your current Google Family Link accounts? There is no way to connect this device using existing parent and child emails in Family Link. Correct? Since it results in the error message that you cannot use the child's email to login, as it is a supervised account. Yet, the set-up process requires login with a child's supervised account. The only folks who have made this work have deleted their existing Family Link accounts and created new emails for both parent and child, which isn't an option if you use your existing Family Link for other devices, as well. Looks like we need to return it. 

[Kroko07]

Unfortunately this still doesn't work.  My wife had a hotmail account so I used that to directly log into a Fitbit account.  I don't see how to add my son as in the "My Family" section there is no ability or way to add a child account and I go to add the Ace 3 directly from the devices list it tells me I have to have a google account to set it up.  

[AussieNanakaban]

Ahh ok, glad you got yours to work, it's insane of what we have had to go
through just so kids can have these fitness trackers

[AussieNanakaban]

You can't, unfortunately

[Spinless]

I managed to maintain my own personal "parent" account, but I had to create a new child account via the Family Link app.
This isn't a solution, just a workaround that does the job. As you can see in the screenshot from Family Link, I ended up with 3 Google accounts for the same child. The only one that appears in my Fitbit family is the one that I created using the "Add child" button.

However, as my daughter is 7 now, I plan on deleting the new Google account once she's finished with her Fitbit device & keeping her original Google account.

[Kerwan]

I also managed to install my children's fitbit ace 3. Unfortunately, I had to create new Google accounts from family Link. Once these accounts have been created, when you log on to the fitbit app, parental authorization is requested and you no longer get the error message (Google workspace or supervised account).
This is just a workaround (quite quick…), but at least my kids will be able to use their ace 3.
Hope this helps

[FP83]

That's correct.... luckily I only had one child and one device on family
link (still took 3.5 hours with only 2).

I wish I had the option for a refund fitbit refused. Made the best of a bad
situation and will never buy a fitbit again as a result.

[rl0726]

@Spinless and @Kerwan - That worked for me - thank you. Existing Family Link kid accounts did not work, but I was able to keep Family Link and just add a new child/make a new Google email. Then I used that email and it let me log into the Fitbit app on my child's device without the error message. At least it allowed me to use all fake information in the new account, so that there would be no identifying info tied to Fitbit for my kid. Good workaround. I appreciate it.