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

[AussieNanakaban]

Exactly, I had someone from apparently higher up at fitbit suggest doing
that and creating a new account for child in my account, it won't let me,
someone else suggested this a few days ago so on here and I tried then also
but no go, I think fitbit is simply grasping at straws, I'll be putting the
2 I bought back in their packaging and returning to the shop, it's been
going on for close to 2 weeks for me now. I did let them know last night
that their suggestions haven't worked and I sent screen shots to prove my
point, and as yet some 18 hours later still no reply, I'm done

[bluecatlins]

Unfortunately this does not work.  Have done all that you suggested and child still does not appear in my Fitbit Family.  What do you suggest I try next?  I really can't believe it has been so difficult to get my child's Ace 3 to work.  

[AussieNanakaban]

I cant log in so I can't make a new post but I can comment? Strange I know,
I did get 1 final email from fitbit yesterday saying they are no longer
giving support via email so I'm done, I'm returning the 2 ace3's I have
today, I did though buy 2 ace3 bands for the girls through ebay, they
weren't expensive, they are pink and maroon if anyone would like either
either or both, you can have them for free, I'll even pay for postage

[plzhelpus]

Hi All, 

I'm experiencing the same problem even with Android have tried everything.

[AussieNanakaban]

I just tried returning my 2 only to be told I was doing it all wrong %$#@%$
umm no, I tried stating my case but the tech guy didn't seem to want to
hear me, and because I didn't bring the spare phone with me to show him no
matter which way or what phone I try it all on it won't work, so home again
to try and then I know I'll be back at Harvey Norman in the a.m. with both
phones

[plzhelpus]

i don't understand why do we need two phones, definitely not getting my 6 year old a phone this is absolute garbage!!! 

would like to know how the outcome with Harvey Norman

[AussieNanakaban]

Oh exactly, and I only have the 1 old spare phone, and I won't be getting
another if the tech guy says my old phone is out dated, sorry but that's
just the way it goes..smh I just wish I knew all this before purchasing,
there should be more information on the packaging

[Spinless]

AussieNanakaban, I was in the same boat as you until an hour ago.
I had already set-up my daughter with a Gmail account, so naturally, I linked to my Family Link and tried logging her in. That's when I started getting all the "Can't use Fitbit with this Google Account." messages. I also came across the Android account error regarding "you can't sign in to a child account on Android when you have other accounts set-up on this device", not sure about the wording on that one.

So, then, this is what I tried:

• signing in to her Google account on my Android phone - didn't work because it won't allow a child to login on my phone alongside my Google account
• signing into Fitbit with her Google account on an iPad - didn't work, I got the above message
• signing into Fitbit with her Google account on PC  - didn't work, I got the above message
• Various other things I can't remember doing.

Then, I read the posts on this thread: https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Ace-Family-Accounts/Unable-to-add-child-to-family-account/m-p/540648...

It's a joke, but I managed to follow people's tips here and do the following.

• Open the Family Link (kite) app on my Android. I imagine this would work on the web and iOS as well, but can't confirm. I suggest using the mobile app to be safe.
• Went into "Add child" in the app menu
• Set-up the new child account and linked (supervised) it with my own Google account. Completed the new child Google account creation.
• Downloaded the Fitbit app onto either a spare Android device or iOS device. If you don't own an iOS device (iPad / iPhone), you could use anyone's device i.e. a friend or coworker, as long as they sign out of their Fitbit account temporarily. iOS allows for the child account to login alongside other accounts (Android does not). I used iOS, I can't vouch for the steps on Android.
• Signed in to Fitbit using my daughter's new Google account, that I created via the Family Link app. And it finally worked!

Previously I had created the child accounts through the Google login prompt where you sign in OR "create a new account". Apparently it has to be done with the Family Link app. So, even though I had already created two accounts for my daughter, I went ahead and created a third one.

I hope this helps!

[SupervisedAccou]

Thanks for documenting that @Spinless .

I'm (just about) ok with the fictitious child as a workaround but the need for an extra accountless android device is just a step too far for me.

Seems crazy that setting up a Google account for a Google device is best done on an Apple device. And google are seemingly ok with that judging by the lack of ETA for a fix.

[Spinless]

Yes, it's ironic that the workaround is completed more easily with an Apple device. 

[AussieNanakaban]

Oh ok, I do have family link and child is on there, at the moment I don't
want to do too much and stuff it all up again like I did 2 weeks ago and
took me ages to undo what I did, I shall be off here in a while to see what
the tech person at the shop I bought them from can do

[Thharrison11]

I didn’t need 2 phones. You can follow all my steps and then just stop at the part where you’d log into the child’s acct from the child’s phone.
I set it up on my phone, then logged out of her acct on my phone and logged into it on her phone - but I didn’t have to do that and it still Would’ve worked.

Moderator Edit: Personal info removed

[Thharrison11]

Did you try the steps I posted in the comments?

Moderator Edit: Personal info removed

[Spinless]

You do need a separate phone, if you're on Android (I noticed you mentioned that you're using Apple).
An Android device won't let you login to a child's Google account alongside an 'adult' account.

Results may also vary country to country. It sounds like me and @AussieNanakaban are both in Australia.

[AussieNanakaban]

Yes, I'm in Newcastle nsw. I'm using 2 androids and not game to do anything
more than I have as I'm so not tech savy and usually just end up making a
big mess of things

[SmallSlug]

Unfortunately this step:  "To do so, open the Fitbit app on their mobile device, tap "Sign in with Google", and sign into Fitbit using your child's Google Account to begin Fitbit registration."  does not work.  It says "Can't use Fitbit with this Google Account.  This could be because you're using a Workspace account, or because your account is supervised."  Ahhh yeah.... the account is supervised.  Isn't that the whole point.  It seems like Google has a pretty high severity bug they need to fix as Google Family accounts and Fitbit are not playing nice with each other.

[SupervisedAccou]

Also having the "Android device won't let you login to a child's Google account alongside an 'adult' account" experience but I'm not sure if it's geographical.

Some android devices seem more open to the multi-user thing than others. I can see that maybe on my phone I could turn on multi users and carve out a section of the phone for a whole separate account that could be used for this. 

Never done it but it looks like something more equivalent to multiple windows accounts with separate user folders etc? Rather than say, 2 Google accounts signed in under the one user. Not sure if I can spare the space on my phone.

It looks like the kid's device wouldn't allow that. Samsung skim of android doesn't seem too enthusiastic about it. And under family link the only other accounts I could add are Google educational accounts.

Also, is this Fitbit forum software/site really bad or does it just look that way on my phone? The way replies are handled it isn't clear to me who is replying to who, or if it's a fresh post not replying to anyone in particular.

[FitbitUser801]

Wow, so this finally worked - also on my 3rd email address for both kids.

We also asked parents who have brought their kids this and all are iPhone users. It seems to be the MAIN point of setting up the fitbit. It must be because on androids you are essentially logged in to the adult gmail account. It also didnt work when i used a spare android for the child as it needed adult permission but then kept asking me to fill in their School email address which they dont have.

So i would suggest everyone follow Spinless's se tup procedure. By logging in to fitbit on iphone after the family link kids gmail account is set up is the only way it shows up on your devices and works. 

Safe to say once these break I won't be using fitbit again

[Yddiw123]

Has anyone managed to get any dea of when this is likely to be fixed? My so so distraught and is adament he wants this fitbit not another one otherwise id return the darned thing!

This is just the absolutely worst customer service.... I dont know why fitbit cant as a minimum put an update error message so people know its a bigger problem not driving themselves insane. 

We dont have iphone and i cant face setting up another google account. Also dont understand why they cant come up with a temporary fix to allow ace3 to be connected via fitbit app durectly rather than google. FfS!!!! 

[M-AL]

We bought an ace 3 for our son who turns 8 on Thursday. We read several reviews and did a lot of research before buying it. My husband has a Fitbit account so we assumed it would be really simple to use with his app. How wrong were we!! We've spent over 3 hours this evening trying to set it up, we had a very long phone call with their tech support that they ended up hanging up, we googled and followed any ideas we could find, yet it still won't link to our Fitbit account. The only advice the tech support could offer us was to get a device for our son - he's 8, the entire point of this watch is that it can link to our devices! The tech support was absolutely woeful.

So we are now left with a watch that won't connect to our app, less than 48 hours before my son's birthday. We are absolutely furious and now have a child with no birthday present. Fitbit, it is an absolutely disgrace that you continue to sell this watch when it's very clear from the messages above that it doesn't work. We will be getting a full refund from Fitbit - in the current economic climate, it is abominable that this company is taking consumers' money for something that they know won't function fully! I'm so disappointed and let down.