Alta HR for kids

[James_AltaHR]

My daughter (12) just got a new Alta HR (we considered the Ace but didn't want a dumbed down, kiddified product). Unfortunately in trying to register it the iPhone app asks her age and if she replies honestly she is told she has to ask me to setup a family account. Even having gone through this rigmarole the only device we're then allowed to setup is the child-focussed Ace.

Is there any other solution apart from lying about her age (a terrible precedent to set!)?

[SunsetRunner · Accepted solution]

Sorry, but the Alta HR was not designed for children. The age issue is a Federal law related to social media accounts, of which Fitbit would be considered. I think you know what the only workaround is.

[James_AltaHR]

Thanks. As an aside we live in the UK and I'm not sure there is a similar law here. I also don't recall a min. age being specified in the product info/marketing material. Perhaps Fitbit (and others no doubt) ought to make this clearer to the international audience?!

[MC02]

This is an interesting discussion as I found that the Fitbit Ace band was too small for my young person, so I ended up with an Alta HR - the Alta band was too hard to use.  It’s been really hard to find set up info for young people with no Ace.  Thanks for this post!

[Daytona_S]

Same problem here. Isn't it possible to put the other watches under parental advisor like the ace

[NellyG]

@Daytona_S At this time, no it is not.

[Pindanoortje]

It seems ridiculous to force kids and parents into the purchase of model ACE-KIDS while other models have more colours and possibilities etc. In fact Fitbit forces people to cheat about their age

[NellyG]

No one forces people to lie about their age. That is everyones choice.

[shadykinsau]

I agree, my daughter wouldn't fit the ACE so I bought her the ALTA, now not sure how to set it up as it won't allow her real age and sends me in this set up loop, telling me to use a family account, then that won't allow the ALTA. 

[Tbowenwso]

You can say Fitbit does not make you lie about your kids age, but at the same time you say that the only way for them to use this product is to lie about their age. Pretty ridiculous. Why can’t Fitbit make the Alta (or any other product) available to children in the family account???

[sperry21]

Same problem here!  My son received the Alta HR as a gift and now there is no way to set it up!  Super frustrating.

[Cfrisk926]

Same issue here.  My daughter received my Alra when I upgraded to the Versa.  I'm trying to set up both units on my app and cant figure out if it can be done or not.  

[NellyG]

@Cfrisk926  You can put both units on one account, but they will combine the step totals etc, so unless they are both yours it wont work. You can have different accounts on the one app though, but they will need different email addresses and you will need to log out of your account and into your daughters to sync her steps. Your daughter needs  be over 13, at least as recorded in her account, in order for you to be able to set her up with the Alta. You cant have her on a child account with an Alta as child a counts are only for Ace trackers. Come backnifnyiu have more question

[Daytona_S]

Can you explain me what the difference is between the Ace or Alta watch. I don't understand what the difference is between those watches for the law. You can control the ace as parents and no other watch. For me isn't that logical

[NellyG]

It may not be logical but Fitbit have decided that it is not healthy for kids to be too focussed on certain things, so have restricted the Ace to measuring the following

Ace tracks your child’s daily steps and active minutes. Tap Ace to see these stats throughout the day. Other stats captured by your child's tracker are available on their dashboard in the Fitbit app, including:

• Their sleep history, including hours slept and sleep patterns
• The hours of the day that your child was stationary vs. active (walked at least 250 steps per hour)
• Your child's progress toward a weekly exercise goal

I dont know what Fitbits thinking was exactly in arriving at this, but I know the focus is away from calories and weight and towards exercise. I dont think the difference between the trackers is about the law and kids - that was Fitbits decision. The law comes into it where in certain countries children are not nallowed to have unsupervised access to the internet and are not able to set up accounts under a certain age (13 in the US I think and 16 in Europe - not sure on the ages, but something like that), so they have set up the family account to allow kids to use a tracker lawfully (for US law as they are a US company). You may or may not agree with what they have done and how they have set it up, but thatis how it is set up at the moment.

If you want to see the differences and similarities between different trackers select Compare trackers on this page and select the trackers you want to compare https://www.fitbit.com/store

[Tbowenwso]

There are two very different things going on here regarding age and legalities and Fitbit decisions, but Fitbit seems to have combined them into one.  One is the account/social community.  Fitbit rightfully (IMO) has limited child access to an account and the social community that inherently exists with it.  If you're under a certain age, you must be set up as a family member in your parent's account.  That's great!

But where Fitbit fails is that they also effectively say, "If you're going to set something up for your child, we will only let you use this particular product (the Ace)."  It's great that they have a product geared toward children, and I love that they place the focus for that on things that are healthier for children.  But I think they're trying to be the parent here.  It seems totally logical to me that a loving parent can make good decisions about their children, and be able to trust them with a different device, even if it does show calories on it.  What does not seem logical to me is Fitbit deciding that the only way I can give my son any device other than the Ace is to lie about his age.  I think Fitbit made this decision trying to be responsible, but in fact I'd call it irresponsible.

[Daytona_S]

My daughter is using the Alta and because of my parental advisory, she can't see her calories. 

The only difference know is that it's my account, and not the family thing for the ace. She can't use my phone to set the Fitbit like she wants. I have control, only with my date of birth. 

[Cfrisk926]

That helps. It's not ideal, but it helps. Thank you!!! I will play with
the accounts tonight.

[Pteranodon]

Completely agree with the Alta problems.  My mother bought 2 for our kids over Christmas.  Now find that they are useless unless we put in false ages, which I presume will mess up the heart rate.  Why can't you just add Alta to family account...

Anyway 2 useless, for our needs Alta's, going on fitbit returns/eBay.  Will switch to a proper product like the apple watch we should have bought in the first place.

[Brave_Eagle]

My child's psychologist recommended getting her a fitbit, not to track her activity, but to monitor her heart rate so she might have notice of when she is going off the rails (sort of a bio-feedback thing), and her sleep.  I know a fitbit is not a medical device, but as it offers these options, it was considered a useful tool for my autistic child.  BUT - the age thing (and there was no notice of this on the box) which forces everyone to conform to a US law.  Makes things a bit difficult.