Alta Notifications

[ErickFitbit]

Alta comes with the ability to set up and receive call, text, and calendar notifications on iOS and Android.

This post will provide instructions on how to setup your alerts so that you can see who's texting you, the content of the messages, who's calling, and what your calendar has on deck for you. For a detailed overview of alerts for Alta, please see this help page. 

• How do I set up call/text/calendar notifications on Alta? 

1. Make sure that your mobile device is compatible with our notifications feature by visiting http://www.fitbit.com/devices. 
2. On your mobile device, make sure Bluetooth is enabled, and make sure your device is nearby!
3. Open the Fitbit app on your mobile device and tap your tracker tile at the top of your mobile Dashboard.
4. Tap your tracker tile a second time, tap "Notifications" (iOS) or "Call and Text Notifications (Android) and then turn on call/text/calendar notifications.
5. To verify that set up was successful, check out the list of Bluetooth connected devices on your mobile device. Your Alta should appear.

• How do I view call/text/calendar notifications on Alta?

You can view your notifications when they come in by using Quick View or by double-tapping the Alta where the band and tracker meet.

Notes: 

• For Android users, please ensure that you've turned notification access on in your settings and enabled each notification in the Fitbit App. 
• Calendar notifications use the native calendar app in iOS, and the native or selected 3^rd party app on Android. 
• Windows Phones do not support alerts at this time.

[ErickFitbit]

@SuzanR Thanks for clarifying which notifications you're not receiving. I recommend following these troubleshooting tips and giving it another try. 

@Bevland I don't have a timeline to share but can confirm that our Android Team is always testing and working to add more devices to our supported devices list. I suggest keeping an eye on that list as it is constantly being updated to include more devices.

[coonk]

Finally got mine working for single messages.  When I have 2 or more messages, I just get a count and cant see the text.  Is there a way around that?  Also, I dont like having the text show on my phone screen to show on the alta.  Is there a way around this?

[SuzanR]

@coonkHow did you get your texts to work? I tried the Tips and Troubleshooting guide @ErickFitbit suggested but still no texts. 

I still think it's odd that I get calendar and phone call notifications but not texts and everything is set to notify me. Odd. 

[ErickFitbit]

@coonk I found that I was experiencing the same thing when I was using the stock Android text messaging app but when I made Google Hangouts my default text messaging app I started getting the content of every message on my Alta. You can give that a try and see if that also works for you.

Your text messages must display on your phone for them to display on the Alta as Alta follows your phone's privacy settings.

@SuzanR Which text messages application are you using to receive messages? 

[SuzanR]

@ErickFitbit I use the standard Samsung/Android messaging App. I'm not sure how to change my default to Google Hangounts and honestly, I'm not sure if I want to. Is that the only solution is to change to Google Hangouts? If so, I might have to stick to not gettting text alerts on my Alta. 

[buzzito]

@SuzanR one thing to check is on your Android settings for text notifications. There are 3 places to check in your settings.
1) Settings - Privacy and Saftey - App Permissions Make sure your Contacts allow FitBit access
2) Settings - Notifications Check that FitBit is on
3) Settings - Notifications - Advanced Select the FitBit app and make sure Allow Notifications and Preview in Popups is enabled.

Not sure what version of Android you are using but those are the areas I needed to update to see my text notification on my Alta. Once I enabled thise settings I get my texts displayed perfectly.

Also don't forget to make sure quick view is on in your Fitbit app to be able to just tilt your wrist up to view texts. If quick view is not turned on you will need to tap to view.

Hope that works for you.

[ErickFitbit]

@SuzanR I don't know if that will resolve the issue for you, it was just a suggestion for testing purposes so you could attempt it in order to see if it is an app specific issue or across all apps on your phone. If interested in trying, check out this link for more info on making Hangouts your default SMS app.

@buzzito Thank you so much for sharing what settings you had to adjust for it to work for you. I am sure this will help others in this thread who've had issues getting setup. Happy Tuesday! 

[SuzanR]

Thank you for your suggestions @buzzito. I double-checked all of those settings and they were all already in place on my phone. 😞 Still no text notifications. 

[thatprgal]

My new Alta does not vibrate when texts, calendar announcements or calls come in. How do I change that setting? I do see the alerts, if I happen to look, but I don't know they're coming in because the Alta doesn't vibrate. Thank you.

[SuzanR]

I'm so sorry @thatprgal. My Alta automatically vibrated. Perhaps @ErickFitbit or someone else in this community with more expererince than me can help you. Good luck!

[ErickFitbit]

@SuzanR What make and model mobile device are you using? Curious to see if it is listed as a supported device here.

@thatprgal That's not expected behavior as you should always feel a vibration first which indicates that you have a notification that needs to be interacted with to view. I recommend restarting the Alta and then testing it out again to see if you get a vibration after the restart. Let me know how that turns out.

[Sleepytiggerboo]

I used to have a garmin vivosmart and loved that it sent all the notifications that I'd set up on my iPhone to the wristband. Slightly disappointed that the Fitbit alta only does texts and calls (calendar is wasted on me as I do not use this function on my iPhone). The notifications I'd love to have would be whatsapp and emails I was just hoping that this would be possible at some point in the future ☺️😁 also when I get the notifications of a text message then you have to be quick to know there's been a vibration, double tap and then not all the message is there only a few characters! Then it disappears! And is no longer it seems on the wristband? Am I being picky? As I realise it is different to the garmin vivosmart but I've been used to sort of more functions with this wristband and sort of expected the Fitbit to do the same? Otherwise love the alta, love the dashboard on the app and will get more out of it as time goes on as only had it 3 days!

[SuzanR]

@ErickFitbit Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. I thought I saw it on the supported device list?

[RobinC64]

My Alta keeps giving me multiple notifications for the same text message.  Sometimes as many as 4 times for the same message.  Is there a way to correct this?

[Yellowrose4602]

I see all these entries from March about no details showing on message notifications. I tried all the fixes recommended. Last week I contacted customer service and they told me they are having trouble with Alta message notifications. Why is that info not featured prominently here and why is it still being sold with the info that messages will appear with name of sender and first bit of message? That is why I bought this device.

[ErickFitbit]

@Sleepytiggerboo Thanks for the feedback! I recommend voting for this existing idea in our Feature Request board for more notifications on iOS.

As for viewing your notifications, I suggest checking out my post here with tips and tricks that I've gathered along with a video of how to interact with Alta.

The Alta display has a limit of 40 characters per message and does not store your notifications so once they've been viewed once you won't be able to go back in history to view them again. If you'd like to view them for a 2nd time, I recommend checking them on your mobile device.

@SuzanR Were you able to find it in the supported devices list?

@RobinC64 Which application are you using for receiving notifications? In the meantime, try restarting the Alta and giving it another try.

@Yellowrose4602 I haven't experienced the same issue that you're detailing in your post. Have you tried the troubleshooting steps here yet? If not, I recommend trying those out and letting me know if you get stuck at any specific step in the process and get any error messages. Thanks in advance.

[SuzanR]

Well @ErickFitbit, I think we solved it. I thought my phone was on the supported devices list, but it's not. 😞 That explains why the tests do not work. So, any ideas on if S7 and S7 Edges will be added to the list anytime soon?

[Yellowrose4602]

Jillian at fitbit support found my problem. Be sure to check the settings in your messages app. I did not have "preview messages" checked. If that was mentioned in troubleshooting suggestions, I didn't understand it.

[Kmorse24]

Were you ever able to find a solution? I'm looking for one!

[ErickFitbit]

@SuzanR I have no timeline to set any expectation for a date range but I can confirm that our team is always working to test and add more devices to the list. I recommend checking back into the list and in the meantime, using a mobile device listed as supported.

@Yellowrose4602 Thanks for sharing that our Support Team was able to help you find a resolution. Thank you for sharing your update!

@Kmorse24 What specific issue are you running into? Have you tried these troubleshooting tips for getting notifications from your mobile device to your Alta?