Can Fitbit be used on GrapheneOS?

[MrcJkb]

GrapheneOS is a privacy-focused Android distribution that does not include Google Play services.

How much would the Fitbit app's functionality be impaired without those services?

In most cases, only push notifications don't work (which I don't care for anyway), but some apps become completely unusable.

[SilviaFitbit]

@MrcJkb Welcome to the Fitbit Community. Thanks for the details mentioned. 

The Fitbit app is optimized for standard operating systems like Android and iOS. Learn more about it in this article: How do I use the Fitbit app? 

Hope this helps. 

[MrcJkb]

Hi @SilviaFitbit,

That doesn't answer my question.

GrapheneOS is Android. The Google play services are not part of stock Android, but many apps rely on them to varying degrees.

Some apps run fine without Google play services, but cannot send push notifications. Some app developers don't account for the possibility of missing Google play services, resulting in their apps crashing when trying to access them.

My question is, which Fitbit app features currently rely on the Google Play services, and will thus cease to function without them?

[MrcJkb · Accepted solution]

Since Fitbit refused to answer my question, I went ahead and flashed GrapheneOS on my phone (My next fitness tracker won't be a Fitbit anyway - the Charge 5 is the worst device I've ever owned and the Android app really lacks inspiration).

I'll leave this here in case someone else has the same question:

GrapheneOS can now install sandboxed Google Play Services, so the Fitbit app works without any issues.

Also, the app doesn't need permissions to location services (even though it claims it won't work properly without them), or any other permissions besides network and nearby devices. The only thing that doesn't work without location services is shared GPS, which is pretty useless anyway.

[RodrigoMFitbit]

@MrcJkb Thank you very much for your feedback.

GrapheneOS is an Android-based, open source, privacy and security-focused mobile operating system for selected Google Pixel smartphones. I honestly had not heard of this mod if it was not for this post. Even though Graphene OS is Android based, Fitbit has no information regarding this, so I assume the app is developed for the default Android. In the past I have flashed different mods on my Android devices and Fitbit worked with those. I cannot guarantee that it applies to every single mod though. Fitbit was developed for default Android devices. 

Thanks for sharing the results of your test. This will definitely help others with the same question. I greatly appreciate the feedback about the app and your findings regarding the Graphene OS. 

Have a nice one!

[MrcJkb]

Again, this does not answer the question (see the previous discussion).

Android itself is an open source operating system. However, most phones come with Google Play Services (not open source and not part of the Android operating system) pre-installed.

Some (lazy) app developers depend on Google Play Services to the degree that their apps fail to work at all without them.

GrapheneOS can run Google Play Services, and any features that do not require privilege escalation will work.

An acceptable answer to this question would be something along the lines of one of the following:

- "Fitbit does not rely on Google Play Services so it should work on stock Android and any distribution that does not break compatibility"

OR

- "The following Fitbit features will not work without Google play services: <list of features>"

OR

- "The following features require Google play services with privilege escalation, so they will not work without privileged play services: ..."

OR

- "Fitbit will not work at all without Google Play Services."

I really shouldn't be getting such wishy-washy answers from a company that belongs to Google.

This is with regard to my original question,

"How much would the Fitbit app's functionality be impaired without those services?"

[Dopovo]

Really wonderful thread @MrcJkb . Thanks so much.

[RodrigoMFitbit]

@Dopovo Thanks for your input.

@MrcJkb Thanks for the reply and full explanation. 

To be honest, there is no information regarding the functionality of the app with or without Google Services on my end. The information we moderators have available, is what all other community members can access; such as the help site. Regarding your first question, I would not be able to answer it directly. In my experience, you do need the Google Play Services in order for the app to work. However, according your research you confirm only some features need those services. 

This information seems not to be public and rather private. I did go to check if other apps outline this information in their description and there is nothing regarding their functionality without Google Play Services. As soon as I learn more about this, I will get back here and share what I have found out. Thanks for reaching out regarding this and edifying me. 

Have a nice day!

[MrcJkb]

Thanks 🙏

[Rich_Laue]

@MrcJkb this would be a question for a developer of the fitbit app, and this developer may need to low a little about graphine OS. 

In general the mods are not very in tune with the details of the software hooks. 

[MrcJkb]

@Rich_Laue

as a software engineer, I can assure you that this developer would definitely not need to know anything about GrapheneOS beyond the information that I have already provided in this thread.

[Rich_Laue]

That, could be, but who knows if a developer will see this thread. We do have another board that the developers do monitor.