Turn on location to find your fitbit?

[Dobbs33]

With the new update sync keeps asking to turn on location to find my fitbit - why?

Fitbit HR's work with Bluetooth and therefore do not need to know my location in order to sync and this has always been the case in the past.

Is Fitbit now tracking my location everytime I sync?  I've not given Fitbit permission to use location information so why does the app need it to sync???

Please advise.

[troj]

Fitbit does not need to use the MAC address. The Bluetooth ID should suffice to create a unique ID for the device. Using the MAC by LOCATION SERVICES appears to be one way to make the app compatible with older Android OS.

[Rich_Laue]

But Android 5.x doesn't need licarion turned on, To say that Fitbit doesnt use the trackers Mac address to identafy, does that mean you are a programer at Fitbit?
Since the connect software will sync any and every Fitbit tracker, I've seen my neighbors pc sync 7 at once, what does Fitbit use to identafy?
When i sync through Linux, the Mac address is displayed.

[ReC123]

The battery issue is number one. None of your business is number two

[Rich_Laue]

You can put location on the power save mode.
I've also confirmed that Fitbit does not request location imfo..

[Rich_Laue]

@troj the BT Mac address is the MAC ID we are refferring to.

[troj]

@Rich_Laue yes... understood.

And I appreciate your input. It's been valuable in the conversation. But even thoughrt I have seen other applications requesting location information, they treat it as an "option". Wanted but not required. I am hoping that fitbit will see the value in protecting personal information and make this optional.

After much reading on the subject, there seems to be alot of debate online with developers on how to best get that to work... and I've seen several options posted.

My hope is that we will see this change.

Thanks,

[Rich_Laue]

@troj it was setup this way, I think, because it is the easiest way to identify the Tracker. 

The way Fitbit connect is setup allows it to sync any and every Fitbit it may find, it dosn't matter whose account it is. 

 a for location having to be on, this is a limitation of Marshmellow. 

[PDX_Amy]

Hello friends,

I have been having the same concerns re: turning on location. I have stubbornly refused to do so. I also only have the bluetooth on a few times a week for about an hour at a time. I have found a workaround for syncing that doesn't cause me any additional pain given the above.

When I decide to sync my fitbit I turn on the bluetooth. I ask the bluetooth to search for devices. Sometimes things pop up but I do not ask it to connect to anything. I just wait a couple minutes, then go back to the fitbit app. I don't do anything in the app to try to sync, it just magically occurs, and the little smiley face starts spinning and yaaay!!

Please let me know if this works for any of you fine folks. If it doesn't, I'm sorry. I clearly do not have mad skills (are the kids still saying that?) in the technology department so I don't know that I have any other advice to offer if this doesn't work. I hope the warlocks (i.e., engineers) at fitbit can get these concerns sorted for everyone.

My tracker is a Charge that has seen better days. The band broke yesterday but I'm holding it together with a clip I found in the junk drawer.

The app is running on LG G2. I apologize but I have no idea what the operating system is or how to find out, but I don't think it matters. The operating system just did some kind of voodoo the other day and updated itself so it should be the newest and shiniest Android has to offer.

[Freida18]

This aggravates me to no end. I wish they'd turn it off.

[Rich_Laue]

@Freida18 this is out of Fitbits hands, while Fitbit does not request the location, they do request the MAC of the connected BT tracker.. Android 6 requires location to be turned on before it will ass Rgis info to the Fitbit App.. 

BTW: i did a sync then looked at the list off apps that requested location,, Fitbit was not listed. 

[dcolpi]

When is FitBit going to change this?  And please don't tell me "this is out of FitBit's hands" and that it is a Google imposed requirement.  Because it isn't.

It is true that with Android 6.0, Google requires that when bluetooth syncing the app have access to your location.  However it DOES NOT require the exact location (it doesn't require "fine" location, only "coarse".  Your coarse locaiton can be gotten from WIFI.

Here is a specific quote / requirement update from Android's developer pages:

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Access to Hardware Identifier

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To provide users with greater data protection, starting in this release, Android removes programmatic access to the device’s local hardware identifier for apps using the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth APIs. The WifiInfo.getMacAddress() and the BluetoothAdapter.getAddress() methods now return a constant value of 02:00:00:00:00:00.

To access the hardware identifiers of nearby external devices via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi scans, your app must now have the ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION orACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION permissions:

• WifiManager.getScanResults()
• BluetoothDevice.ACTION_FOUND
• BluetoothLeScanner.startScan()

Note: When a device running Android 6.0 (API level 23) initiates a background Wi-Fi or Bluetooth scan, the operation is visible to external devices as originating from a randomized MAC address.

---

So, FitBit does NOT need us to turn of GPS to sync bluetooth.  As long as we have our WIFI on (which I assume most of us do), that should be sufficent to get a coarse location.  Please, someone correct me if I am wrong here and I will go complain to Google/Android.

Now, I agree that it seems stupid to require any sort of location specific data while syncing over bluetooth (the range on bluetooth is so small that you have to be very close, making location data sort of obvious).  However, this doesn't change the fact that FitBit doesn't need to require us to enable GPS.

[USAF-Larry]

Since I regularly use the GPS location services for other apps, such as POYNT, I always have it enabled and don't have a problem with it. I would find it annoying to have to enable it every time I wanted to look up a business or address, and then turn it off again when I'm done.  Since anyone that seriously wants to track my phone's location can use cell tower triangulation to locate it, I'm not sure there is much difference. Or, if they really want to know where I am, they can text me and ask....

[Rich_Laue]

@dcolpi you can do your own research, fitbit does not request location during a sync. I just successfully synced my Blaze and here is a list of recent apps that requested location.. Do you see Fitbit listed? 

[troj]

@dcolpi I completely agree. All the specs from Google specifically state that "COARSE" location is adequate for determining the device ID. That being said, there are a TON of posts out there stating that this doesn't always work and there are work-arounds being utilized.

Regardless, I'm sure that there are plenty of options to make this work without full location services being turned on. And hopefully we will see that soon.

~ t.

[rebdre]

Great, but the whole point is we don't want to have to go through the hassle of turning location on/off if they don't need it.  Which they don't from all the technical posts I've seen here. 

[Rich_Laue]

@rebdre I'm not sure what is meant by "course location" and what that has to do with the Bluetooth MAC? Can you point to some of this Everything i read? Im sure fitbit could rewrite their server an all the client software, this of course would be a monumental task to change something that has been working all along. 

@troj as for location services it can be put on power saving. As for turning location off, this would be a PUS considering how many apps and websites want to see where you are. BTW google and your phone company can find you with location turned off, 

[dcolpi]

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@Rich_Laue wrote:

@dcolpi you can do your own research, fitbit does not request location during a sync. I just successfully synced my Blaze and here is a list of recent apps that requested location.. Do you see Fitbit listed?

---

All I know is that, while using Android 6, my FitBit requires access to my GPS location.  If I do not grant it, it does not allow me to sync over bluetooth.  I can't immagine that they require access and not then use it.  However, I also don't understand why they need it, unless the FitBit developers misread the new Android requirements for Bluetooth communication on Android 6, and incorrectly are using fine location (vs course).

[Rich_Laue]

Sorry @dcolpi, the message is not asking for access.. It's asking you. To turn on location,, itbit does not access your location at the time of a sync. Fitbit requests the MAC of the device that is being communicated with, unfortunately in Marshmellow location has to be on before the MAC address is handed off to Fitbit. 

If this was a fitbit thing, location would have to be on for all of the android operating systems who jk it does not. 

This change was made for extra security

[dcolpi]

And I am saying that I don't want to turn on my GPS radio.  That is the problem.  I am asking FitBit why it is requireing that I turn on GPS (especially if it doesn't even use it).  And in point of fact, it is asking that I provide it permission to access my location (which I have) as well as asking me to physically turn on my GPS radio (which I have not).

I don't want to turn it on all the time as it is a notable power drain on my phone battery.  I don't want to have to turn it on just before I manually sync and turn it off after.

I also understand about the new marshmellow requirements (I quoted them in my post).  But if you read those requirements, Marshmellow requires either fine OR coarse location information for a bluetooth scan.  So, if marshmellow is good with coarse information (which can be gotten from WIFI), why doesn't FitBit use that?  Presumably it is making use of WIFI to get my location since it is not making use of the GPS radio like your screen shot suggests (however, if it is not accessing my GPS, why is it requiring that I turn on my GPS?).

This is the question I am asking.

[Rich_Laue]

I think you mean GPS not GPRS, turning on location services does not turn on any gps. When an app requests the GPS it will get turned on.

Actually the user is unable to turn on or off GPS, that is up to the app. 

Location services has 3 modes 

High accuracy -. WiFi and cellular - gps

Power saving - WiFi and cellular

Gps only - GPS

During a sync no location is requested, there for no location will be calculated and no radio will get turned on.