Must I keep my Bluetooth on?

[MrsDLine]

I have an iPhone 6plus and a Fitbit Blaze. Keeping my Bluetooth on seems to drain the battery on my phone a bit more. Do I have to keep it turned on? I'd still like to receive text and call notifications.

[VykkDraygo]

If you want notifications, then yes. It's the method the phone uses to communicate with the Blaze. If you disable it, then the Blaze doesn't see anything from the phone, and the phone doesn't see anything from the Blaze.

[CindyFitbit]

Hey hey hey @MrsDLine @VykkDraygo a warm welcome to the Community! I noticed that @VykkDraygo provided useful information. Additionally, you can turn on your phone's bluetooth only to sync. In case you have all-day sync enabled you can turn that feature off, some customers find that all-day sync causes the battery on their mobile device to drain too quickly. Your tracker syncs with the Fitbit app every time you open the app, or periodically throughout the day if you have all-day sync turned on. You can learn more about "How do Fitbit trackers sync their data?" at our help article. 

Let me know how it goes! 

[SunsetRunner]

Bluetooth on the iPhone uses very little power unless being used.  I leave mine on day in and day out.  Some people are **ahem** about getting 4 days on a battery where I just charge every night while sleeping and never worry.  The 6S+ does have the advantage of great battery life so it may not apply to everyone.

[CindyFitbit]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us @SunsetRunner! Have you checked our Discussions board? There you can share your story, find some fitness tips, recipes and more! Give it a look!  

See you around! 

[Sieberen]

• Must I keep Bluetooth on 

[Rich_Laue]

@Sieberen please read the posts above for your answer.

In short the Bluetooth needs to be on for the tracker to sync. Otherwise it will work fine without the phone nearby..

[CPMemphis]

Hi!   At the risk of sounding totally dense!  I have only started with my fitbit today.  I have a flex2.  And I usually don't have my Bluetooth switched on my phone very often;  therefore will it still count steps etc with Bluetooth off please?  Or do I need to switch on when I want to check the current update?  Would appreciate your help please.  Thanks.

[FerdinandFitbit]

Hi @CPMemphis! Welcome to the Fitbit Community Forums and great choice on the Flex 2! 😄

You don't need to have your bluetooth on all the time in order to have your tracker to record your activity. The bluetooth is only for syncing your tracker to your app but if you have it off, your tracker will still count your steps (notifications will not work with bluetooth off) but all other features as counting steps, distance, calories, etc., will still work and once you can enable your bluetooth on your phone,  all the information will sync.

Hope this answers your question. Let me know if you need more help!

[CPMemphis]

Great thank you so much for your help!

[FerdinandFitbit]

You're very welcome @CPMemphis! Anything else you may need, let us know. We'll be happy to help! 🙂

[New2fitness]

Are you able to use pandora on wireless headphones and still receive notifications if all linked on the same phone?

[VykkDraygo]

That depends on your phone. Most phones should be able to do so with no problem. I always have my watch connected, and it still works when connected to my car or headphones (even with GPS functionality while running).

[FerdinandFitbit]

Hey @New2fitness. Great to see you in the Community!

As @VykkDraygo says, that shouldn't be a problem. I am able to use my bluetooth headphones or bluetooth speaker and I'm able to control the music from my Blaze and receive notifications at the same time.

[Cdovnh]

How many days of memory will my Flex 2 keep before I turn my Bluetooth on? It doesn't seem to sync any steps if it's been off.

[Rich_Laue]

@Cdovnh to answer your question, lets go to your user manual https://staticcs.fitbit.com/content/assets/help/manuals/manual_flex_2_en_US.pdf

7 days of detail data, and another 23 of daily totals. So sync once a week and your fine.

[EilidhA]

I'm jumping on this because it's the most acurate question I need answered. Does the fitbit still let you know when you've reached steps even if bluetooth off?

[Rich_Laue]

If your referring to your tracker @EilidhA you don't even need your phone with you. The tracker still gives you the celebration. 

Of your reefing to the Fitbit app, then you will need to wait for the next sync and this requires Bluetooth. 

[THigginsWx]

Your Fitbit will still sync even with no bluetooth, once you go to settings then hit Forget This Device, the bluetooth will no longer connect, but you can still sync with the app just fine. Notifications are still disabled & live feeds of your fitbit are also disabled, but all data will still sync without bluetooth.

***UPDATE I was wrong with what I wrote above, I apologize for the false information.  The bluetooth will automatically connect to bluetooth again after the device is forgotten. So to sync, have notifications, bluetooth is required***

[Rich_Laue]

@Sieberen see above especially @CindyFitbit's post 

The answer is no you don't even need to carry a phone with you or even use the phone to sync, if you have a different way to sync