Can I disable games on Ace LTE entirely?

[Theemomofthree]

I want a watch that allows me to communicate with my kids while they are out and about, such as walking to the park. I don’t want another toy for my children. Is it possible to completely disable game function on the Fitbit Ace LTE? Not just in school mode, but completely disabled the games?

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[firbitfan]

Same. My child has a healthy relationship with being active. I don’t want to gamify his health. I assume this is a profit driven intentional omission. The more excited about the games our children are the more they will want new bands that unlock more features. 

[Campaign]

Agreed as well, 

The games betray the purpose of this watch.  My intent in providing it to my child is just for communication and location sharing. Providing her with a new distraction while she's out and about makes me feel less confident she'll pay attention and make the right choices while not directly supervised.  

[DramaQueenDiva]

I'm not sure, but I would be happy to ask.

[MrVacca]

Hello @Theemomofthree,

I do not believe you can completely disable the games. This is good feedback though, I will send it into the feedback feature directly in the app. You can do the same by opening the Ace app, click your profile icon in the top right and then hit feedback. 

[DramaQueenDiva]

Just seconding what @MrVacca said, and adding a little more information:

"Fitbit Ace LTE’s games are designed to get your child moving If they don’t get moving they don’t get to play - all games require your child to reach movement goals before progressing to the next stage. See how that’s done here. During School time, access to games is restricted."

[Theemomofthree]

Well said

Stephanie U'Ren

[firbitfan]

This should be a choice/decision made between parents and their preteen 7-year-old child learning to develop a healthy relationship with their electronics. The functionality already exists on the back end, and Google's intentions are not in the children's best interest. I honestly think it’s a cool feature that I could see myself wanting to use, especially if my child became sedentary, but again, let that be a choice.

I know you spoke to experts when creating this device. I suggest you contact Tristan Harris at the Center for Humane Technology. I appreciate Fitbit's goal to improve children's physical activity. It's a noble cause. I'm not sure the average child has the mental fortitude not to play games attached to their hand. As parents, we need to consider children's mental health as well.

[TeeEn]

100%. Hoping there is a way to deactivate entirely otherwise I think I'll get something else. 

[bsquizz]

Yes, it is possible but it is not user friendly or very convenient at the moment. You can do it via the FamilyLink app. Under "App Limits" for your child in the FamilyLink app, you can block apps on their supervised devices. If your child has multiple Android devices associated with FamilyLink make sure you select the "Fitbit Ace LTE" device from the drop-down menu at the top right of the "App Limits" settings screen. Then, you will see the apps that run on the device. Clock on each app (one at a time). Some apps will have a "Block" button blocked and some will not (because they are probably "essential" system apps). What I have found is that at the moment, any app which can be blocked aside from "Clock" and "Google Wallet" are games. After blocking those apps, when my child presses the game/arcade button on the watch, they receive a message saying something like "No games are currently available." I have submitted a feedback request to add a new mode similar to School Time which would only disable gaming but not silence calls/messages. I have also submitted feedback to add a feature to the Ace app which would allow parents to easily toggle on/off these modes without needing to create a schedule.

[bsquizz]

I should also add ... There's an app named "SIM Toolkit" which is blocked by default which I just leave alone. The steps I mentioned above are not an officially supported method as far as I know, just a useful work-around (but tedious if you want to turn games on/off repeatedly)... A proper way to quickly toggle all games on/off via the Fitbit ACE app would be the preferred solution here.

[firbitfan]

This was extremely helpful! Thanks so much.

[itsjustlaur]

There are so many other communication and tracking watches out there for children that have no games. I was finally looking for a reason for my child to want to wear this one. What motivation does a child have to wear a tracking device if they can't do anything fun?

[bsquizz]

Because sometimes I want the calling/texting notifications to be received
by my child (if school mode is on, notifications are snoozed) but I do not
want them to play the games. They have enough screen time throughout the
day already as it is. I would like a toggle in the ACE app that allows me
to easily turn the games on/off as desired.

[Kodros]

It can't hurt to have the option to turn it off.  But the games are very short so it doesn't add much to screen time.

[Atarmour]

Sounds like you’d benefit from Fitbit integrating with Google Family Link. This integration would allow you to not only control the Fitbit Ace LTE games, but any game or social media downloaded to your child’s device. This feature would be available for all Fitbit consumers instead of limiting it to just Ace LTE consumers.

[Kjreid]

Upvote this comment as well, hopefully they’ll make this mode possible. https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Product-Feedback/Distraction-free-mode-for-Ace-LTE/idi-p/5624951 

[ahobb]

This was SO helpful, thank you for this workaround to disable most games. I do not want a watch with games!! Just a word of warning to other parents who feel the same and use this trick: after a system update a game was added and I had no idea until my son was playing on his watch and saying "look at this game!" So if you want to disable games you need to be aware that new ones may pop up without you knowing!

[Mirella24]

Yeah, but in the ad what they sell us is the possibility of being able to communicate with our children and the advantage of tracking. That is basically what most people need from the device.

[Mirella24]

I'm doing the same.