Unable to share/cast Premium workouts to TV

[Laszlo1981]

Hi,

I have found out this morning, the screen share/cast option is not available from the exercise videos anymore.

I still can cast using the phone in-built feature, but in much lower quality and not as convenient.

I have Pixel 7 phone.

Why is this feature is not available anymore? The app's log does not state it was removed.

Thanks

Laszlo

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[Nancy_T]

I just tried to do my workout also and can't cast through my google chrome device or mirror my phone screen. That's supposed to be one of the perks of paying for premium.

[Wend19]

I'm really glad I didn't buy Fitbit premium and just trying out a free trial.  There is no way I'm paying for coaching if I can only use it on my phone. 

[Laszlo1981]

I can use the Cast and projecting the exercise to the TV screen, but the Fitbit app built-in cast option gone. And I do not like that. The screen is shrunk, much lower picture quality.

 

 

[Nancy_T]

I contacted Google support through chat and was told the feature was gone a long time ago. I told them I had just used it last week. I was then told that premium allows you to see all the content but can no longer be transmitted to the tv. I can still cast through my IPad but who knows how long that's going to last. I can not cast through my android phone. I told them it was absurd to remove the feature and that some corporate entity must have determined it wasn't profitable. When I I asked for a refund on my premium subscription I was told it could be some kind of maintenance or technical problem or bug. I was transferred to 3 different agents. Had me force stop app, sign out and in on app, restart phone. Still didn't work. Asked again about refund and I was then told they were going to contact the higher up team and email me. In all conversations was never told how to get a refund so we'll see what happens next. I'll post when I get the next set of instructions.

[Laszlo1981]

Thank you, Nancy.

I also will contact them. I was not sure how I could do, but I will do the same way as you did.

[mrsleep]

I have the same problem. This needs to be addressed by Fitbit. I cannot follow the premium coach sessions on phone-sized screen, and without this feature the premium subscription is not worth it. I was in touch with customer support and was told "We would like to inform you that this feature is no longer available. You may watch the video on the phone or tablet only." If this is the case, why is TV casting still advertised as a feature on the Google Fitbit premium store page!?

[Shusterbutski]

I've noticed the same issue, I contacted support but they couldn't help me. Very disappointing as that's how I watch the videos. The premium subscription is essentially useless for me now.

[realcupcake74]

Google!!!!! What gives? You guys bought Fitbit...closed the website....but I can't chromecast the workouts on Fitbit Premium?

Please fix this ...I don't really wanna cancel my subscription but I can even go on a website and cast from my laptop. 

Help it all make sense and continue taking my money please!

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject and formatting

[mrsleep]

I agree. Part me thinks it must be a mistake- surely Google aren't paying those fitness brands for content just to limit it to tiny screens so its useless? Hopefully a Fitbit moderator can shed some light on this...

[tt1234567]

Hello

As of today I can no longer cast fitness videos to my Android TV. The option seems to have disappeared. I have a Pixel phone and recently updated to Android 15. I have v 4.32 of the Fitbit app. Has something changed? Other apps, eg Youtube, still seem to be able to cast.

[tt1234567]

Me too. Seems a bit pointless having fitness videos you can only watch on a phone.

[Nancy_T]

I still have not received an email about this issue that they told me I was going to get from higher up on the tech chain. Out of curiosity is everyone on this topic using an android phone?  I have no problem casting from my IPad but the casting icon is completely gone from my Samsung phone, so I'm thinking this may be an android glitch and they haven't gotten rid of the feature.

[tt1234567]

---

@Nancy_T wrote:

... Out of curiosity is everyone on this topic using an android phone? ...

---

Yes, mine's a Pixel. The problem only started after upgrading to Android 15 a couple of days ago, but the Fitbit app may also have been updated without me noticing.

[mrsleep]

I hope it's a glitch, seems crazy to intentionally remove this feature. I also have an android phone, still on 14. TV casting was removed I think on a Fitbit app update after December 9th.

[tt1234567]

I've just had a rather frustrating live chat with someone from Google Support. He gave an explanation but I'm afraid I couldn't make any sense of it. Here's just one extract:

"Since the web dashboard feature was removed, customers can no longer download the Fitbit app directly from the TV to open the dashboard and follow fitness workouts. So hence that feature was removed, the screen cast feature was removed gradually to avoid any bugs or issues related to features like those."

---

[Shusterbutski]

Same for me. I can't cast on my new android phone but my old iPhone works

[Shusterbutski]

That's so weird and doesn't even make any sense. Thanks for going through the trouble though.

[mrsleep]

Customers can no longer download the Fitbit app directly from the TV?? No sense. Still have my fingers crossed this is a glitch- they still have cast to TV advertised on the Fitbit Premium store. Why would the advertise a feature they have cancelled to get you to pay for a subscription? Seems shady. 

[tt1234567]

Here's some more from my conversation:

Them: "Because the web dashboard feature was removed, users can no longer access it through the Fitbit app on their TVs. Consequently, to prevent potential bugs and issues related to this change, the screen casting feature was also gradually phased out."

Me: "Assuming that's correct (I've never seen the Fitbit app being available on my TV) why would anyone have wanted to cast to a TV from their TV. And what has that got to do with the app on an android phone?"

Them: "as I mentioned there was people that used the feature directly from the TV app."

"Can I get the Fitbit app on my TV?"

"Not anymore ... The TV app is no longer available."

"Well, why remove the cast option to help those using the TV app when it's not available anyway?"

"As i previously mentioned, to avoid bugs and issues."

"Do you mean bugs and issues in the TV app which is no longer available?"

"The app was removed, so the feature was also was gradually removed too."