2/26 Forced Account changes will prohibit product usage for some Fitbit account users

[H2025]

My 13 year old daughter purchased an Inspire 3 over the summer.  She was very excited only to struggle with getting it setup.  When she came to me with it I realized that Fitbit/Google had implemented some unfathomable policy that prohibited a supervised Google Account from logging into the Fitbit app.  This made having a fitbit worthless.

Some information to clarify for other users or Fitbit employess who might not understand the specifics:

• A supervised Google account can be used to monitor and restrict actions by a monitoring entity (i.e. parent or guardian).  Once a supervised account holder turns 13, they can opt to have the supervision disabled, but Google supervised accounts are still supported.  As a responsible parent, we don't believe a 13 year old is fully capable of protecting their own best interests and so we require that her account remains supervised as part of our compact for her online dealings.  I don't think this stance is very controversial.

• Previously one could have a separate account for Fitbit devices and Google.  At some point after the Google acquisition, they prohibited the creation of new Fitbit accounts.  The box and specifications for a Fitbit do state that a Google account is required, but makes no decleration that supervised accounts are unsupported.

The issue with Fitibt not supporting supervised accounts was covered in depth here:

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Ace-Family-Accounts/New-Fitbit-Accounts-with-Existing-Supervised-Goo...

That issue is even more ridiculous because it prohibits supervised accounts from logging into the Ace device which is meant for minors, but the main issue still stands: Supervised Google accounts can not log into the fitbit app.

We were about to sadly return the item when I remembered I had a native Fitbit account I no longer used.  I signed in, changed the name and other personal information, including her birthday to her actual information.  Fitbit allowed this without issue.  She was then able to login to the fitbit app on her Android phone which is configured with her supervised Google Account.  This has worked well and good for several months, but as of 2/26 according to the emails send from fitbit today she will no longer be able to have a fitbit account and will have to use her Google account.

As she will continue to be on a supervised Google Account, she will no longer be able to login to the fitbit app and thus will lose her ability to use the device as designed.  This will happen within the warranty period of the device.

I know that this probably only affects a small subset of users, but this is simply not cool.

When the 2/26 deadline rolls around, will Fitbit have fixed the ability of supervised Google accounts to login to the fitbit app?

[JuanFitbit]

@H2025 , A warm welcome to the Community! Thank you for your message and feedback. 

Our team is looking into this and needs some info from you. 

- Do you already have a child account?
- Can you disable the supervise account, create the account, then enable it again?
- Are you using the child's phone to create the account?

[H2025]

Juan.  Thank you for your reply.  However I'm not sure you fully understand how the account ecosystem works in light of the Fitbit > Google migration.  Of course, Google employees also don't seem to grasp the basics which is why we customers are in this situation!

I appreciate your help, so will try to answer as best I can, even though some of your questions are nebulous:

1) No.  There is no "child" account involved here.  This has nothing to do with a "child" account.  My daughter is currently using a standard Fitbit account.  She is 13.  This is how she currently uses her Fitbit with the app.

Her Google Account is a standard Google account (there is no such thing as a "child" account in Google.  Google allows you to create an account for children under 13 and "supervise" their account with Family Link.  This however is not considered a "child" account, but a "supervised" Google account.  This supervision does not need to be disabled at 13 and, in fact, many parents leave it on to protect their minor children.  My daughter's "supervised" Google account is prohibited from logging in to the Fitbit software and that is why she uses her standard Fitbit account.

If we are forced to migrate her Fitbit account to her Google account, she will have no way to login and use her devices.

2) Yes.  If I disable supervision on her Google account, it is able to login to Fitbit.  If I enable supervision after she has logged in, then it appears to still allow the app to open and be used.  However, if I logout of the Fitbit account, I am unable to login again because of the supervision.  Disabling and re-enabling supervision is not a simple toggle and takes at least 10 to 15 minutes every time I need to complete this process.  It is not a reliable alternative.

3) No account needs to be created.  We already have a functioning Fitbit account, and my daughter already has a supervised Google Account.  The device is irrelevant.  I have added my daughter's Google account as a second profile on my phone to test and I get the same notification from the Fitbit app - namely that she cannot login to it because it is a supervised account.  You can also not login to the same device with more than one Google account if your account is supervised.  So, creating a second non-supervised account does not solve this issue.

So creating a new account is either not a possibility, nor would it solve the problem.

If you care to contradict any of the above, I'm all ears.  However I am an IT professional who is well versed in the Google Account ecosystem and I doubt I have misspoken on anything I have said.

Thank you for your time.

[JuanFitbit]

@H2025 , Thank you for your reply and further details. 

I've passed the info to our team so that they get the whole picture and keep looking into this.  
I appreciate you taking the time to describe everything so clear . 

I'll let you know as soon as I receive further info from our team. 

[Anirin]

Following up on this as well. My own daughter is turning 13 in December and we will be in the same boat. My daughter is autistic and we are using Fitbit to track metics used by her doctors. Currently Fitbit is logged into my own google account so that she can use the inspire for more detailed heart rate and sleep tracking. Those metics are slight skewed since she’s not 35, but that cannot be changed since it’s tied to my google account. 

Allowing supervised accounts would entirely fix this issue and doesn’t seem like it would be a terribly difficult change since it’s an account setting and not an age restriction issue. 

[JuanFitbit]

@Anirin Thank you for your message and information. I've informed our team that you also reported this, so that they are aware that more users are having the same issue/inquiry. 

I'll update the thread as soon as I receive further info.