Fitbit One rejects pairing with Android phone

[appetite4]

This causes me two problems:-

1. My Fitbit data only syncs when I manually open the app

2. I cannot use my One with the Google Smart Lock facility because it is not recognised by the phone as a paired device. 

I have read other threads on this problem and tried.....

Reset the One. No effect. 

Clear cache and data from phone. Delete the app on the phone. Reset the One. Reinstall the app and reconnect the One to the app. No effect.

Delete the One device from my Fitbit account. Reset the One and set it up on my Fitbit account as a new device. No effect. 

This problem persists across multiple brands of Android phone. It also occurs with my Chromebook and with my Windows 10 PC. All devices can sync Fitbit data manually for me but all report that the Fitbit One rejects pairing and so never appears as an available device in the list of paired bluetooth devices. 

It has NEVER worked properly for me on any phone (at least four different Android and one Windows Phone) over the years.  I have put up with it as a minor irritation until now but I want to be able to use that Google Smart Lock facility.

Is it simply the case that Fitbit use a non standard bluetooth implementation in the One so it will never work?  I know other people with other Fitbit devices have got the Google Smart Lock working. Is there some workaround that I am missing?

Thanks

Paul 

[PureEvil]

Hello @appetite4,

Welcome to the community!

You posted pretty lengthy response and I see a handful of issues that may causing your some grief, so I'll try to tackle them one at a time:

"My Fitbit data only syncs when I manually open the app" - A couple of issues may cause this one:

• You have disabled "All-Day Sync" for your tracker.  It's one of the settings for your tracker.  If disabled, it only syncs when you run the app.
• You have disabled the Fitbit App from running on the background.

While Fitbit trackers do establish a pairing with the device (phone or computer), it is established by the Fitbit App.  If you pair the Fitbit through conventional bluetooth settings it will reject the pairing.  It can only be done through the Fitbit App, but it does establish the pairing.  Just to illustrate the point (on a Windows 10 desktop and phone):

Yes, these are from the Bluetooth settings on my desktop and phone respectively.

All that said, I'm pretty sure that even if it did show up as a paired device and everything was working perfectly, you would not be able to use the Fitbit One (this model in particular) with Google Smart Lock.

Trackers that are enabled for notifications (like the Surge, Blaze, Charge, etc.) pair with your device a little differently (Fitbit calls it 'bonding') and they'll maintain a persistent connection to your device in order to push notifications.  You can likely use one of these for Google Smart Lock.

The Fitbit One merely tracks your activity, it does not accept notifications.  So under normal conditions, it'll only communicate with your phone or computer every 20 minutes or so.  This is fine for how Fitbit works, but it doesn't help you with Google Smart Lock.

I hope this helps.

[mantababe]

so how do you pair the one thro the fitbit app? as i too have same problem with it not pairing

[PureEvil]

@mantababe,

If all that happened is that you got a new or replacement phone, I suspect it's easier than you anticipate:

1. Install the Fitbit App.
2. Log in.

That's it.  The Fitbit App does the pairing on your behalf.  If you're trying to pair a new tracker, then what you'll want to do:

1. Install the Fitbit App.
2. Log in.
3. Go to your accounts section.
4. Select "Set Up a Device".

I hope this helps.