Why does my location need to be on to sync.

[AprilD]

This is my second charge hr. I updated less than 3 months ago and I want to know why  does my location need to be on to sync?. I have never had to have it on before to sync until bout 2 weeks ago. I am very unhappy bout this. If it does have to be on all the time to sync than I have wasted money on something that I can't use. 

[AcEKry]

@Rich_Laue ... please, can you be a bit more neutral when reading others reactions en writing your own? I'm really annoyed by your ignorence reading different posts. 

Even your doorlock comparison only adds oil on the fire. People are sceptical about trusting big company's. If a big company asks me to unlock my door but prommices they will not enter, I will not trust them or feel safe about them not entering when they seem fit.

It is only natural for users to feel a bit scaptical towards big company's. You often dont get the personal trust relation with it like you might with your neigbours, who you might give a spare key to your door for when something happens. 

I would not trust most big company's yet that don't have a personal relation with me. And trust will only decrease for me if they know a lot about me without me having controll of what they do/did with it. If this company then also starts to ask or even force access to even more information about you then it is only logical people demand a choise.

In this case fitbit just simply demands access to more personal information (even if they dont use it, they still demand something of you, the access to it itself). And i find that users must have a choise in this new requested access if they want to give it or not without threatening to render your fitbit useless. 

Now on the technical part. I understand what google did and that fitbit (and others)  follow the logical update that now requires location information. There is a perfect more private sync option that does not needs location acces. But I believe Fitbit just (s)lacks the interest on putting effort into this. One of the reasons for not having interest in better solutions (beside development costs) is ofcourse Fitbit now gaining Access to location data from all users, and apperently users are okay with it. 

I really hope Fitbit does take great care of al this access. Since we as users have no (good enough) controll over what we do want to share and what not. I pesonally would trust Fitbit a lot more if it lets me choose what I share and what not. And dont force me to use all of there service or nothing at all. 

[LouRivera]

Even though it says “Turn on Location to Sync” if you let your Android phone sit for 1-2 minutes it will sync without turning Location on.

[Rich_Laue]

yes others have reported this. Apparently a background sync does not request the trackers MAC address. 

[KAK1985]

I love my fitbit, and I will miss it. I used to track steps, heartrate, diet, sleep, everything. But this new requirement about location is unacceptable. No, I won't leave the front door wide open. Google already knows too much. Knowing where I am at any given moment is really, really scary. So, good bye Fitbit. It was nice while it lasted.

[KAK1985]

I feel exactly the same. So, I will miss my fitbit, but nothing is worth such an invasion of privacy. Bye Fitbit.

[F4Running]

I feel exactly the same. I stopped wearing my fitbit when the change was
made. Funny thing, I don't miss it!

[Rich_Laue]

sorry but for android users this change was made by Google, not Fitbit. It seems that no one was con earned before that without the users knowledge, during a sync of the tea let, your phone could be compromised allowing an unknown party to gain full access to your phone. 

People still seem to think enabling location services means gps is turned on. It is not. Their are 3 different unrelated ways android looks for location. Then again.. No location is requested until an app requests. 

For Fitbit, the only time Fitbit requests location is when the user asks Fitbit too

[Leonardo]

Talk about garbage! So I need to let Google know my location so my Fitbit will work! This is the last Fitbit I will ever have.

[Rich_Laue]

No Google nor Fitbit need your location or request your location during a sync. 

This change was part of a fix to a privacy leak that would let an unknown party take full control of your phone during a sync of the tracker. 

[F4Running]

Yep. Me too. I don't use mine anymore.

[Leonardo]

• Sorry, but I'm not buying the location requirement as necessary for security of my phone. If anything it just increases the amount of information someone can steal. There'll only be one location that I will be syncing my Fitbit in the future and there will be no more fitbit's after this one dies.

[Rich_Laue]

You can read about the changes in dev.android.org 

To access the hardware identifiers of nearby external devices via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi scans, your app must now have the ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION or ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION permissions

Here are a few pages to check @Leonardo 

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/37411765/is-it-possible-to-scan-a-beacon-with-location-service-d...

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/33045581/location-needs-to-be-enabled-for-bluetooth-low-energy-s...

https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/160479/why-do-i-need-to-turn-on-location-services-to-pai...

[F4Running]

I don't care why it is occurring that I need to provide my location. I
won't be providing my location. Giving my location is an unacceptable
requirement. I will not be using my Fitbit and I will not buy another
Fitbit. Fitbit is junk now.

[SunsetRunner]

My ionic wasn't even recieving WhatsApp messages without Location-Services. But that was not the case at the beginning so it must have been caused by an update. Usually just bluetooth was sufficient for WhatsApp but that must have been changed approximately at the end of last year. since then i was using it rarely and because of that i decided to sell it. sorry to say that but that was my last FitBit. goodbye fitbit-community

[Amit26]

What you mentioned are just API requirements, but it doesn't explain why should these APIs even depend on each other? Bluetooth sync should NOT depend on location service, they are two entirely different services.

This is just an invasion of my privacy.

[Amit26]

In a future version you will have to give fingerprints, identify your gender and submit a blood sample if you want to sync over Bluetooth.

Why? Because the new version of Android "requires it" 😁😁😂😂

[Rich_Laue]

Bluetooth sync doesnt require location @Amit26 

I dont know why Android chose the fix to the insecurity during a Bluetooth Mac scan, but that us what Android did.

If you have a problem with Android, maybe you should take it up with Android. Fitbit does not insist on having location services enabled they simple are reminding the user that android requires it. BTW having location services enabled does not mean that the app is going to use any of the 3 types of location. It simply unlocks the door allowing an app permission.

https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/160479/why-do-i-need-to-turn-on-location-services-to-pai...

[adex08]

This issue is very old.

I switched to another manufacturer because of this.

It is an issue on Fitbit side, but maybe the cost of fixing it is to big, or they jus want to sniff some user data 🙂

What Fitbit wants is to scan for Bluetooth devices all the time, not just when pairing, like all other normal smartwatches require.

That's why they need location services enabled all the time.

It's sad they don't fix this.

[Rich_Laue]

Is it really @adex08 ?

I needed location services on to install my Google thermostat.

My Tile

2 different brands of wifi lights, that use Bluetooth to setup.

My arduino bluetooth unterface

Garmin requires location services enabled.

Both Withings and the B&M scales

Even Leaf required it.

https://arboleaf.com/faq_why-the-app-needs-my-location/

Something tells me that it is not fitbit when they all independently blame google 

BTW turning location services off doesn't prevent google from tracking your movements.

Leaving location services on doe not use more battery, unless you have spyware, or a nasty app.

@AcEKry my door lock comparison was not about a company saying that you must leave the door unlocked. I simply am saying that an unlock door does not mean that everyone has to open the door. In the same way location services enabled doesnt mean that an app has to use one of the 4 different  ways the phone can find your location. Bluetooth wifi, and location with towers being the most common. GPS is only used by a few specialized apps.

[adex08]

Everybody needs location services on during setup process, but not after that.

Once you paired with a device, location services can be off.

Location services are only used to scan for nearby bluetooth devices, during setup, which is normal, but should not be needed once you paired with your device.