Set up Inspire HR with MacBook Air

[Fidd]

This is our first FitBit purchase of an Inspire HR. We are trying to set up via a MacBook Air.

We have created an account but cannot get past the set up.  There are pop up windows with next and back button which I assume must be displaying instructions but they appear blank except for the buttons.  There are 4 screens but all blank.  After these 4 screens it does not connect, despite the Inspire HR being linked to the mac via usb. We keep being asked to try again...getting frustrated and would appreciate any assistance.  Thanks.

Moderator edit: Subject for clarity

[YojanaFitbit]

Nice to see that you're digging into the Forums @Fidd, let me give you a warm welcome to our Community.

I'm glad to hear that you're using the new Inspire HR. Thanks for troubleshooting prior to contacting us and for creating your Fitbit account.

Thanks for reporting the pop up windows that you're getting while trying to set up your new Fitbit. In this case, we suggest to use a compatible device, you can find the list of compatible devices here. Mac-book Air is not compatible at this moment for this generation of Fitbit devices. 

Keep me posted with the outcome!

[meszarj]

Why is there a Mac "Fitbit Connect" app if Macs are not compatible with the device?

[YojanaFitbit]

Thank you for reaching out to the Community @meszarj, welcome.

You have a good question here, as mentioned above Mac-book Air is not compatible with this generation of Fitbit devices. Even though, some Fitbit devices can use a Mac computer to transfer music. 

Let me know if you have more questions. 

[SunsetRunner]

I have the same problems as the original poster, am unable to connect my wife's Inspire HR to either of my MacBooks:

- MacBook Pro 2016 running macOS 10.14.4

- MacBook Pro Retina mid-2015, running macOS 10.14.4

I also tried connecting to a Samsung Galaxy S8, and an S9: unsuccessful.

The *only* device I could successfully connect to is an iPhone 8 running iOS 12.2, which is *not* the device I need it to be connected to. Duhh.....

Behaviour on both Macs is the same as described: empty screens in FitBit Connect, never connecting. Restarted Macs, reinstalled FitBit software, restarted the Inspire HR, reset Bluetooth in macOS (following Apple's instructions), read many suggestions for solutions on this site as well as the wider Internet; no joy.   (Behaviour on the Android phones is different: screens show pictures/animations, and sometimes (only rarely..) a "Connect to <MAC address>" or even a "Connect to Inspire HR" notifications pops-up. When I click OK, the app goes into a loop and I end up where I was before, with the Inspire HR unconnected)

This has been taken hours, it's been very disappointing, it's not turning out to be the hoped-for mother's day gift

From a marketing perspective I am wondering how the hell Fitbit company can continue like this. I am an ICT professional working in Quality Assurance and when it comes to quality I know what I am talking about. I would be in serious trouble if I allowed our engineering team to inflict this kind of experience on our customers.

I am sorry this post has become a bit of a rant, but it *does* accurately reflect my feelings about Fitbit right now. This is my first Fitbit purchase. You can only get "first impressions" right one time Fitbit....

Anyhow, questions: where is the master list of supported Apple MacBook devices ?  And supposing my MacBooks are supported, how to proceed?

[Unhappy_Mom]

Did you ever get a response to your post?  I have another Mother's Day present that cannot be paired with anything.  When powered on, the device says to go to fitbit.com/setup and finish. I have tried unsuccessfully to pair it to my wife Samsung phone (currently working fine with an Alta Hr), my phone, and our 4-year old iMac Retina running 10.10.5.

The closest I have come is that I can search for Bluetooth devices on my phone and see it in the list (sometimes), but it times out and cannot connect.  This was a gift from our daughter, but at this point I see no option but to return it.

[YojanaFitbit]

Welcome to the Forums @SunsetRunner and @Unhappy_Mom thanks for sharing all this information and for all the troubleshooting steps that you've tried with different devices. My apologies for the delay.

As mentioned above Mac-book Air is not compatible with this generation of Fitbit devices, so there is not a list of Apple MacBook devices that we can share with you. You can find the list of compatible devices with Fitbit in this article: Which phones and tablets can I use with my Fitbit watch or tracker?

Thanks for confirming that your Inspire HR is syncing with your iPhone 8, I'd recommend to delete your Inspire HR from all Bluetooth devices that you've tried. Please delete your Inspire HR from the Fitbit account too and follow the set up process with either your Samsung Galaxy S8 or S9. You can follow the steps here: How do I set up my Fitbit device?

@Unhappy_Mom I'll be glad to give you a hand to pair your wife's Fitbit in her Samsung phone. What model of Samsung does she have? Confirm that it is listed here: Which phones and tablets can I use with my Fitbit watch or tracker? The Fitbit Inspire HR might appear on her Bluetooth phone but in order to connect it should be directly from the Fitbit App. Follow the steps here. 

If you encounter any issue while connecting, please let me know.

I'll be around. 

[Unhappy_Mom]

Really,

I just spent a couple of hours on a chat session with Fitbit.  They were able to resolve the issues with my wife's device and connect her to the new fitbit.  There were several non-intuitive steps and it required deleting and reinstalling the app, but you might give them a try.

[SunsetRunner]

Thanks for letting me know. And I’m happy your problems got sorted.

However, I rarely have a couple of hours to spend on chats, this’ll have to wait.

thnx again

[SunsetRunner]

@YojanaFitbit thanks for replying.

---

As mentioned above Mac-book Air is not compatible with this generation of Fitbit devices, so there is not a list of Apple MacBook devices that we can share with you. You can find the list of compatible devices with Fitbit in this article: Which phones and tablets can I use with my Fitbit watch or tracker?

---

I get that the MacBook Air is not compatible, you mentioned that before. But can you answer the question: is the MacBook Pro 15-inch 2016 compatible with Inspire HR? 

---

Thanks for confirming that your Inspire HR is syncing with your iPhone 8, I'd recommend to delete your Inspire HR from all Bluetooth devices that you've tried. Please delete your Inspire HR from the Fitbit account too and follow the set up process with either your Samsung Galaxy S8 or S9. You can follow the steps here: How do I set up my Fitbit device?

I did that. Doesn't work. I am going to return to the shop and get a refund.

[YojanaFitbit · Accepted solution]

Hi @Unhappy_Mom  and @SunsetRunner thanks for your reply.

I'm glad to see that our team was able to help you out to finish the set up process. You're right, in some cases it's necessary to perform a couple of extra steps depending of the issue. Thanks for working along with our team to finish all the process. 

@SunsetRunner About your inquiry, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 15-inch 2016 use the same OS. Which means the Fitbit App will give you the same results if you try that option. If you still have your device with you, I'd suggest to use an new option for Inspire/Inspire HR on the Fitbit Connect option. Use this link, follow the steps to download the Fitbit Connect program and try the set up process with the option below.

Let me now how it goes!

[bjmalecek]

Same problem - cannot set up my fitbit on Mac.  This product sucks!!!

[SunsetRunner]

---

@YojanaFitbit wrote:
@SunsetRunner About your inquiry, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 15-inch 2016 use the same OS. Which means the Fitbit App will give you the same results if you try that option. If you still have your device with you, I'd suggest to use an new option for Inspire/Inspire HR on the Fitbit Connect option. Use this link, follow the steps to download the Fitbit Connect program and try the set up process with the option below.

Let me now how it goes!

---

@YojanaFitbit thanks for your reply. If I understand you correctly, you're saying there isn't an incompatibility with MacBook Air hardware, but with the MacBook Air OS version, which, according to you, runs on MacBook Pro 15-inch 2016 as well.

@YojanaFitbit I do respect your efforts to be helpful and positive in all of this, but I was under the assumption we were dealing with a hardware problem (...doesn't run on MacBook Air...) and not a software problem (... doesn't run on the OS that's on MacBook Air's AND MacBook Pro 15-inch 2016's)

As to the OS running on those Macs: yes, they both run macOS, but they could be wildly different versions depending model and year of production (see https://eshop.macsales.com/guides/Mac_OS_X_Compatibility)

So what are you saying exactly? Can Fitbit please publish a matrix of Mac models and macOS versions combinations on which the Inspire HR is supported?

Anyway, I have returned the Inspire HR to the shop and got a refund, which I will spend elsewhere.

[SunsetRunner]

I cannot connect an Inspire to my iPad Pro, which is on the list of compatible devices! I’ve gone through all the troubleshooting steps multiple times, including with Customer Service. Fitbit replaced the first unit I purchased, and the second one will be going back on their dime today. Seems to me there is something wrong with the design of this particular bluetooth connection. If Inspire #3 won’t connect I’ll spend my money on some other brand!

[ianbale]

So the accepted answer is that despite a Mac app being clearly advertised on the Fitbit site, the fact is that Macs are not supported and the app that we can download simply does not work...

So, in short, false advertising! I'l be asking Trading Standards (UK) to take a look at this.

Great. Why don't; your RMEOVE all reference to Mac, from your website?

Or, better still, have a clear statement that you discriminate against mac users by updating your apps for all devices EXCEPT Macs...

Dire, just dire!

[snapkat77]

@YojanaFitbit I'm trying to set up my InspireHR on my iMac. I see your screenshot shows a menu across the bottom with InspireHR as an option, but unfortunately I can't get my window to expand any further than this:

 

Is there any other way to set up this device?

[ianbale]

When the app starts it loads a list of supported devices from FitBit server.

They changed that list about 10 days ago. One of the changes is that they have removed Inspire and Inspire HR from the list...

So there is no possible way to initiate the setup for those devices on a Mac.

I got this from FitBit support today:

Upon further understanding your issue, we'd like to share with you that not seeing the Inspire HR on the list of devices that can be set up on the Mac is an expected behavior. The reason for this is because we aim to improve support on mobile devices.

So the removal of those devices was deliberate. It seems that all these complaints have finally got past the useless support department and onto the technical team. They response has been to simply remove support rather than fix it...

I've already reported FitBit to Advertising Standards Authority in UK since they are knowingly and deliberately falsely advertising their products as having support of Mac computers when they know full well they do not.

Its is quite appalling behaviour to deliberately mislead their customers!

[Shukin]

1998 called and want their device back.  Seriously, no Mac support!  I thought that stopped last century

Super Disappointed.  Amazon Return and grab a Garmin vivosmart

[ianbale]

It's for my mum. She's 74...

She loves her Mac, but doesn't want a smart phone. She's sticking with her very basic one that only does calls and texts.

FitBit makes some great devices, but their support is nothing short of appalling. No one reads what you send them. We've been told at least a dozen times to set it up on our mobile phone instead, despite telling them a dozen times that she doesn't have a phone - and hence wants to use the advertised Mac app...

A complaint has been lodged with ASA (UK). FitBit will need to either fix their false advertising or risk a pretty hefty fine. They may not be a UK company, but they actively sell and market int he UYK so have to abode by our laws. Not that ASA will act quickly...

I'll check out that Garmin vivosmart. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Shukin]

Lol.  I am in the same boat.  My Mother in law wants heart rate monitoring and only has a MacBook.  No smart phone.  

I have the Garmin coming tomorrow!