Allow Ace users to add friends with parent's control

[Mmac15]

Ace users should be allowed to add friends outside of the family feature so that they can challenge their friends without the parents having to get involved. It could be a parent control to allow the addition of the friends. Once the parent confirms than the child should be able to challenge that friend. 

Moderator Edition: Updated title for clarity

[KolbrunRakel]

BIG dissapointment!  We order ACE for our daughter and set it up on our phones.... and then she can´t add her friends and family, the only reason we order this is so she can be in the game with the others!  ACE should have the opportunity to add friends, with parenting control.  The other kids have parent´s old Fitbits but we bought her a new one .... seems like mistake 😞 Would not have bought it if I knew...

[Zanylainey]

Agree Ace users should be able to have their own friends with parental control on who they ask to be friends, who they accept to be friends and ability to remove/block their friends. Really disappointed that this isn't already a given when we bought it 

[poyntesm]

As a product manager this feature should have been part of the MVP, shocked it is not available. After re-reading advertising material the language is not clear enough that friend features are limited family only. As a parent with a Garmin this makes it useless and has done zero to improve my opinion on Fitbit that might have over time converted me. I bought it so my son could challenge his friends who have Ace's ... which now is impossible and he is very disappointed.

[LFerrell]

So apparently, you can add and approve friends via the parent portion of the app. You send the person an invite and they can be part of the "family".


Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device

[Sarsysingh]

I agree. This would be great if you had parent control but friends could be added. I know that with kindle’s family group, I download the books and then give each child access to the books in their age group. The Fitbit family group could work the same way as the parent sets up what friends the child has.

[hajenkatt]

My son just received his Ace for his birthday, and we are disappointed by the fact that he can't add his own friends who also have the Ace Fitbit. The whole point of getting him one for for them to challenge each other.  I don't want to add his friends as my friends in order to track steps. Please add this feature so that kids can add their own friends.

[Lkg4u]

Just bought my son an Ace Fitbit for his birthday yesterday, and added myself, and he challenged me today, he wanted to add his older sister, and her husband and we cannot do this, Not happy with Fitbit right now, my son starts school in two days and he will want to add a couple of friends, he will be upset when I tell him it is not possible. 

[dlustig]

I was in this position too, but I now see that you can "invite members" under the "My Family" section of your Fitbit account. I hope this helps you out!

Derek

[Bandora]

Being able to invite someone to the family is great in theory but
unfortunately, you can't be a member of more than one "family". Since I
have a family for one of my son's accounts, my husband can't add me to his
family so I can be linked with my other son. And vice versa 😞

[dlustig]

I see Bandora, I have not considered that issue as I only have one child with an Ace. Can you consolidate either your children's account to or your husband's and then one of you can be an additional guardian?

[Bandora]

We tried but couldn't figure out a way and didn't find any tutorials or
support documents that indicated it was even possible.

[dlustig]

Right Bandora, I have not tried it myself but perhaps it is possible. I wish you and your family well and good fitness!

[monicap208]

Is this something Fitbit will be working on? I purchased the Ace for my son and his best friend so they can challenge each other and they can't even be friends. His best friend's mom and I are are friends on the Fitbit app but we cannot see each other's child's stats for them to see each others step. This should be high priority for Fitbit to work. Whats the point of the ACE if they can't even add their own friends. I should have just gotten them an "adult" Fitbit. very disappointing.  

[dlustig]

Hello,

I was in this position too, but I now see that you can "invite members" under the "My Family" section of your Fitbit account. I hope this helps you out!

Derek

[Megs778]

The only problem with the FitBit “My Family” is that you can’t be a part of more than one family at a time. So for instance, I’m part of my daugter’s family so that means I can’t be a part of my neice’s family too. Same for grandparents or any other family members who have their own “family” in FitBit and want to be friends with your child who uses Ace. Still hoping FitBit will fix this issue soon - otherwise Ace is just a glorified bracelet.

[Fitz82]

I think this is a major drawback to the ace. Friends should be added after parent approval. 

[amandajanea]

I’ve become bored of waiting for action from FitBit on this. My son hates his and I’m returning it to the shop today and swapping for a Garmin, which my daughter has. Grateful I bought extra cover for it or I’d be stuck with it.

[LuciaFitbit]

Hi @Mmac15 and commenters, we’re excited to let you know that the feature you proposed here has been implemented! Ace users are now allowed to add friends outside of the family feature with parental control. Thank you so much for your suggestion and for taking the time to share your ideas to help us make trackers better.