Allow More Fitbit Devices than Ace to Family Account

[thewarden1618]

I am frustrated that I cannot give my Fitbit blaze to my daughter and use the family account. The only device it will allow you to since is the Ace. The Blaze is far better and it would be extremely useful to her. The only way I can have her use the Blaze is to lie about her age and create a single account for her. Please allow other devices on the family account for minors. 

Moderator Edit: Title for Clarity/Added Labels

[Bill272]

So what is the status? When will real family support for be implemented?

[Best7797]

I have heard nothing from the company.  My son's Fitbit will be going back.  This could be a great case study for business students. 

[HD101]

Please add all fitbits to Family Account. My daughter is 11, a competitive swimmer, and we bought her a Charge 3 for Christmas. I do not want her to have all the access a normal adult account would allow, but rather would be able to moderate it a little. By limiting Family Accounts to the Ace, not only are you deciding what is and is not appropriate for chldren, but you are preventing people buying whichever FitBit they want to for a family member. This thread has bene out a while, the necessary code is not difficult to incorporate - please move things on

[Sammy1981]

I think you should make all devices available to set up and link to a child (family) account.  My daughter received an Alta HR only to find that we can't set her up under the family account because it isn't an Ace.  I also can't set her up with her own account because she is under 13.  Fitbit needs to fix this issue as many children have devices other than the Ace.  Now I have to return the Alta HR and get an Ace for my daughter.  What a pain!

[LukeDog]

Fitbit Charge 3 needs to be added.  Update your software to allow this for kids. I guess we'll be returning ours.  Frustrating!

[LJG7]

We have been very frustrated with the same issue, as my kids have received a Versa and a Charge HR as gifts. I was initially excited to see I could set up a family account  - and then extremely disappointed when I realized it would not work. Would REALLY like to see the child accounts compatible with any type tracker!!

[MarcelBK]

Hi @Sammy1981, thanks for taking the time to share your feedback with us, this feature suggestion already exists so I’ve moved your post here.

[SunsetRunner]

I bought my 10yr old a Versa for Christmas because she wanted an Apple Watch like mine. Had I known I couldn’t set up the Versa under a children’s account, I wouldn’t have purchased it. This is extremely disappointing and will ultimately lead to me returning it, possibly to get the Apple Watch she initially wanted. Parents should have the control

over what Watch we allow for our children to have, but also given the ability to set them up under a child on our family account. I didn’t know about the Ace at the time (or I might have saved some money and not bought the Versa). 

[amoss4]

I am struggling to understand why this is still an issue. The first post was in late May 2018 and it is almost January 2019.  I didn't read all 131 comments but I didn't see an update response from the company.  So where are we at with this? Is it going to happen or no?  I just need to decide if I am going to lie about my kids age or get him a different tracker.  I got a new one and my Blaze was supposed to go to my 10yr old.

[cecilia.pearl]

I, too, am disappointed in Fitbit's devices for children.  Sadly, I purchased 3 of the kids Garmin's instead and we are happy.  We would have been happier if Fitbit had listened.
Cecilia Miller

[tpap]

Security is what I do for a profession and limiting a "child account" to a singular device lacks foresight and proper planning. If the device is purchased and placed under a parental account, the control of the information should exist in the parent account. I can purchase a smart phone for my child and am not restricted to specific device models. This comes across as design failure, not limitations based on regulatory requirements.

I was going to eventually purchase an additional Fitbit for myself, but why should I do so now? It will create false account information and force me to manage two accounts. Some users have suggested including fraudulent information about the date of birth of the child, but that has limitations too. This is a poor policy, poorly constructed by the manufacturer and can easily be viewed by many as Fitbit's attempt to force parents into buying multiple devices. There's at least five months of customer issue with the policy and setup. There have surely been firmware/software updates for the devices, as well as the app itself, where policies such as this could have been addressed. I can not find any further official statement of it being addressed to be resolved either.

I am very displeased with this service. Not all children under a certain age should be governed for devices by the same set of rules. They all exist in different circumstances and to think that one device would properly be attributable for all comes across as reckless and self-serving to the company. A parent's account has full access to the child account; poor security on the parent account inherently places the child at risk. There is little to no assurances, nor guarantee, that forcing a specific device on a child can have to ensure the safety of the child's information.

[TicToc79]

I am sounding like a broken record, but it seems like Fitbit isn't getting the message! These posts go back to May and I'm sure there are hundreds more on other posts! We just purchased 2 new AltaHR's for our 11 & 8 yr old kids and I can't add them to our family account without lying about their age and making them both 14. It is completely ridiculous! It will give us false results because the software will be judging their stats as 14 yr old kids. This Absolutly must be addressed immediately! It really is unbelievable and a huge mistake on Fitbit's behalf! No reason has even been given for why! Come on Fitbit! Step up and do the right thing!!!

[Fb_C2_PARENT]

Can't believe there's been comments about this since May 20, 2018, and it still isn't FIXED.  This isn't a HARDWARE issue. people (Fitbit),  it is software (website / app), and should have been FIXED in TESTING, not even as late as MARKET release.  It is STUPID that you don't allow it.  Kids are intelligent enough at a young age (a cousin of mine was playing video games at age 3 better than me, 30 years ago).  All you have to do is let the website and tablet/phone apps allow parents to add other devices besides the Ace to a family account.  This should have been FIXED SEVEN MONTHS AGO or more, with the FIRST complaint.  We parents are deeply disappointed for having spent over $100 for a device that our child can't use accurately for the TRACKING of heart rate and stuff, and we have our own devices, so we won't use the one we got our daughter.  Stupid.  Stupid.  Stupid.  Fix it a YEAR ago!

[Julezp]

My daughter had just bought the charge 3 with her Christmas money so she can track her swimming. All charged and ready to go and I realise I cannot add my daughter to the account without lying about her age. Not happy at all 

[thebeachmom]

I just found this out today - complained on twitter and was sent to this post.  Seriously? There are 6 PAGES of people who think this is ridiculous.  My daughter is 12 & wants to challenge me with steps....using a cool watch like mine.  I had a Charge 2 and was going to give it to her since I upgraded to the 3 and nope - she can’t use it unless she’s 13.  So the watch sits because I don’t want her to have full access to an account and I want it linked.  She’s special needs so she wouldn’t get a full account at 13 either.  Fix this - I’m not spending $100 on a watch for her when a Charge 2 would be fine and I already own it.

[Vanessa1309]

I am astounded that Fitbit thinks it's okay to limit your freedom to choose the device you believe is best suited to your child. I bought a Flex 2 for my 10 year old daughter for Christmas, not realising that this ridiculous policy is in place. I now have to lie about her age in order for her to use her gift. I am a huge Fitbit fan but this really makes me question my loyalty to a brand that doesn't have the best interests of its audience at heart.

Please leave it up to parents to decide what Fitbit their child should use.

[TheCraigger]

The thing that frustrates me is that my kids email account was used to setup as a child account,  so now what?  I can’t use the existing account with my new fit bit & I cannot create a new account.

What a mess!  That Christmas present didn’t go as expected.

[coolerrunnings]

I cannot believe that you can only use a fitbit "ace" for a child in a family account.  Fitbit please fix this issue.  It cannot be that hard to add different models under a family account!

Also, have you thought about people with special needs who may have the body of an adult but the mind of a child...Imagine how frustrating that would be!  What if a care taker or parent would want to control their account! They can't because of the model?!?! 

I know that I am very annoyed to the point of just returning them,(we got 2 for 2 youngsters) and going with the garmin, which I saw other people have posted, stating that they are similar and do not have this compatibility issue.  This is very annoying and it looks like customers have been saying this to you, Fitbit, for quite some time.  When are you going to listen to your consumers?  

[dmm_skm]

Just gave my 7 year old my old Blaze. He can’t use it in a child account, seems a little odd. Makes a lot of sense to me to allow young users to get on board with the brand from a young age. Wouldn’t this ensure longevity for the future of Fitbit by giving them a full user experience from the beginning?

Please can we get this feature unlocked as I simply don’t like the Ace as a device and would rather give my child a proper Fitbit. 

[Julia_G]

@TheCraigger, please post your question in the Ace forum.  Provide as much detail as you can, and someone will be able to help.  A child does not need an email address to have a child account.  It is set up under the parent's email address.

[Humblepie197]

Please add Charge 2 and other devices to child account options, crazy that I have to set then up with

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@thewarden1618 wrote:

I am frustrated that I cannot give my Fitbit blaze to my daughter and use the family account. The only device it will allow you to since is the Ace. The Blaze is far better and it would be extremely useful to her. The only way I can have her use the Blaze is to lie about her age and create a single account for her. Please allow other devices on the family account for minors. 

Moderator Edit: Title for Clarity/Added Labels

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adult account so they can use it

[momdyer]

Please allow a family account to add different devices besides the Ace. My children have different devices and I would like to be able to monitor them on one account. I would have gone with a different brand of trackers/watches for them if I'd have known it was so difficult to monitor their devices.

[ephrata]

Please extend this to work for all devices. I want to pass my old devices to my children and I cannot currently do that and have child accounts. That is so utterly backwards I didn't realize it until I went to set them up with child accounts and realized I could not. 

[LindseyNinja]

Agreed! My son got a new Fitbit Alta HR for Christmas this year but I can’t register him under a child’s account, only the Ace. He has epilepsy and I was hoping to be able to track his sleeping patterns and heart rate through his Fitbit. 

[InclineVlgMom]

If the moderator can move posts on this topic, can someone from FitBit
please respond to this request?
There seems to be significant dissatisfaction with the current situation.