App asking to keep location services "always on".

[rosiequeenofc]

Do I have to keep

location services to “always on?”

or just “when using the app” - having it “always on” is taking its toll on my battery life.

Moderator Edit: Clarified Subject.

[MarcoGFitbit]

Hello @rosiequeenofc, I hope you're doing well, it's nice to see you around. 

I appreciate your participation in the Forums and for posting your question. Please note that depending on your device, you will need to keep "Location Services" on, when trying to record a map for your exercise, as "Location Services" works with the connected GPS on Versa, Charge 2 & 3 and Blaze. "Location Services" also works when you're tracking an activity from MobileRun. 

Now, if you don't use MobileRun or connected GPS you can keep this option off and you can turn it on whenever you want, it's not necessary to keep it "Always" connected. 

I hope this resolves your inquiry, if there's anything else we can do for you, please feel free to reply. 

[rosiequeenofc]

Thank you for taking the time to answer! Solved the issue.

[MarcoGFitbit]

Hello @rosiequeenofc, I hope you're doing well, thanks for taking the time to reply and let us know your issue has been resolved, I'm very glad. 

In case you have some spare time, I would like to invite you to visit our Discussions board where you will find great tips and encouragement from other members and if there's anything else I can do for you, please keep me posted!

[adguy]

I want to keep location services off, but versa constantly reminds me to turn it on. It’s Super Annoying. How can I make it Stop?

[Walker_73]

I purchased a Charge HR back in 2015 and used it for quite a few years. It suffered from an extremely slow sync when it worked at all. I struggled through it, usually spending a half hour or so whenever I wanted to sync. After multiple app reboots and settings changes it usually sync'd. But it sure sucked a lot of the joy out of the device although I kept at it because I really liked the features. I used it with Map My Fitness and My Fitness Pal to coordinate an exercise program and sensible diet. I ended up getting in better shape which was the goal. However about a year ago the Charge HR stopped sync'ing all together and it went into my closet.

My wife and I both purchased a Charge 3 during the holidays. I really agonized over it because there are so many posts about how fiddly the Charge 3 is, and there are certainly a lot of unhappy users. I really missed the tracker experience so we tried it. We purchased at Costco so we have the 90-day return possibility. I sync to an iPhone 6 on iOS v12.4.4.

There's a lot to like about the Charge 3. The sync is noticeably quicker. The display is sharper and larger without a massive real estate hit. The feature set is expanded in smart ways from the original Charge HR. The Exercise functions are very nice in theory. I am mainly interested in Walk, Hike, Bike, and Treadmill.

Here's the deal-breaker: Location services must be on "Always" for Exercise GPS to connect. If you start an Exercise function in Location "While Using" the app just spits out a message saying you need location services "Always" and does not let you proceed with GPS tracking.

This is unacceptable. I have exactly one app that is allowed "Always" location services. That's the Red Cross Emergency app which monitors your location to warn you of natural disasters. Every other app that uses location is on "While Using" combined with "Background App Refresh". Map My Fitness, My Fitness Pal, Strava, Runkeeper, Gaia GPS, GPS Tracks, Google Maps, Waze and all my other GPS apps work perfectly with location services "While Using" combined with "Background App Refresh".

There's no good reason that Fitbit needs to know where I am 24/7. That's intrusive and unnecessary. Like the other GPS programs, you should be able to run the app when you are in Exercise mode, have the GPS connect, then disconnect GPS when you exit the app. That puts the user in control of their data. To my mind there is only one reason Fitbit would mandate location services "Always". That is to sell your location data. I'm even more worried with Google's acquisition of Fitbit because they have a well-oiled machine to monetize your location data. Does Fitbit-Google need to know where I eat dinner, where I work, where I shop, where I sleep?

So that's the hill I won't climb. If Fitbit demands location service "Always" on in order to get the feature set they've marketed to me, then both these Charge 3 will be returned and I'm done with Fitbit.

Don't even get me started on the lack of SpO2 functionality. I was really excited about seeing the oxygen saturation levels which were rolled out with such fanfare. Where is it? Missing in action?

Second level aggravations ---

WiFi has to be off for reliable operation of the GPS tracking. Why? Every other GPS app has no problem with WiFi being on. And of course almost every time I finish an Exercise I forget to turn WiFi back on which is just another annoyance.

You can't sync in Exercise mode. Compare this to Map My Fitness where you can look at the app at any point in your exercise to see just where you're at.

Bluetooth connection - continually disconnecting which means no sync, no exercise mode until you reconnect it. As I'm writing this message, this notification popped up again "Bluetooth Pairing Failed: Call Notifications and All-Day Sync are disabled". Why do Fitbit devices have such difficulty maintaining the Bluetooth connection? I use Bluetooth devices every day that connect seamlessly when turned on.

Why is Bluetooth Sharing required? None of my other apps require it. I think it is used to share files. What files are being shared?

The accuracy of the GPS tracking/recording looks suboptimal. Tonight I walked 2.2 miles according to my steps and the Fitbit GPS recorded about 1/3 mile, in a straight line connecting two points not the streets I walked on. I walk this walk many times a week using Map My Fitness and it never deviates from the street walk.

The Windows Fitbit app has apparently been abandoned which is a pity. It was a good way to review my stats while working. It still comes up but does not have updated functionality.

Fitbit, I hope you get your act together because if we leave for another tracker we probably won't be back!

[Walker_73]

Let me be crystal clear. If the cost to use the Fitbit feature set as marketed, in addition to the $150 we pay for the hardware, is that we submit to 24/7 location surveillance - then NOPE! Keep your hardware Fitbit and we'll find a tracker that doesn't demand intrusion into our lives around the clock so that you can sell our location data to advertisers.

Please don't respond that we can toggle "Always" on when we want to use the Exercise feature. That's just stupid. Using a tracker should be a simple process, not an exercise in navigating phone settings.

Fix your code. Allow "While Using" the app for location data. It simply means you start the app before you exercise. If some folks want to leave it on "Always" that's their decision. While you're at it, fix your code with respect to requiring WiFi off for Exercise. Again, we shouldn't have to navigate phone settings every time we use the Fitbit.

Just to rub salt in the wound, tonight I started a Walk Exercise. Yes I toggled location to "Always" and WiFi off. I waited until the GPS connected - got the check mark. Then I went for my walk. When I arrived back home I went to Finish the Exercise and guess what? The Charge 3 screen says "Not Found". And nothing but steps in the app.

I really want this Fitbit to work but it looks more and more like it will go back and Apple watches will be in our future.

[Walker_73]

... and why can't Fitbit enable location services "While Using App"?

[SunsetRunner]

I'm in total agreement with Walker_73. I have been using my Charge2 with an iPhone and had location access set to "While using the App" for over 2 years without any issue getting GPS tracks of my walks or hikes. Now all of a sudden (or since the Google acquisition), I am getting the message that I must set location access to Always.

Since it worked before, there is no acceptable/technical reason Fitbit can not allow GPS tracking except when using the app. As Walker_73 said, requiring the users to go into settings to change location access from Never to Always is unacceptable and primitive.

[Walker_73]

Thanks, BL63. I have additional information. I posted a negative review on this important privacy concern in the Apple Store and a few days later the app developer replied. They contend that the new low-power Bluetooth Low Energy scanning employed in the Charge 3 requires that location services be on for syncing. There is indeed an issue in the new Android 6.0 OS which does require location service be on for syncing. Google denies that it is a bug in their Android 6.0 OS and calls it a feature.

However it is only a requirement for phones running the Android 6.0 OS and therefore the Android app. See https://stackoverflow.com/questions/33045581/location-needs-to-be-enabled-for-bluetooth-low-energy-s...

I believe that the Fitbit programmers have inappropriately transferred this requirement to the iOS app. Even so, in either case there is no reason that location services cannot be on "While Using App". They obviously have coded the app to only work if you set location services to "Always" on.

This fits with our experience that if you turn off location services to "Never", the iOS app still syncs without problem.

For anyone who thinks this is a trivial issue there was a good article published in 2018 by the NY Times on how these apps and tech companies use and sell your location data: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/12/10/business/location-data-privacy-apps.html

I am not giving away my 24/7 location in exchange for an hour of GPS tracked exercise every day or so. I have to think that military and security-aware private industry will ban Fitbit devices on location if they haven't done so already. See https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-42853072

[SunsetRunner]

Thanks again Walker_73. Your references were a good read. The change in requirement for locations services to be always on in order use GPS features is certainly an invasion of user privacy, but nothing compared to what will happen to your personal health data (heart rate, cardio score, sleep records, exercise records...etc) when Google finishes their acquisition of FITBIT. There is a long thread on this topic if you have not already seen it.

Its sad to see FITBIT changing from providing products and service that help users monitor their health to one that will sell such information and location data without permission.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Walker_73 and @SunsetRunner. It's great to see you here in the forums. I'm sorry for my delayed response.

Thanks for taking the time to bring this inquiry to my attention. As @MarcoGFitbit mentioned above, currently it's required to have the location services set to "Always" on your iOS device whenever you're going to use MobileRun or Connected GPS. If you're not going to use those features, you can leave the location services off as that will not affect the way your Fitbit syncs and communicates with the Fitbit app.

I'm sorry if this causes you any inconvenience and please know that any feedback posted in the forums is always welcome as it helps us to improve our products, services and overall environment.

If you have any other question, feel free to let me know.

[rosiequeenofc]

Someone please remove me from this thread- I was satisfied with the first answer months ago and now I hear everyone’s complaint about something that doesn’t pertain to my activities. My apologies, but can the moderator please take me off this thread?

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @rosiequeenofc. It's great to see you here in the forums. I'm sorry for the delay.

To answer your question, if you'd no longer like to follow a board, thread, or post, you can delete your subscriptions by following these steps: 

1. Navigate to your Community Settings, and click "Subscriptions & Notifications." 
2. Click "My Subscriptions" to view a list of posts, threads, and boards that you are subscribed to. 
3. To delete a subscription, check-mark the box next to each respective subscription. Then, click "Email Subscription Options" to the top right, then "Delete Selected Subscriptions."

Catch you later. 😊

[MsAdventure]

If we are supposed to have the locations services set to "Always on" to use GPS for a Versa, why do we have the "only while using the app" choice?  I want to be able to connect to GPS only while exercising - thus, while only using the app.  I can not connect to GPS when set to  "only while using the app".

[Walker_73]

Yes, MsAdventure, totally agree. There is no reason to use "Always" rather than "While using app" other than Google-Fitbit hoping we'll forget to turn off Location Services so that they can harvest our locations 24/7 for selling advertising services.

This more than any of the other problems will likely push me to return my Charge 3 before my Costco 3-month return period is up.

[thenameless1]

The sad part is it wasn't always like this.  All the trackers worked fine when selecting "while using app" in the past  and it was recently changed when the announcement was made that Google was purchasing Fitbit.

If you guys want to see something scary go into the battery section of the iphone and look at the background app usage for fitbit.

[pattiep2]

So if I use my charge 3 for walking (steps) that sometimes automatically becomes ‘exercise’ do I need location services always on? To sync with myfitnesspal do I need location services always on?  To sync the app? When are you using GPS?

[thenameless1]

@pattiep2  The short answer is No you don't need location services set to always on.

A little more technical:

1. Auto recognized activities are based off of duration. I think the default is 15 minutes so if you are walking for 15 minutes or more it 'll recognize as a walk/run.  If you would like to have the map of the 'exercise' then you'll want to have location services on

2. Syncing with myfitnesspal should have no bearing on location option

3. Syncing the fitbit app doesn't require location services turned on. However, some people will tell you it does and reference an article that fitbit wrote about android phones.  It doesn't apply to the iphone.

4. In theory the fitbit app should only be using gps to track your exercise. This is not the case! Fitbit has been using the gps to track users in the background.  Fitbit hasn't provided an answer to this issue https://community.fitbit.com/t5/iOS-App/Location-services-on-iOS-devices/m-p/3964444#M126446

5. Fitbit kind of took away features in recent app updates and in order to get them back you have to set location services to always.  So if you like the option of starting an exercise by going though the prompts on your Charge 3 you will have to set location to always.  It used to work with the setting while using the app, but then Fitbit/Google couldn't track you 24/7

I've  set my location to never, turned off all day sync, and turned off background app usage and everything works fine.

[fourthirty]

Hi @MarcoGFitbit ,

Thank you for addressing the original posters concern.  However, forcing your customer to jump in and out of privacy settings in order to utilize GPS tracking (a function which we paid for) without wanting 24/7 location tracking by Fitbit is really unacceptable.

I have previously used my Charge 2 with no issues when set location is set to "allow while using app".  Why does Fitbit now require my location sharing to be set to "Always"?

I have been one of your largest fans and a loyal customer.  To clarify, I own (or have owned) a Zip, a Charge HR, a Charge 2 (3 of them), a Surge, and an Aria Scale.  My wife has also owned the same compliment of trackers (minus the Surge).  We've invested heavily with your company and ecosystem.

None of my other iOS app require "Always" location tracking.  This is really disturbing, and makes me now question the ethics of the Fitbit company.  An explanation would really be appreciated.

Thank you,

Greg