Fitbit app keeps asking for Location access & Bluetooth sharing

[Mingarh]

I have the charge 3 and it has been asking me for as long as I can remember. My husband got the charge 5 for Christmas and it hasn’t asked him once. 🤷🏻‍:female_sign:

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[KPFrog]

NO, YOU DON'T Understand or you'd fix this quickly.  

[Wynterkiss]

I tried the fix the user described in the post you linked, turning off gps to my Luxe, but it did not work. I have the latest app on my iPhone 7. I have location services off on my phone entirely, and notifications disabled entirely for FitBit entirely. Still, every time I open the app, I get this pop up, of which I have a screen shot that I would share if I could figure out how. I have location turned off for a reason, stop asking me. Fix it please. 

[Wynterkiss]

I tried the same, but I’m still getting the pop-up. I’ve disabled location and gps on every section of the app and website I can find, but so far, still the stupid, stacking pop up to allow Fitbit to essentially spy on me. 

[Prizebiz]

KPFrog I appreciate the tip and I am glad this worked for you and hope it continues to do so. I have tried it and my app still pops up like Wynterkiss's 

[JoeyJoeJoeAlso]

I get a popup asking me to set location tracking to ‘always’ EVERY SINGLE TIME I OPEN THE APP, which I am not going to do. Why does it give me the option to select ‘No Thanks’ if it is just going to ask me again next time I open the app? After a brief search I see this problem has been around since at least 2019, so it seems like the developers have made a conscious decision to keep this. It is really rude and annoying. 

I already know the answer, but has anyone figured out how to disable the popups? 

[BerKe]

Same for me. I closed the app, turned it on, closed the app and then turned it off again. 
unfortunately the pop-up kept showing up.

Thanks for the suggestion though KPFrog!

[JasonW-1990]

I was going to thank Fitbit his morning because I hadn’t seen this pop up in several days…. But as soon as I opened the app this morning, there it was!

your 5 steps sound great, but I won’t be going through that hassle, unless you can say there is an update worth downloading.  Kinda frustrating that you might suggest deleting/updating the app, if Fitbit hasn’t made any updates…

did Fitbit change something?

[BAMcc]

I called Fitbit support to complain about this issue a few days ago. After putting me on hold for a couple minutes, the agent read a script that said "Location Access must be enabled in order for your Fitbit to properly sync". I told her that everything I care about syncs perfectly well without Location set to Always (steps, heart rate, sleep tracking, activity minutes, alarms, exercise etc.). I asked what specifically isn't working without it, but she just kept repeating her script. It's incredibly disrespectful for Fitbit to lie to users and treat us like we're stupid.

Even if this wasn't an outright lie and I am somehow missing out on some functionality, Fitbit should respect that I've said "No Thanks" to setting Location to "Always" and stop harassing me about it every single time I try to use the app. I'm not even that paranoid about sharing my location. I had the Location Access set to "While Using the App" (that supposedly isn't good enough for the Fitbit to properly sync??). I don't want to set it to "Always" because I don't want it to impact the battery on my phone or Fitbit. The support agent claimed the battery won't be impacted, but all credibility has been lost after lying about why I need to turn on Location Access.

I've been using Fitbits for many years, I love it and I've convinced many friends and family members to buy them. I normally use the app multiple times a day but this constant pop-up has annoyed me so much that I now avoid using it. I've unfortunately started looking into purchasing an Apple Watch. I'd really like to stick with my Fitbit, but at this point the app is just too frustrating.

[roushjk]

Many in the FitBit community have complained about the notification that pops up every time the mobile app is opened prompting us to turn on tracking in the Charge 5. I don't want tracking, and the popup every time is extremely irritating. Please eliminate it or decrease frequence to once a week or less.

[JoeyJoeJoeAlso]

Well said and I agree 100%. The idea that tracking needs to be set to ‘Always’ or the device won’t function properly is false, otherwise we wouldn’t have the option to select ‘No Thanks’.

It definitely feels like harassment to have this pop up every single time. Very frustrating 

[KBWi11iams]

What’s kind of entertaining (if it weren’t infuriating), is that I get email alerts every time someone responds, so I can see the real reasons and crazy amount of solidarity and frustration people have even if they don’t stay up on the message board. 

[JasonW-1990]

I agree, the fact that Fitbit isn’t making any official response, and doesn’t seem to care… well it suggests they have their own motives, and are motivated to acquire this data.  
would be very disappointed if this isn’t resolved shortly.  The inconvenience of the pop up is minor, but the utter lack of response is frustrating as it implies they are acquiring and using this data for reasons other than MY benefit.

getting close to cancelling my app subscription and tossing the brand new charge 5, in the trash.

other than this issue, I’m pretty happy.  But this is getting to where it is a deal breaker.

I didn’t buy this device to be data farmed…

[tryingToHide]

Just need to understand who purchased fitbit a few years ago.  That explains why it's not getting resolved.

[JasonW-1990]

Bought by Google!  I had no idea…

https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/tech/google-closes-2-1b-acquisition-fitbit-as-justice-department-pr...

was just the first link that popped up in my google search, lol.

a lot of claims there about how user data will be protected and transparent…

doesn’t seem applicable today…

I will say that I am seeing the pop up less frequently now, but it is still there.  I’m not sure why it is less frequent now?

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi everyone.

I truly appreciate you for getting back with more details about this issue, and your efforts while troubleshooting the Fitbit app. I understand where you're coming from and let me share that our team is aware of this situation. I've escalated your details so they can keep working on a fix. Once we have more information, we'll update this thread.

I apologize for this inconvenience, and appreciate the time taken to share your feedback. Please know the comments shared in this thread haven't gone unnoticed and will be passed along to them.

[BAMcc]

LizzyFitbit - does this mean that Fitbit actually acknowledges that the app should not be behaving this way?  Why are support agents told to tell users that Location Access needs to be set to "Always" for the device to function?  (We all know that isn't true).  If I thought that there was a chance of this being fixed soon, I would be willing to wait.  However, when I spoke to customer support last week, I was given the impression that this constant pop-up is design intent and it would not be fixed.  Based on that, I started looking into purchasing a non-Fitbit device.  It would be nice to get some honest details on this. 

[BAMcc]

I can't speak for everyone, but I personally could live with the pop-up if it happened much less frequently (e.g. once a week/one a month etc.).  I've tried all the various suggestions to make it stop, but nothing has helped.  It only started for me a few weeks ago, so I know that it's possible for it not to be there.  Why is it necessary for this message to pop-up EVERY SINGLE TIME the app is accessed?

[JasonW-1990]

I can only recall seeing the pop up once this week.  Previously, it was EVERY time I opened the app.  Wish I could describe what I did to change the app behavior, but it seems random to me…

[snoot]

I have the same issue. Charge 5. Asks me nearly every time I open the app. 

Here's an exciting new issue to go along with this one, however -- I have the settings set to "Never" -- and it is still tracking my runs and mapping them. Call me crazy, but shouldn't it not be able to identify where I am if I have GPS off? Will be testing this again tomorrow morning. 100% guaranteed that at this moment, it is set to "Never". 

PS: I'm sorry you have to deal with the angry masses, @LizzyFitbit - it looks like this is an issue as old as time, but I can see you're doing your best to respond, and that's much appreciated. We know you aren't the problem.

[CPotato]

I believe this is a tail of two GPS’s. I only have a charge 2 but I believe I read somewhere that I you do not use the phone GPS, the Fitbit GPS will be used. If you allow your phone to provide the GPF location, The Fitbit GPS will not be used (which saves battery).

Sent from my iPhone