Keep getting location service notifications

[xSynerGy]

Sorry guys I am so annoyed with the Fitbit app constantly asking for location service,  if I set it to never I get notifications on my iPhone saying it’s disabled or when I open the Fitbit app,  set It to when using app I get to track your exercises set location to always, and when it’s set to always I get notifications saying the app has been using always for x amount of days to save battery life save to only while using app.  It’s really silly and very annoying but please Fitbit admins don’t come back with troubleshooting suggestions as I have tried every trick from every forum and it does t resolve the issue.  If I could uninstall the app I would as I have never seen an app that has as many notifications or pop ups regarding location services as yours.

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[fourthirty]

Hi @thenameless1 ,

Thanks so much for replying to my post.  I guess I'm still somewhat confused.  In the thread you referenced, @LizzyFitbit  stated:

"Let me clarify your inquiries. First, about my previous post, the location services within your phone's settings are required to be set to Always. This setting was changed for the Fitbit app regardless of the Fitbit that you have, as it ensures the connection with your phone's sensors to capture GPS data. This is required when using connected GPS with a Fitbit that has that capability, or with MobileRun which uses your phone (not the Fitbit itself) to track your GPS data."

I've used (several) Charge 2 devices over the past few years with Location set to "While Using the App", and my walks/runs allowed GPS tracking without issue (as long as I had the Fitbit app open on my iPhone).  This seems to have now recently changed.

Per your suggestion I set my location to "while using the app" and also turned off all day sync and background app refresh, however I still receive the popup message when attempting a walk/run.  Am I misunderstanding the situation?

Thank you,

Greg

[fourthirty]

"Let me clarify your inquiries. First, about my previous post, the location services within your phone's settings are required to be set to Always. This setting was changed for the Fitbit app regardless of the Fitbit that you have, as it ensures the connection with your phone's sensors to capture GPS data. This is required when using connected GPS with a Fitbit that has that capability, or with MobileRun which uses your phone (not the Fitbit itself) to track your GPS data."

I've used (several) Charge 2 devices over the past few years with Location set to "While Using the App", and my walks/runs allowed GPS tracking without issue (as long as I had the Fitbit app open on my iPhone).  This seems to have now recently changed.

[fourthirty]

Per your suggestion I set my location to "while using the app" and also turned off all day sync and background app refresh, however I still receive the popup message when attempting a walk/run.  Am I misunderstanding the situation?

Thank you,

Greg

[thenameless1]

@fourthirty I think it might have been me that misunderstood things. I completely understand where you are coming from though I have had a fitbit blaze since it came out and i lost the same functionality with my tracker.

It seems that users are penalized for not having location set to "always" and in order to regain features you once had you are going to have to set it to "always"

My settings are: location->never, background app refresh-> off, all day sync-> off. I Don't receive any location popups,but i've also given up on trying to track an exercise.

1. In order to start an exercise from your tracker fitbit now requires you to have location set to always. It used to work just fine in the past with "while using the app." You can start an exercise from your tracker if you have the location service set to "while using the app" if you already have the app open.

2. For whatever reason location now requires background app refresh to be on. This is most likely why you were receiving the popups in the first place. Fitbit has yet to comment but several users have caught the fitbit app tracking them in the background. I think the popups being received were the app trying to access your location in the background.

You're going to have to find a set of settings that work for you or that you are least comfortable with.

1. The only way to have your tracker function like it used to will be to set your location to always and turn on background app refresh. This will stop the popups and it should work normally, but then there are privacy concerns

2. If location is not set to "always" and background app refresh is on. You will still see the popups for location, but will maintain a portion of the tracker functionality you once had.

3. Set location to never and turn background app refresh off. No popups, but you also lose the ability to track an exercise.

[fourthirty]

@thenameless1 - Thank you so much for the clarification.  Your input and experience with this issue are extremely helpful.  Much appreciated!

@LizzyFitbit (or other Fitbit representative) - Could you please explain why I must now set my location preferences to "Always" to enable GPS tracking of my exercise?  I've used my Charge 2 since it launched (I've purchased 3) with no issues when set to "allow while using app" with no issues, until recently.  Why the change?

I don't allow any of my 3rd party applications to "Always" track my location.  Fitbit will be no exception.

Thank you,

Greg

[TheConfessor]

In think you hit the proverbial nail on the head. Seems like when the Google Alphabet family bought FItbit out, my fears have been answered on what they’re going to become & my personal information is in jeopardy. I’ve supported & enjoyed  the FItbit family ever since HR version & now, I may think about giving it all up if this is what it will become w/ Alphabet @ the helm. Tired of telling the app ‘only when in use’ 10x a day-

[TheConfessor]

I think you hit the proverbial nail on the head. Seems like when the Google Alphabet family bought FItbit out, my fears have been answered on what they’re going to become & my personal information is in jeopardy. I’ve supported & enjoyed  the FItbit family ever since HR version & now, I may think about giving it all up if this is what it will become w/ Alphabet @ the helm. Tired of telling the app ‘only when in use’ 10x a day. No different when Google asks me fifty million times to switch to Chrome. Really don’t wish to switch brands so I hope this gets fixed soon.

[Holtzmann]

I got the Versa 2 on Wednesday. At first, I set the GPS to always (silly me, I know!) because I figured the Weather app would need it and I'd need it to track my walks. Yesterday evening, my phone told me that in the last 3 days, the app had used my location 21!!!! times. That's insane and creepy. In that time, I had gone on one walk where I used GPS and had used the Weather app a handful of times. But the tracking had been all over the map. 

Back to "only when using" with location service. At least, after updating the app, I don't get the annoying notification about location services each time I sync. 

[fourthirty]

Hi @Holtzmann  - Wow, 21 times is creepy!

The main problem is, Fitbit is not even giving us the option to go back to "only when using" GPS tracking.  Our devices use Connected GPS for exercise tracking, which utilizes the iPhone's GPS location.

If I start a GPS based exercise (walk/run/hike/bike), the Fitbit App now requires me to set location to "Always", even if I have it set to "only while using", which is insane.  No other application on my phone - including Google Maps, Waze, etc, requires "Always" to work properly.  This is so over the top I can't believe more people are not upset about it.  I guess many aren't concerned about their data privacy.

What's really frustrating - in past versions of the App I could set location services to "only while using", and it worked fine for Connected GPS exercises.  So there is no technical reason to have it set to "Always".

Below is another interesting thread on this topic with some external article references:

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/iOS-App/App-asking-to-keep-location-services-quot-always-on-quot/td-...

[9lsnjw]

I have this exact problem just recently started doing this to me... I don't want to use the gps function with this device as  I am disabled and can not run anymore and the walks I take are short... SO please fix this App so it will stop asking me to turn on bluetooth sharing!!! OR do what the other guy said Make a third option Do not ask me this again!

[9lsnjw]

If I remove the wather app will it stop this crap????