Should I allow the Fitbit App to access my location? This is a question that many people ask themselves, especially after reading about how much data apps are collecting.
Fitbit is a company that makes wearable fitness and activity trackers, arguably the most powerful activity trackers on the market.
In order to work properly, a Fitbit needs to access your location which has raised some privacy concerns among users.
In this article, we’ll discuss why you should allow Fitbit to collect your location data and what it means for you.
Why does the Fitbit app need my location?
Fitbit app needs your location because it needs to know where you are in order to determine your activity level.
Fitbit activity tracker uses your location to do a few things: create an accurate step count, track distance traveled, and provide context for your workouts.
The device will track your physical activity and use the info about your location as a part of its calculations. Fitbit app needs your location because it uses GPS to track your walks, runs and bike rides.
The Fitbit app needs your location to know what kind of activity you are doing. It also needs location access to tell you how many steps you have taken, the distance traveled, and the calories burned.
You can manually set a start and endpoint for your activity or the app will use your current location.
The app also uses your location to alert you to nearby friends from Fitbit, to let you know when you’ve reached a goal, and to find nearby fitness classes.
The Fitbit weather app works well when the Fitbit location services are turned on.
Location permission is also necessary to sync your Fitbit device with your phone.
Should I allow Fitbit App to access my location?
The short answer is yes.
Some people are hesitant to allow Fitbit to access their location for a variety of reasons. One reason might be that they are worried about the security of their information should anything happen with Fitbit. But should you really worry? Let’s take a look at some ways in which allowing your location can benefit you, and how it is not as dangerous as one might think!
Location data may be collected by other users of this application as well as Fitbit in order to improve features such as step counting and calorie estimation.
There is no reason to worry that Fitbit will have access to your exact GPS coordinates at all times – they can only use these when you open their app or tell them which activity should be uploaded on the Fitbit service (e.g., running, cycling).
How to allow Fitbit Access my Location
Fitbit will prompt you to allow access to your location when you first open their app after installing it.
If for whatever reason, the Fitbit app did not ask permission to access your location at all or if you denied this request in the past and would like to change that decision, follow these steps: Go to Settings, Apps, Fitbit, and then Permissions.
NB: Location access will be turned off if your phone’s battery is running low and you are using power-saving features.
How to Turn off the “Enable location services” prompt
The “Enable location services” prompt can be so intrusive and annoying… Unfortunately, at the time of writing this post, there is no way of disabling the prompt.
The following is a comment from one of Fitbit’s moderators on the Fitbit forum about the issue.
“Our team is aware of this situation and while there isn’t a time frame for the fix, we’ll continue to monitor the situation and keep our team informed of the impact on you and other members.”
Parting Shot
The Fitbit app needs access to your location because it is useful. It can help you make sure you are walking enough to meet your daily fitness goals. It can also help you schedule workouts or fitness classes for times when you are likely to have more time to do them.
By reading this article, we hope you’ve learned about why location permissions are needed for a better experience with your Fitbit device!
