How to Set Up Fitbit Notifications

Use your Fitbit tracker to check your smartphone notifications

by
James Frew
James David Frew
WRITER
Former Lifewire writer James Frew has been a technology journalist since 2016. His work can be found on both MakeUseOf's website and YouTube account.
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James David Frew
Updated on December 02, 2020

In addition to activity tracking, your Fitbit has lots of useful features. If you know how to set up notifications on the Fitbit Versa, you can enable your Fitbit notifications to mirror some of your smartphone's notifications, allowing you to stay up to date directly from your wrist. 

Instructions in this article apply to iOS and Android devices. All Fitbits with an LCD screen can support phone notifications.

How to Set Up Notifications on Fitbit for iPhone

To receive your iPhone's notifications on your Fitbit, you will need your phone's Bluetooth enabled, Do Not Disturb turned off, and both devices close by each other. 

  1. On your iPhone, navigate to Settings > Notifications and enable your desired apps.

  2. Open the Fitbit app and tap the account icon to in the upper-left corner.

  3. Select your device under Devices.

  4. Tap Notifications, then toggle each notification category you want to enable. 

    Notifications will only be sent from the default app for each category.

  5. If your Fitbit supports app notifications, go back to the Notifications screen and tap App Notifications, then select each app you want notifications for.

  6. Navigate to Account > Your Device > Sync and tap Sync Now to apply your updated settings to your Fitbit tracker. 

Three women wearing the Fitbit Versa smartwatch on their wrists.
Rich Fury / Getty.

How to Set Up Notifications on Fitbit for Android

To receive your Android smartphone's notifications on your Fitbit, you will need your phone's Bluetooth enabled, Do Not Disturb turned off, and both devices close by each other. Your phone must also be running Android 5.0 Lollipop or above. 

The following instructions apply to the menu layouts for Android 8.0 and above. Some menu elements may be in different places on older versions of Android, but the process remains the same.

  1. On your Android device, navigate to Settings > Apps & notifications > Notifications > On lock screen. Tap Don't show notifications at all if it's selected to disable it.

  2. Navigate to Settings > Apps & notifications > See all apps.

  3. Tap the app you wish to check and tap Notifications. To enable notifications, toggle on Show notifications.

  4. Open the Fitbit app and tap the Account icon in the upper-left corner.

  5. Under Devices, tap your tracker, then scroll to the General heading and tap Always Connected to enable it.

  6. Tap Notifications.

  7. Tap the notification category you wish to enable. All available apps for that category will be shown, and you can choose your preferred app for each category. 

  8. If your Fitbit supports app notifications, navigate to Account > Your Device > Notifications > App Notifications and select each app you want notifications for.

  9. Navigate to Account > Your Device > Sync and tap Sync Now to apply your updated settings to your Fitbit tracker. 

If you Fitbit Versa is not receiving notifications, there are a number of things you can try to fix your Fitbit.

What Are Fitbit Notifications?

The notifications feature does not relate to the Fitbit app's notifications on your smartphone. It's a separate feature that mirrors some of your smartphone's notifications on your Fitbit device. 

Fitbit has added support for notifications to many of their activity trackers over the past few years, but the level of support varies between devices and depends upon which smartphone you use. If you have a Fitbit released within the last few years that features a screen, it should have some form of notification support.

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