Goals and Challenges - How To Use the Fitbit App To Track Step Count on Your Phone

Introduction

This article can help you learn how to use the Fitbit app to track the steps you take with your phone. This information is useful to clients and members.

Can I Use the Fitbit App To Track My Steps on My Phone?

If you don't have a fitness tracking device, not to worry! You can use your phone as your fitness tracker via the Fitbit app. You do not need to have a Fitbit device to use this method.

1. To get started, download the Google Health (Fitbit) app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store
2. Open the app and tap the device icon on the top left
3. When asked which tracker you're setting up, choose Phone and follow the instructions
4. Once you've set up the Google Health app, go to Engage
5. Select your profile on the top right
6. Click into the Challenges section and then select Connect Device
7. When you go to connect a device, select Fitbit and follow the prompts to connect your Google Health (Fitbit) account

Can I Use Health Connect in the Fitbit App?

Note: You must use the Health Connect app on an Android phone running Android 9 or higher to set up this connection.

If you are an Android user, you can use Health Connect in the Google Health (Fitbit) app as well. This will allow you to see an overview of data from all your connected apps and devices within the Google Health (Fitbit) app. 

Troubleshooting

Step 1: Confirm that you have steps tracked in your Google Health(Fitbit) account for today

Step 2: Swipe down on the Google Health dashboard to sync your steps to your account, and then open Goals and Challenges in the Engage app to sync

Step 3: Confirm you're using the same Google account in Google Health(Fitbit) and Engage.

To check if Engage is connected to your existing Google Health(Fitbit) account, please follow these steps:

1. Select the device icon in the upper left corner of the Google Health(Fitbit) app
2. Under Apps and Services, Select Partner Apps
3. Review all connected apps. If you don't see any connected apps, this means Engage can't access this account.

To resolve this, you have two options:

1. Reconnect your device in Engage. You can learn how to do this by following the steps in the following Help Center Article: Goals and Challenges - How Do I Connect My Fitbit? When you reconnect, ensure you're reconnecting to the same Google account that your Google Health(Fitbit) account is using.
2. From the Health Connect app, switch to the Google account you initially connected to Engage