Fitbit trackers and smartwatches are small gadgets that work as powerhouses for those looking to improve their health and fitness levels. By having a Fitbit you could easily track several activities, from running to swimming and beyond, and provide solid guidance and analysis once you finish your workouts.

It was one of the pioneer companies to popularize wrist-based heart rate monitoring, and also one of the first to include a built-in SpO2 sensor to measure blood oxygen levels. But Can You Use Fitbit Without a Smartphone or Computer?

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Any Fitbit tracker will work just fine without the need for any smartphone or computer connection. But before you jump to any conclusion, you should know that the Fitbit App will need you to connect to their server at different points in time. 

Below we give you all the information that you need to know about how to use your Fitbit without the need of any other device and tips on what to do if you want to use your tracker independently from a parent device.

How to Use Your Fitbit Without a Phone

“To Sync, or not to Sync, that is the question”. So let’s start by saying that there’s a huge array of features that you can easily use without the need for your phone. Such as step tracking, calorie count, pace, and most of the basic features that will retrieve all your data right on your screen, without the need of any other device to pair it with. 

Although if you would like to use the higher-end features such as GPS tracking, NFC payments, or sending and receiving calls sooner or later you will need to pair up your phone to piggyback some of the power from it. 

Another reason that you will need at some point to use a phone is to create your Fitbit account. Without it, you wouldn’t be able to even start to use your Fitbit because all trackers require a mandatory Fitbit account. 

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To finish the initial setup you will need to sign in on their official app. The good news is that you can also use a tablet or computer to finish the setup so you can start using your Fitbit without the need for a phone after all.

At the initial stage of the setup, the tracker will need to use the internet connection and connectivity protocol from an internet-enabled parent device such as your smartphone. When the setup is complete, there is no need for you to use your parent device, you can use your tracker freely without the need for your phone. The Fitbit will track and record all your data such as steps, pace, distance, calories, etc and store it locally. 

How to Use Your Fitbit Without a Computer

Same as using your Fitbit without the need of your smartwatch you can easily use your Fitbit without the need of your computer. 

But having in mind that at some point you will need to start your Fitbit initial setup by using Fitbit Connect 

Some Fitbit devices can be connected to a laptop or PC with a USB-style plugin. But most of them require a Fitbit dongle. You’ll need to download the official Fitbit app on your desktop to complete your fitness tracker setup.

You can click on it to sync or Fitbit will auto sync about every 20 minutes if your Fitbit is near the computer. Your Fitbit holds 30 days of tracker data, the first 7 days in minute format, and the remaining 23 days at a daily level. After 30 days the oldest day drops off.

Below we give you the link to Fitbit Connect so you can properly set up your Fitbit using your computer instead of your phone, once you finish your setup you are now free to use your tracker without your computer or laptop.

How to Use Your Fitbit Without Bluetooth

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So the short and sweet answer is Yes, you can successfully use your Fitbit tracker without the need of pairing it up via Bluetooth connection. Although you will be missing some important features that require Bluetooth connectivity to work properly. 

Some Features that you will be missing are distance, calories, heart rate, and sleep tracking, in case you use the internet you can have access to some of these features but without the internet and Bluetooth, you are going to be in a pickle. 

Some other features that might not be workout related but they are also really important and you will be also missing out on are:

Messages and Calls

Once you pair your Fitbit with your phone, you will be able to make and receive call notifications and messages straight to your wrist 

Automatic Transfers

If you connect your tracker with your phone using Bluetooth you will be able to update your mobile phone app automatically. 

It’s awesome to be able to have the extra layer of connectivity that you have between the Fitbit and the mobile app using Bluetooth, but it’s just an extra perk that is not something that you will really need. 

GPS Mapping

This is one of those features that you will be missing out By having GPS mapping you can map out jogging routes via your phone’s GPS. 

With GPS mapping, you can play out your runs and figure out how long it’ll take you to complete your workout even before you start them. 

Friends List

One of the coolest features that are only available on the mobile app is the friend’s list.

This list permits your friends to share their progress, and it allows you to react to their progress making it more fun and in some cases will help you to have that extra push that only your friend can give you, by creating goals or targets to meet and even compete in a healthy way so you push each other to the next milestone.

How to Use Your Fitbit Without Internet

Another good news is that you can freely use your fitness tracker or smartwatch without the need of using an internet connection. Fitbits are able to perform most of their tracking without the need for an internet connection. 

You can go for a run, for a swim, or even get yourself into the outdoors and you will be fine with the need for Internet, although you will need at least a Bluetooth connection to get some of the tracking going. So your first step should be to connect your tracker via Bluetooth to a phone or computer, after that you will need to turn on the Bluetooth connection in both devices so they can communicate with each other.

For other functionalities, you will at least need the parent device ( phone, laptop, or tablet) to be connected to the internet connection to sync the data to the Fitbit web server.

For those folks that want to have an internet-free device, you can still use your tracker but you need to have in mind that your data and tracking history will not go to Fitbit. Although it may sound tempting at first privacy-wise, many users experience problems from time to time. So we would not recommend you to go for this option.

Conclusion

So as you can already imagine its possible to use your Fitbit and have your basic data just by creating a Fitbit account and then go freely without the need of any other device or  even connection

Although we are sure that there’s so many missing opportunities for you if you choose this path, from high-end features and accurate tracking you will be missing out big, having in mind that the main reason that you will be using a Fitbit watch is for the high-end features, if not you can just buy any cheap fitness tracker that will also do the job 

In case you are looking to disconnect yourself completely from third-party data sharing services, you might want to find yourself a good standalone smartwatch.

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