Fitbit partners Tile to help users find their wearables
- March 30, 2021
- Steve Rogerson
Fitbit is using Bluetooth technology from California-based Tile to help users find their fitness trackers should they lose them.
The partnership with Tile has started with the Fitbit Inspire 2 and marks Tile’s entry into the wearables market.
“Fitbit is empowering people to lead healthier, more active lifestyles, and we want to help by ensuring you never lose your fitness tracker,” said Tile CEO CJ Prober. “With Tile’s finding technology now available directly from your Fitbit Inspire 2, you’ll never have to worry about missing a step. Wearables are an exciting new category for us to support and a strong complement to our existing integrations with headphones and laptops.”
Existing Inspire 2 users are being prompted to update their device software in the Fitbit app to add the Tile feature and will then be directed to download the Tile app to activate the finding tool. All new Inspire 2 devices will also be capable of enabling Tile’s finding technology.
“Now with Tile technology, we’re adding even more convenience and helpful tools to Inspire 2, our accessible, easy-to-use activity and sleep tracker,” said Larry Yang, director of product management at Google subsidiary Fitbit. “We’re excited to partner with Tile so our users can focus on building healthy habits without worrying about not being able to find their misplaced device, with the potential to bring Tile’s finding technology to more Fitbit devices in the future.”
If a user misplaces their Inspire 2 at home, they can use the Tile app to locate the device. If they have misplaced it outside of Bluetooth range, they can use the Tile app to view its most recent location or leverage Tile’s global network to find it. Additionally, if the Inspire 2 is connected via Bluetooth to the user’s phone, they can use Inspire 2 to ring the phone even when it’s on silent.
Additional features, such as smart alerts, can be accessed with a Tile Premium subscription. With smart alerts, the Tile app will proactively notify users before they leave their Inspire 2 behind when heading out of the house on a hike or walk.
Inspire 2 includes motivating fitness features such as Active Zone Minutes, 20 goal-based exercise modes, sleep tools and round-the-clock heart rate tracking, all with up to ten days of battery life. The tracker comes with a one-year trial of Fitbit Premium for more support and guidance, with access to step-by-step fitness and nutrition programmes, hundreds of workouts, mindfulness content, and personalised insights to help users reach their goals.
Leveraging a community that spans 195 countries, Tile’s cloud-based finding platform helps people find things. The company is based in San Mateo, California, and is backed by Francisco Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners and GGV Capital.