which tpms would you buy
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,928
Likes: 285
From: Edmond Oklahoma
I had this system installed at the dealer and have been very happy with it. The sensors are mounted inside and the app on my iPhone will alert me if either tire is outside of the pressure limits Ive set.
http://techbyblu.com/products.html
http://techbyblu.com/products.html
Beary
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 4,685
Likes: 3,981
From: Near Yosemite
Ok, just a little update on my FOBO 2 TPMS setup. Overall, I like them. They work well while I'm running the app on my phone. However......... I'm not a big fan of having to run my "Location" on my phone just to be able to open up the app. Why in the hell does this app need to know where I am at all times just so I can know what my tire pressure is? What does it matter where I am? Who's tracking my whereabouts? I tried to run the app with "Location" off and no go. The other issue I have encountered is that the damn app starts up all by itself a dozen times a day whether I want to run it or not. Even if I'm in a different county or state, it doesn't matter. I get tired of hitting the "Disable" button on the app 12 times a day just to keep it from trying to run all day. When I contacted the app maker, Mr. Hazwan Bin Nazri and asked him why the "Location Tracking" was necessary and how to keep the app from self starting all day long, this was his response:
On Dec 27, 2019 at 1:09 PM, I wrote:
I love your Fobo 2's for my HD Street Glide, but the app keeps turning itself on up to maybe 10 times a day. I have to keep opening the app and clicking on disable. Even when I'm hundreds of miles away. I thought it may be the Android 9 UI on my Samsung Galaxy S10+, but it just updated to Android 10 and it still does it. Also, is there a way of disabling the "location" part of being able to use this app? I never travel in groups and really don't want people to be able to track me. Let alone the battery usage it gobbles up. Any thoughts?
Thanks, MJ
Hi MJ,
Thank you for contacting us.
The App requires the location services to be turned on while using the App in order for the App to work as designed. The App services will also run in the background and you can force to close the App by pressing the Disable button.
We would recommend you to try deleting the App and reinstall it again. Ensure to log in using the same account and check if the App still running by itself after disabling the services.
Regards,
Hazwan
I replied back with:
Hazwan,
Thanks for the response. Although telling me that location service has to be turned on for the unit to work as designed, doesn’t help me to understand WHY it has to be turned on. Who or what, needs to keep track of where I am at all times while I’m using your app? Is it you that is spying on me? Or just collecting data on my whereabouts? It doesn’t make sense to me to track wherever I go so I can monitor my tire air pressure. If you have a good explanation for that, I would be glad to listen and then understand why.
As far as uninstalling and then re-installing the app to keep it from running all the time, I’ve tried this several times. In fact, like I stated earlier, the last time I downloaded the app was on a brand new phone and it still pops up and turns itself on by itself no matter how many times I disable it.
If you could please provide my with an acceptable explanation of why my location is being monitored and tell me how to turn your app off when I’m hundreds of miles away from my motorcycle, I will keep this setup and enjoy it as I have so far. If not, I will just sell it to someone who doesn’t care about their privacy and buy a different TPS System.
Thank you,
MJ
I have yet to get any reply back from him on this, so I am researching a different TPMS for my bike(s) again. The ones by Blu Technology the binford6100 posted about look interesting.
Howz everyone else liking either the FOBO 2's or other set ups that they may be running?
On Dec 27, 2019 at 1:09 PM, I wrote:
I love your Fobo 2's for my HD Street Glide, but the app keeps turning itself on up to maybe 10 times a day. I have to keep opening the app and clicking on disable. Even when I'm hundreds of miles away. I thought it may be the Android 9 UI on my Samsung Galaxy S10+, but it just updated to Android 10 and it still does it. Also, is there a way of disabling the "location" part of being able to use this app? I never travel in groups and really don't want people to be able to track me. Let alone the battery usage it gobbles up. Any thoughts?
Thanks, MJ
Hi MJ,
Thank you for contacting us.
The App requires the location services to be turned on while using the App in order for the App to work as designed. The App services will also run in the background and you can force to close the App by pressing the Disable button.
We would recommend you to try deleting the App and reinstall it again. Ensure to log in using the same account and check if the App still running by itself after disabling the services.
Regards,
Hazwan
I replied back with:
Hazwan,
Thanks for the response. Although telling me that location service has to be turned on for the unit to work as designed, doesn’t help me to understand WHY it has to be turned on. Who or what, needs to keep track of where I am at all times while I’m using your app? Is it you that is spying on me? Or just collecting data on my whereabouts? It doesn’t make sense to me to track wherever I go so I can monitor my tire air pressure. If you have a good explanation for that, I would be glad to listen and then understand why.
As far as uninstalling and then re-installing the app to keep it from running all the time, I’ve tried this several times. In fact, like I stated earlier, the last time I downloaded the app was on a brand new phone and it still pops up and turns itself on by itself no matter how many times I disable it.
If you could please provide my with an acceptable explanation of why my location is being monitored and tell me how to turn your app off when I’m hundreds of miles away from my motorcycle, I will keep this setup and enjoy it as I have so far. If not, I will just sell it to someone who doesn’t care about their privacy and buy a different TPS System.
Thank you,
MJ
I have yet to get any reply back from him on this, so I am researching a different TPMS for my bike(s) again. The ones by Blu Technology the binford6100 posted about look interesting.
Howz everyone else liking either the FOBO 2's or other set ups that they may be running?
For the location thing, this is a side-effect of an Android change to do with Bluetooth Low Energy support, and the app doesn't actually appear to activate GPS or do any location tracking. The reason Android requires the permission is that turning on BT LE allows apps that work with location beacons (eg a lot of store loyalty apps, or add supported things that alert you when you walk into a particular location in the mall because they detect the beacon) ... it's a generic thing. I suspect older versions of the app may have been doing more, as battery life has improved quite significantly over the last 6 months (though still not good enough I can just leave it running the whole time)
for the app auto starting ... I've not had that happen - if I kill the app (and disable the service) then it stays that way until I launch it (if you disable the service, but don't kill the app from the task list then it does restart the service)
My biggest "wish" is that with only one bike, why does it still make me choose which vehicle I want to look it, wish it would just default to the only one on the list!
for the app auto starting ... I've not had that happen - if I kill the app (and disable the service) then it stays that way until I launch it (if you disable the service, but don't kill the app from the task list then it does restart the service)
My biggest "wish" is that with only one bike, why does it still make me choose which vehicle I want to look it, wish it would just default to the only one on the list!
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 4,685
Likes: 3,981
From: Near Yosemite
So, even though the FOBO app itself may not activate the GPS or do any location tracking, because I have my phones "Location" turned on, it does open my phone up to other apps or things that DO track or know my whereabouts, like some of the store loyalty apps or other things that you've mentioned? I don't need my location turned on for my BT Earbuds to work........ If my "Location" is turned on on my phone, it is communicating with other things than just my TPMS Sensors. I just don't see the need for my location to be on unless I want to use it for, say, Google Maps or something, ya know?
At least you've done a better job of explaining this than our friend Hazwan, lol........ thanks.
At least you've done a better job of explaining this than our friend Hazwan, lol........ thanks.
Last edited by MotoJockey; Jan 1, 2020 at 05:01 PM.
luckily no ... the 'location' permission is per app, so having it on so Fobo2 can communicate with the TPMS over Bluetooth LE doesn't give any other apps access to that data unless they too have requested the permission and been explicitly granted it (by you) - you can look in the settings to see what apps have Location (or any other) permissions enabled. Even Google Maps has to ask for location services to be turned on and permission to access it granted
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 4,685
Likes: 3,981
From: Near Yosemite
Got it......... so when Google Maps is not running, it is not tracking. On my phone when I go into Settings> Privacy> Permission Manager> Location> ...... I can then pick which apps are "Allowed to run all the time" or "Allowed only while in use" or flat out "Denied". I had 4 apps running "All the Time" which are now set to "Only while in use" , so if only FOBO is running, nothing else has "Location" turned on unless I have it running as well, like Google Maps or whatever.
But as far as the "Tracking" aspect of our FOBO, if you are not seeing FOBO access the GPS while the app is running, how does it know where you are for this feature (that I don't really want) that I show below? Even if you don't actually download and use this specific app from FOBO, wouldn't your TPMS still be constantly transmitting where you are through your phone in case you actually wanted to activate this app later but never actually download it? Or do you think that it would only transmit if that app was downloaded, opened, asked permission, and was in use? No app......no transmit?
Sorry to everyone on the thread for sort of hijacking it, I just have questions about a TPMS and it happens to have taken a slight detour for a minute and offbeatmammal seems to have some answers.........
But as far as the "Tracking" aspect of our FOBO, if you are not seeing FOBO access the GPS while the app is running, how does it know where you are for this feature (that I don't really want) that I show below? Even if you don't actually download and use this specific app from FOBO, wouldn't your TPMS still be constantly transmitting where you are through your phone in case you actually wanted to activate this app later but never actually download it? Or do you think that it would only transmit if that app was downloaded, opened, asked permission, and was in use? No app......no transmit?
Group Ride Monitoring
This app feature will be available by June 2019. This feature let riders form a group ride with a planned destination, date and time. During the group ride, riders can know the tire pressure status and the relative locations of one another in the Map View. If you find that your riding peer is missing and see a tire pressure alert insignia by his bike profile, you know that he may be stranded at the location on the Map View and may use your help. This is useful when cellular phone signal is not available to call for help.Sorry to everyone on the thread for sort of hijacking it, I just have questions about a TPMS and it happens to have taken a slight detour for a minute and offbeatmammal seems to have some answers.........
the TPMS devices themselves are just bluetooth beacons that transmit a little bit of data (temperature and pressure) and have no explicit location (if you grab an app called nRF Connect you can actually see all the bluetooth devices you phone can see and get some info about them) and the Fobo2 app listens for them and decodes the data and displays it, so yes they are 'transmitting' but just an ID and some data, nothing specific about location, and only in the range that a Bluetooth device can broadcast (50 feet or so) - In theory any bluetooth or wifi device you have can be detected and scanned (and if you know where the detector is, then you have a location at that moment in time) - when you go into a Mall for instance a lot of them now track the MAC ID (serial number of the wifi radio on your phone, nothing to do with Apple Macs) to help count unique visitors and repeat visitors as well as flow of foot traffic within the area etc, and your telco can always locate your phone pretty accurately via cell tower triangulation (and they do sell that data).
For the Fobo2 group ride feature, my guess is when you 'start' a ride they start actively polling the GPS location and do share that to the online service that they use to notify riders in the group of location/status, so there would be some location data shared with them during that time - their privacy policy doesn't seem that explicit around what it retained and for how long for that feature so that might be something they can clarify (I'm curious about their comment as it would need data to "This is useful when cellular phone signal is not available to call for help" transmit the location and status!) - would be nice for them to confirm that if "group ride" is off in settings, then there is no GPS activity (I've pointed them to this thread and see if they can comment/clarify)...
For the Fobo2 group ride feature, my guess is when you 'start' a ride they start actively polling the GPS location and do share that to the online service that they use to notify riders in the group of location/status, so there would be some location data shared with them during that time - their privacy policy doesn't seem that explicit around what it retained and for how long for that feature so that might be something they can clarify (I'm curious about their comment as it would need data to "This is useful when cellular phone signal is not available to call for help" transmit the location and status!) - would be nice for them to confirm that if "group ride" is off in settings, then there is no GPS activity (I've pointed them to this thread and see if they can comment/clarify)...
Last edited by offbeatmammal; Jan 1, 2020 at 06:32 PM. Reason: reached out to Fobo for comment
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 4,685
Likes: 3,981
From: Near Yosemite
Thank you sir! You are super helpful on this topic! And I agree with your concern about "This is useful when cellular phone signal is not available to call for help"....... If you have no cell service, your flat tire condition is being transmitted via GPS from your phone to your friends phones, sooooooo.......... Anyhow, We'll see if our friend Hazwan reaches out to me again about any of this, but I doubt it. Might be interesting to have a second person question him on some of his software capabilities, lol! Feel free!
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nice quick response from the Fobo folks... all in all pretty reassuring
- when is GPS activated (when app is running, or only when a group ride is activated)? – GPS is only activated when the Group is active.
- when a group ride is sharing data, how do you share the data if (from the description) "there's no cellular signal to call for help"? – If there is no cellular coverage, the App will display the last location of the rider which will make it easier for rider buddies to find him if indeed he needs help..
- how long do you retain the GPS ride data – We only store the last location for group ride. As long as the location doesn’t change, it stays there.
- for any location data you track, how long do you store it, and who do you share it with? - we do not store the location history, we do not share it with anybody else, We only store the last location for group ride. As long as the location doesn’t change, it stays there. We cannot access the location history, however rider can send the log file to himself by using the FOBO Bike 2 App to check the location history details.
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 4,685
Likes: 3,981
From: Near Yosemite
Good job Mr. Mammal! So, if I'm understanding this correctly, as long as I'm not using the group ride app/option, (which I never will)...... no GPS tracking. Kinda what I hoped.
And I found a way to keep my app from restarting every 1/2 hour. If I long press the app icon on my screen, go to "App Info", and then hit "Force Stop", it turns it off completely until I short tap the app icon again and it fires the whole thing back to life. I can live with that..........
And I found a way to keep my app from restarting every 1/2 hour. If I long press the app icon on my screen, go to "App Info", and then hit "Force Stop", it turns it off completely until I short tap the app icon again and it fires the whole thing back to life. I can live with that..........