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Connecting your trainer on a Mac

Last updated 31 July 2026

Trbo talks to your smart trainer over Bluetooth. On a Mac, that means using Google Chrome: Safari can't connect to Bluetooth devices at all, and never has. If you're reading this in Safari, switch to Chrome before you go any further. Microsoft Edge and Opera also work.

What should happen

  1. Wake your trainer up: start pedalling, or plug it in if it's mains-powered. Most trainers won't announce themselves until they've got power and movement.
  2. In Trbo, hit Connect trainer.
  3. Your Mac will show a small window asking whether Chrome can use Bluetooth. Click Allow. This appears once, ever.
  4. A list of nearby trainers appears. Pick yours and click Pair.
  5. You're connected. Trbo will remember the trainer for next time.

That's the whole thing for most people. If step 3 or 4 didn't happen, keep reading.

Nothing appeared, or the list was empty

Work through these in order. The first one fixes the large majority of cases.

1. Check the trainer isn't already talking to something else

Most trainers will only hold one connection at a time. If your phone, bike computer, or another training app still has it, Trbo can't get a look in.

Close any other training apps, and turn Bluetooth off on your phone or head unit, or just move them out of the room. Then stop pedalling for ten seconds, start again, and retry Connect trainer.

2. Give Chrome permission to use Bluetooth

If you've used Chrome with a Bluetooth device before and said no, macOS remembers that and won't ask again. The window in step 3 simply never appears, and the trainer list comes up empty with no explanation.

On macOS Ventura or newer (most Macs from late 2022 onward):

  1. Open System Settings from the Apple menu in the top-left corner.
  2. Click Privacy & Security in the sidebar.
  3. Click Bluetooth.
  4. Find Google Chrome in the list and switch it on.
  5. Quit Chrome completely: press Cmd+Q, don't just close the window, then reopen it and try again.

On macOS Monterey or older:

  1. Open System Preferences from the Apple menu.
  2. Click Security & Privacy, then the Privacy tab.
  3. Choose Bluetooth from the list on the left.
  4. If the settings are greyed out, click the padlock at the bottom-left and enter your Mac password.
  5. Tick the box next to Google Chrome.
  6. Quit Chrome with Cmd+Q, reopen it, and try again.

Not sure which version you're on? Apple menu → About This Mac.

3. Reset Trbo's permission inside Chrome

Separately from your Mac's settings, Chrome keeps its own record of which websites are allowed to use Bluetooth. If Trbo got blocked here at some point, it stays blocked.

  1. Go to trbo.bike.
  2. Click the small icon just to the left of the web address at the top of the window, it looks like a padlock or a set of sliders.
  3. Click Site settings.
  4. Find Bluetooth devices and set it to Ask (or click the reset arrow next to it).
  5. Reload the page and try again.

4. Make sure Bluetooth is actually on

Easy to miss. Click the Bluetooth icon in your Mac's menu bar, or check System Settings → Bluetooth, and confirm it's switched on.

5. Update Chrome

Open Chrome's menu → Help → About Google Chrome. It'll update itself if it's behind, then ask you to relaunch.

Still no luck?

A few things worth knowing before you email us:

  • Your trainer may need waking differently. Some models only broadcast for a couple of minutes after you start pedalling, then go quiet. Stop, wait ten seconds, and pedal again right before you hit Connect.
  • Distance matters. Bluetooth range is short and walls eat it. If your Mac is in another room, bring it closer to the bike.
  • Some older trainers aren't Bluetooth at all. If yours only speaks ANT+, it can't connect to a Mac without a separate USB dongle, and Trbo doesn't currently support that route.

If you've been through all of this, drop us a line at help@trbo.bike and tell us your trainer make and model, your macOS version, and which step you got stuck on. That's usually enough for us to work out what's going on.

On iPhone and iPad

Bluetooth won't work through the browser on iPhone or iPad at all, not in Safari, and not in Chrome either, because every browser on iOS runs on Apple's engine underneath. Use the Trbo app instead.