2.75 seems to have broken GPS connection

[fueledbycoffee]

 My versa was doing really well staying connected to GPS or at the very least the app was tracking the route properly so I could upload to strava and fix the distance (which was usually a minimal fix).   Tuesday, Wed and today connection issues got progressively more and more and its at issue at the app level not the app and watch talking level b/c the map generated by the app is off too  - the app seems to have lost GPS connection as well and then tries to connect the points it does have with a straight line

My best guess is a version update.  the issue did seem to start before 2.75 was pushed out (since I had some issues on Tues) but they were much much worse yesterday and today so maybe tuesday was an unrelated hiccup??

Anyone else finding GPS connection issues at the app level?

[SunsetRunner]

Hey @LanuzaFitbit

I saw the release of 2.76, but was holding off on it hoping you would provide more useful information than "Bug fixes and made stability improvements".

Per your suggestion, I installed the latest update today.

2.76 is by far the worst version of the Fitbit app that I've tried over the past 4 months.

Sync is slow and fails like 2 out of 3 times. Data/stats inside the app fail to load or take forever. Notifications are often not delivered to the watch or I'm getting errors, trying to interact with them... The whole app is completely unreliable!

Of course the problem with "connected GPS" isn't solved either. In fact, on my run today, it was much worse than before on 2.75.

Needles to say, I went back to 2.74.2... everything works as intended.

[fueledbycoffee]

Thanks for testing it out for us. It's a shame fitbit cant seem to hire
people.to do something as simple as strap on a few of their devices and go
for a walk and test how the app behaves

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hello @SunsetRunner and @fueledbycoffee.

@SunsetRunner your situation might be related to the fact that the Nokia 8 is currently not on the supported devices list. This means that full testing hasn't been performed on the app and thus optimization issues might occur, like the ones you listed. More by the fact that newer versions seem to cause further optimization issues. 

As soon as we have any news on the expansion of the list, we will be sure to let everyone know. If you have access to a phone that is on the list, maybe you could give it a try and see how it goes.

Let me know if there is anything else I can help you with.

[fueledbycoffee]

its hard to take the supported phone list seriously when it doesn’t include things like the Samsung Galaxy 9 and when we are all smart enough to know that its the android operating system that is critical for app functionality (and of course basic things like having the appropriate level of Bluetooth on the phone). Please stop with the “unsupported phone” excuse and fix the app

[fueledbycoffee]

Hey lookie here fitbit

https://developer.android.com/guide/practices/compatibility

you really don't need to worry about testing all the phones and making a list that you can't maintain - you can simply follow the android guidelines and if necc block certain phones that are missing actually required features from downloading your app (hint so far none of us are using phones that are actually missing key things like bluetooth and GPS)

[pampurio97]

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@LanuzaFitbit wrote:

Hello @SunsetRunner and @fueledbycoffee.

@SunsetRunner your situation might be related to the fact that the Nokia 8 is currently not on the supported devices list. This means that full testing hasn't been performed on the app and thus optimization issues might occur, like the ones you listed. More by the fact that newer versions seem to cause further optimization issues. 

As soon as we have any news on the expansion of the list, we will be sure to let everyone know. If you have access to a phone that is on the list, maybe you could give it a try and see how it goes.

Let me know if there is anything else I can help you with.

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On that list I can see LG G2 and G3, with the last one being released in 2014. G4, G5, G6 and G7 are missing.

OnePlus: I can see the OnePlus One, released in 2013. Missing: OnePlus 2, 3, 3T, 5, 5T, 6.

Google: I can see the Pixel and Pixel XL, both release in 2016. Missing: Pixel 2, 2 XL.

Huawei: the most recent on the list is from 2016. Missing: all the P* series, at least.

Are you even serious?

[fueledbycoffee]

yeah apparently they have just decided that new phones aren't worth testing (even though they don't actually need to test them if they are properly writing their API)

its a useless list - I think they have it simply so they can say "oops not our fault we can't write decent software its your fault for having a modern phone, oh but actually we aren't supporting android before 4.4 so old phones are also up a creek without a paddle too"

anyone know the history of fitbit - was it originally only iphone compatible and thus the software people still think brand of phone is crucial (vs operating system?)

Can you imagine if software folks tried to say "oh you are running windows 10 on an IBM sorry our software only works on Dells" - that is basically what FitBit seems to think..

oh and interesting this post got held b/c I accidentally typed a K instead of an I in API.. looks like fitbit has built in screens to prevent people from helping others learn how to roll back.. wow that is pretty ridiculous

[SunsetRunner]

Hey @LanuzaFitbit

I appreciate your response and I want to make it clear, that I am looking for support.

I like my Versa and the Fitbit app would be just fine, without the technical issues. I am not here to complain for the sake of complaining and I'm willing to test different things to get my device working.

I am well aware of the compatibility list and the fact that my phone isn't on there... but honestly, what current phone is? I understand you keep that list for legal reasons and you can point towards it, in case someone shows up with some unlicensed budget phone, that doesn't support standard Bluetooth protocols. But those phones are rare in the western market (where I assume most of your customer base is, considering the prices of your trackers).

Regarding my own phone, I can assure you that there are no issues with Bluetooth.

Nokia's newer phones are all part the Android One program, mine was released before that, but was promised to be treated as such regardless. That means, the default camera app aside, my phone runs stock Android... there is no additional OEM software interfering and the Qualcomm chipset is pretty standard too. If you fail to support that, I don't see how any other phone would work.

I also can't stress enough, that reverting to 2.74.2 fixes all my issues. It should be clear that something went wrong on your end with 2.75/2.76.

Again, I'm not here to complain. I am looking for a solution!

If you got any ideas or could at least pass it along to the developers, I would appreciate that.

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hello everyone.

I definitely understand that this can be very frustrating to all! I can tell you that our team is well aware of the need to expand the list to add newer and more recent devices. 

I'll be passing all of your feedback along to the rest of the team and the moment I have any news on the matter we'll be sure to let everyone know about it.

Feel free to reach out with any further questions! 

[SunsetRunner]

Just in case anyone is wondering... Version 2.77 didn't fix anything.

Connected GPS is just as broken as 2.75 and it has the same sync issues as 2.76. Reading the forums here, I didn't even bother to test 2.76.1.

@LanuzaFitbit

I'm seriously disappointed by your response. I gave you a lot of information and you ignored all of it, again pointing to that list of outdated devices...

FYI since Fitbit now requires Android 5.0, your list got even shorter!

My phone should receive Android 9 over the next 2 months. Looking around here, you're not supporting that at the moment.

I sincerely hope you get your connectivity issues sorted out by then, because I really like my Versa. If not, I don't see an alternative to selling it.

The upcoming announcement of the new Qualcomm chipsets for wearables might make Google Wear devices worth buying soon, or else there's always Garmin.

I've got fitness goals to achieve and Fitbit is causing me more frustration than it's worth in it's current state.

[Drewhosick]

2.77 seems to have fixed it but don't quote me. I only used it once for
about 1 and a half kms. Hoping it's fixed completely. It sure looks like
it might be.

[fueledbycoffee]

I used 2.77 for 2.5 mile run this morning and it seemed good (except for the few minutes where I turned off bluetooth b/c my headphones were being dumb forgetting that the versa also depends on bluetooth! clearly I needed more coffee! the map is the app looks fine even where bluetooth was off)

[SunsetRunner]

I'm glad to hear it's working for you guys, I hope it stays that way 😉

I tried it this morning on a route I know well from my runs. It should have logged almost exactly 1.6km, I took the dog along, which usually results in a few extra steps... but 1.6km should have been the minimum distance.

Occasionally checking the Versa during the walk often showed the "connecting..." message and checking in afterwards, I had 1.22km logged in the app.

[fueledbycoffee]

Try taking the data over to strava and applying the “correct distance” option on the web version. If it corrects to longer than the app GPS is ok but the versa connecting is an issue.

[Tommy632]

I have a Samsung J7v and a Versa.  Never had a GPS connecting issue until today.  This morning I updated to 2.77.  I think that's my problem. 

[SunsetRunner]

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@fueledbycoffee wrote:
Try taking the data over to strava and applying the “correct distance” option on the web version. If it corrects to longer than the app GPS is ok but the versa connecting is an issue.

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Thank you for the suggestion, I appreciate the advice!

But one of the reasons why I wanted a Fitbit was because I get everything in a single app.

I already went back to 2.74.2, tracked a walk on my way to work and it was perfectly stable. Looks like the only thing I'm missing out on with the newer versions is setting custom emoji's for quick replies... I think I'll manage to live with that 😛

I'll keep what you said in mind though, it might come in handy when I'm forced to update due to Android 9 arriving on my phone soon.

[Tyke10]

All week my GPS function, has not been working correctly, drawing straight lines to match me up to where it lost me. Tonights run it didn't find connection at all. I have done the latest update and will check it on tomorrows run.

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hello everyone! 

Thanks for sharing your feedback on the matter. I'll be sure to pass the feedback on to the rest of the team.

As a workaround, you could try using a different app such as Strava or MapMyRun to get that information tracked and synced into your Fitbit account. 

Let me know if there are any other questions.

[fueledbycoffee]

Why should we run a completely separate app? Seems like a better plan would be to not release a broken fitbit app or at the very least instead of sending us to a different app rollback when a broken app is revealed

(in any case for me 2.77 has been ok beyond the normal fact that rather than using the GPS data recorded by the app fitbit opts to attempt to calculate the distance when the watch and phone disconnect for a bit by steps… a stupid choice but I have given up on fitbit making logical choices)

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hello @fueledbycoffee.

Thanks for sharing your feedback. I apologize, my intent was never to make it sound like this is not important or like we do not care. I was merely suggesting a possible work around to get more accurate data at this point in time.

Let me know if there are any other questions.