Android 9.0 (Pie) not able to sync

[AlessFitbit]

Fitbit Update: 3/6/19

Hello everyone! 

We have some updated troubleshooting suggestions we'd like for all of you on Android Pie (9.0) to try. 

First, turn off Background Restrictions/Limitations: Phone settings > Apps & Notifications > Fitbit app > Background restrictions or Background limits.

Then, disable battery limitations:

1. Go to Settings > Apps > Fitbit app > Advanced > Battery > Battery optimization
2. Change view to All apps
3. Search for Fitbit app
4. Choose Not optimized

Please give the steps above a try to improve syncing with your Fitbit device and Android 9.0 OS. We're still researching and testing out long-term solutions to this ongoing syncing issue. We thank you for all your patience while we continue to work on this effort.

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Fitbit Update: 2/14/19

Hi everyone!

Thanks for all your reports and patience with these Android 9.0 syncing difficulties. We’re aware of this ongoing issue and have been working to identify a resolution as quickly as possible. 

We're sorry for any trouble. We appreciate your patience and look forward to getting you back on track as soon as possible. 

I'll let you know if I receive any additional information on this matter. 

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Fitbit Update: 10/3/18 

Hey Everyone!

Our team is still working on implementing a longterm fix for syncing with Android devices on Pie (9.0). 

For the background syncing issue, I have posted an update in the other floated thread which you can find here. 

We released Fitbit for Android version 2.80 today which contains improvements for that syncing issue. 

I'll make sure to keep you all updated with more information, as soon as I have it available. We're still working on this and I really appreciate everyone's patience. 

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Fitbit Update: 9/26/18

Hey everyone! 

Thanks so much for your patience and cooperation. We are aware of the issue and working with Google on a solution.

I will continue to provide updates here, so keep an eye on this thread. 

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Fitbit Update: 9/10/18 

Hi, everybody! 

Thanks for your patience while our team continues to work on improving syncing for those on Android Pie (9.0). They are actively working on this and for the time being, I recommend you keep the Fitbit app updated on the latest version for best syncing results. Right now that is version 2.78, so if you're not on this version please update! Also, another troubleshoot we recommend is performing a restart on your phone. 

When there are more improvements made in the future I'll announce them here. Stay tuned and subscribed to this thread. 

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Fitbit Update: 8/19/18

We have escalated these syncing issues for those who are now using Android Pie (9.0) to our team for investigation. There aren't any updates at the moment, but rest assured we will keep you informed in this thread when more information is available.

Thanks for your patience! 

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Fitbit Update: 8/11/18 

Hi, everyone! Thanks for stopping by the Community Forums. 

Seems like many of you who updated to Android Pie (9.0) are now having trouble syncing your Fitbit trackers. I'm going to escalate this to our team so they can look into it.

In the meantime, please update the Fitbit app to version 2.76.1 if you haven't yet. Let me know if that changes the syncing behavior. Please follow this thread for updates. I'll keep you all posted here! 

[Gusthy]

Quite easy. It is not fitbit who changed their stuff  but Google. Previously it worked, now it doesn't.

Maybe that particular issue you mentioned is fixed. I know many devices that don't. And there are lots of articles where you can read that Pie BT is terrible. So I can't say Google did everything well and Fitbit is to be blamed. I can't look at the source codes, but after sending some 30+ years in software development business,, I see it complicated  

[tracymckibben]

Found the Fitbit employee...

[SheWatt]

Soo what about all of us who are not operating on android 9. I am on android 7 and changed nothing. It was a fit bit update the begining of august that messed me up. Even when my phone updated i still did not get pie. And the only Bluetooth issue i have is with fitbit. Everything else works fine and has never had an issue.

[Gusthy]

No, I have nothing to do with Fitbit, I just don't like when the developers are the bad guys when stupid requirements occur. I don't think Fitbit devs are wrong ones.

To describe the other side, I hate that fitbit communicates that they only support devices that are older than my grandma, and they dont make a blog where we can see what's happening. On the other hand Pie has a very minor market share,, so they can think that they have time. This is a very bad management behavior, but it is also not the developers' fault. 

[tracymckibben]

I am not blaming the developers specifically (being one myself), I'm blaming the company as a whole. From the people who are choosing not to communicate regarding this issue, to the people who wrote the code that (apparently) is doing something unorthodox with Bluetooth on Android. You don't see this issue being reported with Garmin devices, or Misfit devices, or Withings devices.

[jwildstr]

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@Gusthy wrote:

No, I have nothing to do with Fitbit, I just don't like when the developers are the bad guys when stupid requirements occur. I don't think Fitbit devs are wrong ones.

I agree about not blaming the developers; I've been doing software development for 20 years and I don't like being blamed for stupid (or incomplete, or missing) requirements. That being said, when I have such an issue, I talk to my support organization, give my concerns, and they work with the community. That's the link we're missing. We're (or at least I'm) not blaming the DEVELOPERS for not fixing it yet; this might be a really hard issue and there might be a lot of back and forth with Google about what changed in Pie. But none of that is being communicated, so as far as any of us know, the developers (or the management or the support organization) don't care.

I actually talked to FitBit Chat support the other day, and they are, at least, aware of the issue, so this isn't just contained in the community. They weren't willing to give me any information about development status for fear of giving misinformation, which I fully understand. But at some point, someone needs to say SOMETHING about what's actually going on, since constant silence and deflection imply lack of interest.

[jpharris]

Fitbit did the same thing with the original Aria scale over WiFi protocols.
They never even tried to fix the problem. They just came out with an Aria 2
that I believe used Bluetooth. Left all original Aria users with a $130
brick.

[Gusthy]

I totally agree with you. I trie to evaluate the potential problems from the developer point of view,, and they are countless, most of them are even hard to explain.

The role of the communications department would be to protect developers from the world around só that they can focus on the problem itself. This lack of communication is the opposite - I guess it simply increases frustration in both the customers and their own team.

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From the trchnology point of view, actually I can't see any solution that is fully functional and doesn't require a hard reset on the watch itself, or the usage of a non-Pie device. The reason for that is that the previously existing unreliable communication between the phone and the watch may lead to non definite status of the watch, and I can't see how to fix it without factory reset. 

[Elesh]

Let’s sign the petition to force Fitbit to make a change 

https://chn.ge/2D3V7lx

[Elesh]

Let’s sign a petition to force fitbit

https://chn.ge/2D3V7lx

[Elesh]

Let’s sign a petition to force fitbit

https://chn.ge/2D3V7lx

[spatula]

I don't think a petition is going to have any effect or 'force' them to do anything.  If they haven't paid attention to 40+ pages of messages in this thread...

[bigsi]

I removed the fitbit blaze from my OnePlus 6 bluetooth settings and from fitbit, then turned on bluetooth classic on the fitbit and paired with my phone, setup as a new tracker on the fitbit app and it worked straight away.  Glad it's now working.

[sueb859]

How do you turn on Bluetooth Classic? I don't see a setting for this for
my phone app.

[jolly_old_elf]

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@DeppJones wrote:

I can confirm that. But only now. I managed the workaround on my Nokia 7 plus 10 hours ago. One or two hours ago it still did not track HR. Now it does. Life tracking. That's quite a long time. What happened in between? Someone from the moderator team please comment.

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@Praxticus wrote:
Works on Nokia 7 plus.... heart rate and active minutes syncing too. Takes
a few minutes to start...

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Ditto that.  Sometime during the day today mine started tracking the heart rate and active minutes again so for the moment it appears to all be working.

[Gusthy]

This setting is in the watch's Settings, not the phone app's. 

[Gusthy]

I guess the petition is not really based on facts. I don't think there is a million person having Android 9 AND using Fitbit trackers, as Android Pie market share was 0.1% in September.

So I estimate it is some thousand people as a maximum. 

[PinellasPete]

New Google Pixel 3 hasn't connected and synced for the last 4 days that I've had my new phone. Tried most everything that could be done between my Versa and Pixel 3 phone without any results. This is what finally worked for me:

1. Uninstalled Fitbit app from phone.
2. Told phone to forget both the Versa (Classic) connection and Versa connection in Bluetooth.
3. Turned phone off.
4. Synced Versa through my Windows 10 computer using the Fitbit Bluetooth base station. (Computer linked to Versa quickly but syncing took a while. Lots of data? Update maybe?)
5. Turned Versa watch off.
6. Installed Fitbit app onto phone from app store.
7. Opened Fitbit app and logged in using username and password.  Then pressed sync button to start syncing.
8. Turned Versa watch on.
9. Versa connected to Fitbit phone app and successfully synced.

It seems to be working and syncing fine now. I can sync easily just by pressing the Sync Now button.

NOTICE: I never went into my phone's settings and paired my phone to the Versa using Bluetooth. It automatically paired when I pressed the SYNC NOW button in the Fitbit app and then turning Versa back on. Checking my Bluetooth connections it comes up as a devise called Versa and there is no sight of "Versa (Classic)" as before. I used to have 2 devices listed in my Bluetooth, Versa and Versa (Classic).

Hope this helps someone.

[DeppJones]

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@jolly_old_elf wrote:

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@DeppJones wrote:

I can confirm that. But only now. I managed the workaround on my Nokia 7 plus 10 hours ago. One or two hours ago it still did not track HR. Now it does. Life tracking. That's quite a long time. What happened in between? Someone from the moderator team please comment.

---

@Praxticus wrote:
Works on Nokia 7 plus.... heart rate and active minutes syncing too. Takes
a few minutes to start...

---

---

Ditto that.  Sometime during the day today mine started tracking the heart rate and active minutes again so for the moment it appears to all be working.

Just noticed that there still is a problem with notifications which is not working, yet. I set it active both on the device and in the app. All permission boxes checked in the app. Wakeup buzzer is working, calender reminder seems to work partially (? some reminders go through, others don't. Quite annoying), no notification for incoming calls, messages, nor anything the like. Everything used to work straight out of the box with Oreo 8.1. How about yours?

[Gusthy]

For notifications to work you must manually allow fitbit app to run in background. It is somewhere in app settings. I cannot show you the right place, since I use MIUI, which has a proprietary UI.