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! 

[CKorthoudt]

@AlessFitbit @LanuzaFitbit, Thanks, and you're welcome. 

I believe in sharing information. Also, I understand it's not always as easy to fix a problem, nor to turn around a company's way of working, in a heartbeat. Companies such as Fitbit are probably pretty large cruise-ships on a steady course, and in case there are issues, we, the users, tend to ask changes that are too fast.

On the other hand, information is key in today's world. 

Is it possible to have more info? I sense there are a lot of frustrations, and that is totally understandable. Your position is paid by all these users that are left in the dark, and from what I see, that issue is not addressed at all.

Just my two cents...:

Make a post with the known workarounds so far.

Give insight in which problems Fitbit and Android are looking in to... (Software killing background apps? BT issues? others...?)

You wrote you would inform the community as soon as there is anything at all, and I have no reason not to believe that. But that seems too little too late. In all fairness, if you guys are stuck, if Android is flipping you the bird... whatever it is, I recommend you share those insights with your community at this point. It's been MONTHS. Honesty works best. 

Since we are free to reach out with any further questions... this was my suggestion 😛

Cheers!

[pools]

What did the trick for my Nokia 8 and Charge 3:
1) uninstall Fitbit app
2) go to last connected bluetooth devices, remove Charge 3

3) restart

4) install Fitbit app and start as always

And now everything works as before.

[CardiganWearer]

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@pools wrote:

What did the trick for my Nokia 8 and Charge 3:
1) uninstall Fitbit app
2) go to last connected bluetooth devices, remove Charge 3

3) restart

4) install Fitbit app and start as always

And now everything works as before.

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yes. but for how long?

my permanent workaround is to sync my Charge 2 with my tablet (Win 10) and the store app on it (do this once a day).

given up with syncing to the phone. or using the fitbit phone app.

will be interesting to see the solution (if any, if ever) because if it is includes updating the firmware in the tracker and your tracker can't connect/sync then you can't update the firmware can you?

like others have suggested:

leave a review (or update your previous) in the PlayStore - surprisingly few negatives ones to date.

[VeganDan]

I'm happy that I did not read this thread before buying my C3.  I have a Pixel 3 XL and the most up to date version of Pie. My tracker is synching flawlessly.  I installed the FB app on my phone for the first time today too.  

[tessierp]

@VeganDan

We are glad it worked for you. For many of us, it hasn't worked for months.

Good luck with your Fitbit.

[Kimurabenny]

My Fitbit App stopped syncing with my Charge 3 since 08 Jan 2019. Android 9 was installed on 05 Jan 2019. Since, App still catches daily "partial" exercise (steps, floors, km and cals). I use Google Pixel 3 XL. Let me know if any information you require to help to resolve the issue... Without the history record, wearing a Fitbit becomes so... pointless...

[VeganDan]

@tessierp

This is definitely not scientific at all, but when I filter the reviews on the Play Store by my device and the latest app version, it appears that about 20% of the users are having various connectivity issues. That's significant.  Good luck to you!

[tessierp]

@VeganDan

At least it provides visibility to the customers and if they do research, they can avoid having headaches.

Thanks for the info.

[SunsetRunner]

For me this works:

1. Open the Fitbit app and start the sync process. It will say “looking…”
2. While it is looking for your device, quickly go to Android Bluetooth settings, choose Pair New Device, and select the tracker as if to pair it for the first time.
3. Switch back to the app and the sync process should complete.

Maybe you have to try it 2or 3 times to hit the second, the FitBiit is found but then it works.
See also https://www.androidauthority.com/fitbit-sync-android-pie-901608/

[SunsetRunner]

@tessierp

Lol on all these good people doing all the troubleshooting when Fitbit needs to be fixing both the app and watch.  An update on both will fix this issue.  I'm beginning to wonder, what's taking so long....

[mw3330]

Unbelievable! I am mid Fitbit Challenge and now can't even connect let alone sync. Surely this has to be a top priority for Fitbit to fix..

[tessierp]

@SunsetRunner

Yes, people are trying to help. One thing is for sure, Fitbit is not in a hurry and clearly do not seem to care. Why is that? Your guess is as good as mine.

I also have been wondering, if some of them could be Fitbit employees trying to give people hope by suggesting to do this and that in the hope that some may get lucky?... hmmm.. Who knows..

[atlanticpdx]

My guess is Fitbit contracted out the Android work to an agency since iOS is the hotness to app developers and Android isn't (for some reason). This would be considered a defect and therefore "free work." Free work gets prioritized by agencies ... not at the top. Combine not easy + not getting paid and you get months of silence from developers and moderators who have nothing else to say but "we're working on it!"

For this kind of thing, it really should be in-house, but it definitely doesn't seem that way.

[JennGo59]

I tried to uninstall app and unpair but this made it worse for me! Before fitbit would be visible and would sometimes pair. Now it's never visible. Garbage product.

[spatula]

For what it's worth, it's not just Fitbit having problems after the Android Pie update.  Also having problems, for example, are the Tile and Bose (wireless headphones) apps.

What do all these apps have in common?  They all use the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) APIs in Android, which have never worked particularly well (e.g., sometimes they just randomly stop scanning for no particular reason), and which appear to have broken very badly in Android Pie.

Now I can't guess why Fitbit doesn't just come out and say, "look, Google broke the BLE stack horribly in Pie, and basically everything that uses it is having problems now."  Maybe they don't want to point fingers, especially when they want Google to do something for them.

Additionally useful would be if Fitbit (or Tile, or Bose) could point to a particular Android defect ID or IDs that cause the problems we're all having.

Particularly useful would be if Google would stop breaking Bluetooth and/or BLE support in Android... this isn't the first time it's regressed badly in a production release.

Here's one example...it's a bug that's approaching 2 years old where the BLE scanner just stops working after 30 minutes: https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/37766282

There's also this issue, which certainly sounds familiar: https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/37054253

[mw3330]

Just got off a chat session with Nokia and they fixed my sync issue with my Nokia 8. 

Tried everything over a 45 min chat session but what fixed it was:

Go to Settings > Apps and Notifications > See all > Google Play services > Storage > Clear Cache

Probably won't work for everyone but it worked for me 🙂

[KenShay]

Ummm....we thought so too ... 5 months ago.

[CardiganWearer]

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@mw3330 wrote:

Just got off a chat session with Nokia and they fixed my sync issue with my Nokia 8. 

Tried everything over a 45 min chat session but what fixed it was:

Go to Settings > Apps and Notifications > See all > Google Play services > Storage > Clear Cache

Probably won't work for everyone but it worked for me 🙂

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thanks for that.

you are right!

it didn't work for me... Charge 2 and Nokia 6

probably that in combo with some other things they did too and you jagged a sync.

I managed to get it to work a few times over the last few months but it stops working again soon enough.

have given up syncing to phone now.

[SunsetRunner]

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@mw3330 wrote:

Just got off a chat session with Nokia and they fixed my sync issue with my Nokia 8. 

Tried everything over a 45 min chat session but what fixed it was:

Go to Settings > Apps and Notifications > See all > Google Play services > Storage > Clear Cache

Thank you for the tip. This did not work with my Nokia 8 and Fitbit Versa but I appreciate the effort you and many others here make to help. Especially considering that Fitbit has not seemed to do much about this for five months now.

How I solved my Versa issue:

1. Abandon Fitbit

2. Fetch Pebble Time from the closet
3. Install Rebble on it

Now I have a smartwatch with reliable notifications, always-on display, responsive physical buttons and multiple watchfaces installed on the device itself. Life is good again. 😉

Seriously though, if you too have an old Pebble or can find one used, give Rebble a try. It's quite impressive.

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hello everyone!

Thanks for all of the comments, feedback and insight on the matter.

@Mariol100, Thanks for sharing your information! If you have not, please try to follow the steps listed in this help article. It is a possibility that it could help your Fitbit to get it to sync. @Yant, please do try to follow those steps too.

@ChuckyK, I'd like to take a closer look at your situation. Could you share more details on what happened? What information is gone? What are you seeing on the app?

@Webfeet, I'm sure that other users will indeed find that information useful. For other users who might have missed that, you can read a bit more about Android 9 by clicking here. Based on that information @Webfeet is mentioning that Android 9 is closing the apps running on the background and that it could be the cause for the syncing issues.

@M2D2 In your particular case, could you specify what phone is it that you are using? Is it an S4 or Note 4? In addition, what Android version is it running? Is it running Android 9? Be sure to try the steps listed in this help article.

@Paulzip Thanks for sharing those steps. While I definitely understand it is not optimal please continue doing so in order to sync. Additionally you could also sync with your wife's phone.

@CKorthoudt Thank you very much for your feedback! We'll definitely take your suggestions into consideration.

@pools Thanks for sharing those steps. It is possible that they could work. If any of you is using a Nokia 8 please try the steps shared in this post or also the ones suggested by @mw3330 in here.

@VeganDan Glad to read that everything seems to be working correctly for you! 

As other users have mentioned and shared, there is a workaround listed in this website. Do keep in mind that the steps listed in there are not official steps and thus we cannot guarantee that they will work 100% of the time.

Thank you all for your feedback. Please know that we'll share more information with everyone as soon as there is more to share.