Background syncing not working w/2.79

[AlessFitbit]

Fitbit Update: 10/3/18

Hey Everybody!

Today we fully released the Fitbit for Android app version 2.80. With this release, we've implemented a fix which brings back the persistent notification (the Fitbit icon will show in the status bar of your phone and there will be a persistent notification in the Notification center.) We're working with Google to find a long-term solution for this. 

Please go ahead and update the Fitbit app on your phone. Afterward, you can disable the persistent notification with instructions in this help article: Why is the Fitbit app sending a notification to my Android phone?

Thanks so much as always for cooperating with us. Let me know if I can help with anything else. 

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Fitbit Update: 9/25/18 

Hi, Android users!

We're aware of a background syncing issue with the Fitbit app that began around 9/20/18. This is affecting those currently on Android OS 8.0 and 9.0.

If you're having trouble syncing your Fitbit watch/tracker, please try the following:

• First, make sure the "keep alive widget" in the watch/tracker details screen is turned on.
• Manually initiate a sync inside the Fitbit app. 

• Go to your App Device Settings, find Fitbit > Advanced > Battery > Battery Optimization > All Apps at the top > Find Fitbit > Select "Don’t optimize." This should not have a large impact on your phone's battery life.  

We are working with Google on a solution. We're sorry for any inconvenience. Please follow this thread for updates!

[Crazy-Fritter]

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@SamHobbs wrote:

I said Android application. It was downloaded from the Google Play Store. It is not a Windows 10 application (officially called Universal Windows Platform (UWP) but see the details in Windows 10 - Apps | Microsoft Docs) or anything downloaded from the Windows Store. Fitbit might have a Windows version but if so then I am not using it.

The important question is what does it mean when it says it is not synchronizing when it is showing data for the period.

As for Bluetooth, you are speculating. First, can you explain how Bluetooth is relevant? I am saying that the Fitbit documentation should make it clear that the Android application should mention that synchronization can also occur over WiFi and explain how that is relevant to synchronization. Probably the network details are not relevant here and the documentation's emphasis on Bluetooth is just making this more complicated than it needs to be.

I have been working with computers since 1970. I am not confused about whether my PC is using Bluetooth or WiFi. The Bluetooth is turned off in my PC.

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You're Fitbit tracker syncs to your phone through the phones Bluetooth, then your phone syncs to the Fitbit servers either through your cellular data, or through wifi if your phones connected to any, like your home network.

When you look at your fitbit dashboard on your PC, it shows the information your Fitbit has given your phone, and then the information your phone has given the Fitbit servers. 

As long as all your information is showing up on the fitbit dashboard then you're fine.....but sometimes the tracker only does a partial sync. That might be the reason for the message 😉

[SamHobbs]

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When you look at your fitbit dashboard on your PC, it shows the information your Fitbit has given your phone, and then the information your phone has given the Fitbit servers. 

As long as all your information is showing up on the fitbit dashboard then you're fine.....but sometimes the tracker only does a partial sync. That might be the reason for the message 😉

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You're Fitbit tracker syncs to your phone through the phones Bluetooth, then your phone syncs to the Fitbit servers either through your cellular data, or through wifi if your phones connected to any, like your home network.

First I should clarify what I have. I have an Android phone with the Fitbit application. I don't have a Fitbit device, I only have the Fitbit application in my phone. I am sorry if that was not clear, I assumed it would be clear because I posted in the "Android App" forum. I see now that there can be confusion. So when you say "information your Fitbit has given your phone", that step does not apply to me. Otherwise, yes that makes sense. The data is not going to my PC through WiFi, it is going to Fitbit through WiFi. I should have realized that but I did not.

So an actual Fitbit device might synchronize with a PC through Bluetooth (only). So the reason so much of this is confusing for me is that the Fitbit documentation is not relevant to those of us that only use the Android application. It works but apparently Fitbit has not written the documentation for that.

So the confusion might be what is meant by "Android App". Fitbit and customers with Fitbit devices might consider it to be one way to view and manipulate data from a Fitbit device. Those of us that are using the Fitbit App without a Fitbit device are likely to be confused by those others.

[Sypheron]

I'm on a Galaxy S8 with Android 8.0 and since the last App update my Fitbit won't sync to my phone proactively either.

[LanuzaFitbit]

Welcome to the Forums @SamHobbs. Hello @Christacap, @JohnnyRow and @Crazy-Fritter.

@SamHobbs Thanks for sharing all of your insight and experience on the situation.

From the information that you are sharing I would say that it sounds like you set up MobileTrack with your phone, you can read more about it in here. Basically the app uses your phone's sensors to track steps and it behaves similar to an actual Fitbit Device. It could be that you set it up in the past and haven't 'synced' it since then and that's why you get that message that you haven't synced in a while. 

That message only shows up when you have a tracker or watch setup to your account and in this case the MobileTrack would be that tracker.

I hope this clarifies and explains what is going on. 

[SamHobbs]

Thank you, LanuzaFitbit. In the future I will specify that I am using MobileTrack.

One problem is that the help link in the dashboard does not help. I still don't know how to synchronize the devices or if I should ignore the message saying I have not synchronized. The link takes me to Help article: How do Fitbit devices sync their data? and that article seems to assume I have a Fitbit device.

Should I ignore the message "You haven't synced lately" because I don't have a Fitbit device? As best as I understand the message, it is implying that a synchronization has occurred at least once so I don't understand how that was done. I don't know if the Fitbit server can detect that there are no Fitbit devices, only the Android Fitbit application, being used. I probably don't need an answer to that except it is relevant to the issue of what the Fitbit software could do to eliminate confusion.

[Christacap]

Hello. My blutooth synchronization issue got resolved appears that an update relaeased on Thursday 9/19 impacted my particular Samsung phone. Meaning that my model would not work with Fitbit even though my blutooth was supportable. The tech support had to change  the fitbit update to allow my phone access to the application. Said I'll be fine till the next update. 


Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hey @SamHobbs and @Christacap.

@Christacap Thanks for sharing your experience.

@SamHobbs, Simply put, yes, you can ignore the message as you don't really have a Fitbit device. It is only referring to the 'tracker' that you 'haven't synced' and not that the information you put in is not being saved.

If you have the time, be sure to visit one of our Discussion boards. Maybe something will pique your interest there.

Feel free to reach out with any further questions.

[ddixonkrause]

My blaze wint sync with my Fitbit app on my Android since 9-20-18, please help. I need all the information on my tracker for a upcoming surgery.

Moderator edit: Clarified subject

[Christacap]

Please be advised that I connected to the tech support and found that the recent Fitbit app updated caused a problem with connecting to my blutooth. The tech support adjust the update and shared that this issue may occur again on future updates. Explained that older Samsung phones are not being part of the updates causing these problem.

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

[bherring]

I just had to run a software update on my phone, which is a Samsung Galaxy J7, and now my brand new Fitbit won't sync.  Any suggestions?

Moderator edit: Clarified subject

[Judy28]

I have the Samsung galaxy 8plus and it will not sync with my blaze

Please help 

Moderator edit: Clarified subject and format

[SteveH]

Here are a few things to try:

• restart your android
• restart your Blaze by:
  •  Press and hold the back (left) and bottom buttons until you see the Fitbit logo on the screen. This should take less than 10 seconds.
  • Let go of the buttons.
• restart the Blaze a few more times (it doesn't always work)
• "forget" the link to the Blaze in your phone's bluetooth settings

If that doesn't do the trick then there are a few more ideas in Fitbit's troubleshooting guide at https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1866/

[SteveH]

It's worth trying the usual steps for syncing issues:

• restart phone
• restart fitbit using https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1186/
• restart fitbit a few more times (it doesn't always work)
• "forget" fitbit in phone's bluetooth settings

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hello @Judy28! 

Let me help you out to get your Blaze to sync once again.

In this case I'd recommend that you try to follow the step in this article. They should definitely help you out in getting everything to sync correctly once again. Please do give it a shot and let mw know how it goes.

Feel free to reach out with any further questions.

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hello @Christacap.

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience and that information.

Glad to read that everything seems to be working correctly now. If you have the time, be sure to visit one of our Discussion boards. Lots of different topics to talk about with other users.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

[LanuzaFitbit]

Welcome to the Forums @bherring. Thanks for being around to help @SteveH.

Adding to what @SteveH said, this could be happening because the J7 is not part of the supported devices list. This means that the app has not been fully optimized to work with that phone.

As long as it fulfills the minimum requirements, Android 4.4 and Bluetooth 4.0, there is a possibility that it can work but we cannot guarantee it. Some users of unsupported devices have mentioned that following these steps helps with the syncing.

If none of the above works, you could try to use a computer or another mobile device to try and sync your Fitbit to your account. Click here to get instructions on how to sync with other devices.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

[LanuzaFitbit]

Thanks for joining the Forums @ddixonkrause. Hey @SteveH.

We'll definitely do our best to help you get it working before your surgery.

I agree with everything @SteveH suggested, so please give that a shot. Additionally I'd like to ask: 

• What phone are you using?
• What Android version is it running?
• Do you get any error message? If so, what does it say?

Look forward to your reply. 

[Keanen]

Hello @AlessFitbit thank you for this level of engagement. 

I am running Android version 9 on a OnePlus 6.

My sync issue began last Friday when I upgraded to the Android Pie (9.0) on my phone. 

Unlike others with Pixel phones, my device does not work with the older build from 7/11. When trying to manually sync I get a dialog that says, "Bluetooth Issues" with "cancel" or "Restart Bluetooth" as options. 

I've rebooted my phone, cleared cache, restarted my Ionic and still nothing works. 

Let me know what else I can do. I'd be happy to load debug builds!

[spatula]

Keanen: like you, the older build doesn't make any difference on my first-gen Pixel for me.  The one thing I have found that does seem to work is turning Airplane Mode on and back off again.  Then the Fitbit app will sync at least once (and lately it's almost always exactly once).  

"Restart Bluetooth" has never worked for me.  I read that one as "devs have no idea what they're doing."

[Keanen]

@spatula thank you for the tip. I tried this and it did not work for me. I even rebooted my watch.