Blaze problems with HTC M8

[Sveinb999]

Hi,

I have had a protracted dialogue with a long list of fitbit customer service people, who all seem unable to solve my sync'ing problem between my Android phone above and the Blaze. The blaze will refuse to connect, it will drop GPS tracking (Strava works fine all the time). Only way to make things work is to do reset, reinstalls etc, which are tedious and not the way it used to be.

The discussions have gone on for about 3 weeks (although the problems started long before then.)

The last comment from the Fitbit CS people is that the HTC M8 is no longer supported - quote of msg under. Does anyone know anything about this ? i find it rather astonishing and told the CS in no uncertain words about how I felt.

  (under is quote from CS - you have to excuse the use of the English language, I dont know the persons nationality)

quote

We apologize for this go and back conversation.

Even if your tracker syncs we understood well that the issue is the usage which is not comfortable.
Restarts, Unpairs, Pairs just to sync must not be pleasant and doesn't fit the level of quality we want to provide you.

Unfortunately, your mobile device HTC M8 isn't anymore supported by Fitbit since more than one year now, and this explains these difficulties in syncing process.
This is why your Blaze is sending you to the Fitbit App, meaning there is an issue with it.

We can gladly offer you a dongle, which will allow you to synchronize with your computer.

Let us know if you agree with this proposition. We hope that our reply answers your questions.

Fitbit wishes you a nice day.

unquote

Needless to say, i find it hard to bring my desktop with me on the bike to check how I'm doing .......

Anyone know anything about this problem ?

Rgds Svein

[LanuzaFitbit]

A very warm welcome to the Forums @Sveinb999.

Thanks for sharing your experience with us. I can certainly see how it could be frustrating. Having said that, I'd like to ask you some questions to get a better understanding of what is happening:

• Are you tracking GPS through the Blaze (as in selecting the activity on the Blaze) or through the app itself?
• Do you get any sort of error message? If so, what does it say? 
• What Android version are you running on your M8?

Look forward to your reply so that I can find the best way to move forward.

[Sveinb999]

Hi Lanuza,
thks for your mail.
I will get different error msgs from my Blaze, like 'Check Fitbit app' and
something to the effect 'cant find phone' .

I start excercises from the Blaze. After having such an error message, and
starting say a bike ride, it can sometimes
connect during the bike ride, some times not, and some times register gps
tracks for part of the ride, or the whole, or not at all..
This really applies whether it says 'Lets go' and the little icon shows it
is connected to phone/app/gps tracking, or when its not connected, giving
an error message.

I use android version 6.0, software number 6.12.401.4.

I would still like to know if the statement that my phone is not supported
by Fitbit is correct ??

Rgds Svein

[Sveinb999]

Hi Lanuza,
thks for your mail.
I will get different error msgs from my Blaze, like 'Check Fitbit app' and
something to the effect 'cant find phone' .

I start excercises from the Blaze. After having such an error message, and
starting say a bike ride, it can sometimes
connect during the bike ride, some times not, and some times register gps
tracks for part of the ride, or the whole, or not at all..
This really applies whether it says 'Lets go' and the little icon shows it
is connected to phone/app/gps tracking, or when its not connected, giving
an error message.

I use android version 6.0, software number 6.12.401.4.

I would still like to know if the statement that my phone is not supported
by Fitbit is correct ??

Rgds Svein

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hello @Sveinb999! 

Thanks for letting me know what is going on. From looking into our compatibility page, the HTC M8 is definitely supported. I do know that the only specific feature that won't be working anymore is the MobileTrack feature, which is not related to the syncing itself.

I'd say that we try to restart the Bluetooth connection between the Fitbit and the phone. Let's follow these steps:

1. Open the Bluetooth settings of your HTC and remove all Fitbit devices that you can find in there.
2. Open the Fitbit app and go into the account tab and tap on 'Set Up a New Device'.
3. Follow the onscreen instructions to get your Fitbit paired once more.

Make sure that there are absolutely no other Bluetooth devices around that could interfere with the connection.

Look forward to your reply. 

[Sveinb999]

Hi Lanuza,

thks ur reply.

This is what was suggested by CS some time ago, which I have performed a couple of times. The Blaze will then sync a few times, then sporadic and not really do a proper job. The gps tracking is still a problem, it is impossible to find when its doing the tracking or not, only after the excercise. Luckily I have also Strava to compare with.

CS still tell me that the HTC is unsupported, and have been for a year or more. That the Blaze worked fine up to a few months back makes the whole thing look pretty strange to me.

However, CS have now decided to send me a replacement, which I will try out and see if this will work better. They could not promise, due to the supported/unsupported issue, so we shall see.

thanks your help.

Regards Svein

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hello @Sveinb999.

 I can absolutely see that your experience thus far has not been the best but I'd like to thank you for the explanation and the reply. I'd be really interested in knowing how it goes for you, if you could keep updating the thread with any new developments I would greatly appreciate it.

Look forward to any news and updates from you! 

[Sveinb999]

Hi all,

I received my replacement fitbit last Friday, as usual Fitbit's despatch service is faster than a blink of the eye (well almost).

disconnected old Blaze, removed app, reinstalled, turned on wifi, BT and it connected, synced. Twice.

Then the slowness started, again. In fact, i'd say that the new Blaze is more problematic than my old one !! But Fitbit CS warned that a new one might not solve the problem.

Although i have all the sync options turned on, incl allday etc, it will not always sync when i ask it to, but sync at times i dont know about.

I tried to track my commute Monday - but no map, distance etc. i believe the error msg was 'check fitbit app' and 'cant find phone' - as i tried several times. in the end i started the bike ride, and ofc no maps, distance, speed etc. Both commutes, to work and home.

Tuesday i managed to borrow an iphone from work - installed fitbit and logged in. all info available quickly.

Wednesday (today) morning, on the HTC Android phone i turned off gps, wifi, bt, - then turned on gps/location, wifi, bt on Iphone, went into my garage (where wifi doesnt reach anyway), started Blaze bike with Iphone as counterpart, the Blaze said 'lets go', recorded everything as it should, smoothly and nice. Uploaded afterwards with office wifi, no problem.

Next test - afternoon turned off wifi/bt on Iphone, turned everything on on the HTC. Started Blaze exercise  within strong wifi and next to HTC, and it says 'check fitbit app' - several tries, no change.

Gave up, started 'bike' and ofcourse at home there is no record apart from time and pulse. At some stage after arriving home there has been a sync.

Just checked Iphone, all info available. Checked HTC, commute this morning strangely has headings 'map' and 'speed' added but no info in there, these 2 headings are not available in this evenings commute (as normal when 'check fitbit app' and similar error msgs occur).

Since my HTC M1-8, as mentioned before, continues to have no issues with other bluetooth systems like both the Aria scales, car handsfree, another scale we had, I cant see the problem being with the HTC phone, to me there clearly is something not right in the connection between Blaze and HTC. Hence I have to concur with CS who say that my phone is not supported by Fitbit any more, despite, as you all know, that the website states the opposite.

My personal feeling is that this is very bad misinformation in order to sell units (fake news anyone ???).

Thus I can only advise anyone with a similar phone (or if its an Android problem - any Android phone)  to really do research on their potential Fitbit unit's ability to work with your chosen phone prior to investing in your preferred Fitbit unit.

Best regards Svein

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hello @Sveinb999.

Thanks for the in-depth update and sharing of your experience. I will be keeping my eyes open for any updates in regards to this and will pass your experience on to the rest of the team. If I do get any updates we will be sure to let everyone know and post in here.

If you have any further questions, please let me know.