Charge 2 refuses to pair: "We found your tracker" but "Problem with bluetooth", no code, no pairing.

[Bitterfitt]

We have two Charge 2 in our home, each connected to a Xiaomi Android phone. Both have been functioning, but some week ago when our mobile phones were updated to Android Pie (9.0) both stopped syncing. I got one of them working by removing the Charge 2 from the Fitbit app and activating (pairing) the unit again.

The other Charge 2 is worse off. We've removed it from the Fitbit app, but have no success in pairing it again. The app looks for it, sometimes gets as far as saying "We found your tracker!" but the next thing is always a dialog saying that there was a Bluetooth problem. Retrying or restarting Bluetooth doesn't seem to make any difference, we've tried it a hundred times now.

(Btw this Charge 2 also has a battery that is so tired that it needs to be recharged each and every day. This is quite remarkable since the other Charge 2 easily lasts for a week.)

The strange thing is that if the well-working Charge 2 is too close while doing the above pairing, the app finds it and displays the 4-digit code on its display. But when I hide the well-working one, the app never finds the non-working one. So the app and the phone's Bluetooth actually seem to work. The non-working Charge 2, on the other hand, seems indeed non-working.

What to do?

Edit:

solved as described in this comment

[AlvaroFitbit]

@Bitterfitt Welcome! It's nice to have you on board! Sorry to hear that you can't setup your Charge 2. Make sure no other bluetooth devices are nearby as they may interfere with the setup process. Your phone doesn't show as compatible but that doesn’t mean it won’t work it just means that it hasn’t been tested by our team. You can try going to your phone's bluetooth settings and remove all devices listed there. Restart your phone and restart your device. After this try syncing them. Also, if you are using an Android device, check that your app has the necessary permissions (settings > apps > Fitbit > permissions) and make sure bluetooth and location services (GPS) are on. After this retry the setup.

Let me know how it goes!

[SunsetRunner]

I'm having the same problem.  New phone and Charge2 will not pair.

Get to device found, type in the code and it starts to connect but then fails.

Have deleted app, turned Bluetooth on and off but still will not work.

Sometimes Bluetooth can see Charge2 but still will not connect.

What permissions should be showing in the app?

Tried to restart Charge2 by holding button but nothing happens.

[Bitterfitt]

@SunsetRunner,

to restart it I believe you need to have the Charge 2 in its charger.

[Bitterfitt]

@AlvaroFitbit, thanks for answering.

The steps you describe are exactly what we have already done, and never got to the pairing code.

Just to try out a "forbidden" method, we now tried to add the Charge 2 in the phone's Bluetooth settings (not in the Fitbit app). The pairing was not successful (we had some error message indicating that the phone couldn't communicate with the Charge 2). But then when we tried to add the Charge 2 in the Fitbit app just like dozens of times before, the process got all the way to the 4-digit pairing code for the first time. The code was entered but... it was NOT successful. It's just "connecting" forever.

This situation is now what we reach over and over again. What to do?

[Bitterfitt]

New version of the Fitbit android app arrived yesterday. Installed. Nothing new: The app still hangs forever in the "connecting" phase efter entering the 4-digit pairing code. Also after a reboot of phone and tracker. So, again: What is your verdict?

Btw, when attached to the charger, the tracker showed half-full battery. 15 seconds later after a reboot it showed 10 or 20 % battery. Doesn't seem very well-functional to us. Also this tracker has to be recharged every day, so one might consider the battery more or less dysfunctional.

Dysfunctional is also the middle name of the wrist bands, which has been replaced twice or three times due to bad durability. Casio and many other watchmakers found durable materials already 35 years ago, so this is definitely not rocket science.

Speaking of dysfunctional, Bluetooth is now 20 years old - and not really difficult to use for engineers and developers in their products. So what are you doing all day?

[Bitterfitt]

Aaalsooo... the tracker shows the wrong time since several weeks back, since it's not syncing, and since the battery drains out every day, so... is there anything left that we can use it for? 

Earth to @AlvaroFitbit 

[Buzzi75]

Same issue.  Everyone else please vote this issue up if you have a set up pairing problem. Only high votes will draw their attention  

Reading other posts, I can say FitBit botched up the Android 9 pie piece. Too many issues. 

[Buzzi75]

Didn't resolve. 

[Bitterfitt]

Fitbit app updated to newest version again yesterday,

but no success. No pairing. No use.

[Dave_Val]

Just wanted to say that this issue is affecting me as well. I have Alta HR with Xiaomi A1.

It was pairing fine even with Pie, until  Feb15, after that either Android security update broke it or an app update.

I tried everything I could find, but now I cannot add the device. App gets stuck on the "Enter the number on your tracker's display" after entering the pin from the alta hr..

i tried...

1. Resetting fitbit by pressing button 3 times

2. Doing step 1 several times in a row

3. Restarting phone, clearing all remembered bluetooth devices.

I this a known issue, will it be resolved?

[Rich_Laue]

I find that after a phone OS update, I often have to remove the Fitbit app, I restart to completely clear the Fitbit app out, then install a fresh copy of Fitbit.

This might work because Fitbit embeds part of the app into the operating system.

[Bugsy82]

I have a Samsung android with the latest patch.  I removed the Fitbit app, then reinstalled.  No change in the problem.

[Dave_Val]

In my case it seems that the google/xiaomi patch from February 5 broke the sync functionality.

I hope devs can figure this out soon 😞

xiaomi A1 with Alta HR

[Bitterfitt · Accepted solution]

UPDATE - HOW WE GOT IT BACK WORKING:

After our Xiaomi phones got the Android 9 update, we never got the Fitbit pairing to work using any of the advice available.

But when digging up our old cracked phones, with our Android accounts still on them, we started them and the Fitbits connected to them as they should. Then we put those old phones away and tried with the new Xiaomi ones again, and bing - sync at first try!

(This even worked with an old Motorola phone where the Fitbit app had never been installed before. It was enough to use it with the same Android account, install the Fitbit app, and connect it.

This indicates that it could probably be solved by using just any phone, add your Android account on it, install the Fitbit app, pair with your device, and then go back to your new phone to see if it suddenly works.)

All Fitbit support people should give this advice instead of regurgitating the methods that apparently don't work... come on! And the developers should use the example to understand what is missing in their product so far. AFTER fixing the obvious Night Mode that has been under consideration FOR FOUR LONG SLEEPLESS YEARS!