Charge 3 GPS connection only works when fitbit app is open

[SunsetRunner]

Devices:

Charge 3 running firmware version 28.20001.63.5

Pixel 3 XL running Android version 9, fitbit app version 3.3

Issue:

When starting a GPS enabled exercise (run, walk, or cycle), my fitbit doesn't connect to my phone until I unlock my phone and open the fitbit app.

As soon as I lock my phone, my fitbit vibrates indicating that the connection is lost.

If I unlock my phone and re-open the fitbit app, my fitbit connects once again.

I have followed the "Why isn't GPS working on my Fitbit device?" troubleshooting steps, I have contacted support which basically asked me to try the same as the above steps, I re-paired my fitbit and phone, rebooted both, and cleared user data on my fitbit.

All permissions are enabled, notifications are on, and battery optimization shows as not optimized.

Any help or suggestions are appreciated.

EDIT:

I spoke to support again and they got me to reboot the Fitbit again, uninstall the Android app, and re-install it. This still did not fix the issue so they have escalated my problem and are supposed to contact me back.

EDIT 2:

I was contacted by support and before they escalated they asked me to clear cache on the Android app and ensure that battery optimization is disabled for the Fitbit app. The issue persisted.

I then tried it on my old phone running Android 8 and there is no issue.

[Wlkcrkbrkn]

I have had a similar issue with GPS tracking since the app update. I start tracking a walk from the app interface, the map updates, and then I put my phone in my pocket. When I get back to my car, I take the phone out and stop the tracking as normal.

Previously, it would update my location as I was walking and map my route, even with the phone asleep in my pocket. Since the update, it only updates my GPS plot when I take the phone out and turn the screen on. If I leave it in my pocket the whole time, it calculates that I took 8,000 steps and spent over an hour to go .1 miles!

[SunsetRunner · Accepted solution]

I just noticed that while my Fitbit is connected (when the Fitbit app is open on my phone), the location icon appears on my notification bar.

When I press the home button or switch apps, the location icon disappears and my Fitbit loses connection.

This is obviously an issue with the app on Android pie.

EDIT:

I reverted to the Fitbit app version 3.2 and my GPS works now. Something broke on the 3.3 update.

EDIT 2:

After I hit the ok button on the screenshot below, the problem came back. I uninstalled version 3.2, rebooted my phone, and installed 3.3 again. This time I hit cancel on the popup and my GPS works. I'm still able to sync and everything.

[Bella88]

@SunsetRunner this seems to work! thank you very much for solution. But that pop up, won't go away, even if i cancel it.

[SunsetRunner]

@Bella88 Glad I could help. Support is useless, I haven't heard back from them in over a day now. I had to figure this "fix" out through trial and error.

In my case, the popup only comes up if I open the Fitbit app from the Fitbit Sync Service notification but I just hit cancel again and it goes away.

It looks like the sync service stops running if you hit the ok button and that's why connected GPS only worked while the app was running.

This seems to be a problem on Android 9 because everything works fine on my old phone with Android 8.

[Sgoli]

Hi,

In location permission of the app I selected "Allow all the time" and it solved the problem.