Fitbit notifications don't work

[misslisi]

I'm ready to throw in the towel with Fitbit. I bought a Google Pixel watch and wanted to use Fitbit to track my exercise, calories, get reminders to move etc. NOTHING works as expected in the Fitbit app. Even though I've checked permissions I get zero notifications and reminders to move or auto track any of my exercises. Food tracking app sucks!

[Gr4ndp4]

Hi, @misslisi, welcome to the community, you may find this article of interest How do I get notifications from my phone on my Fitbit device? this does not specifically focus on the PW. Go into the Watch app on your phone & review "Notifications", in particular, ensure the bottom slider (Mute notifications) is "Off". Further, ensure the "Fitbit" slider is in the on position. If this does not help test the other settings on this screen.

Let us know how you get on.

Cheers

[RiekoC]

Hello @misslisi 

Are you using the original Pixel Watch or the Pixel Watch 2? If you have the Pixel Watch 2, there is a known bug where the watch doesn't display Fitbit notifications. 

I get "phantom" Fitbit notifications on my Pixel Watch 2 where the watch vibrates and produces a notification sound, but the accompanying text screen doesn't show in the watch's Notifications screen. It seems that this impacts Reminder to Move at 10 minutes to the hour, the end of my hourly activity schedule, when I achieve my daily step goal. There might be a couple of others, but these are the main ones I've identified. 

The Fitbit team is aware of this bug and we are hoping that this will be resolved soon in an upcoming update. 

The Pixel Watch and some other Fitbit devices will auto track 7 exercises. The list of current auto tracked exercises can be found on this help page: How do I track my activities? (<-- click link)  If you were doing an exercise that's not on this list, that would be the reason why your Pixel watch didn't track your workout. Also, the default time for auto tracking one of these exercises is 15+ minutes. You can change this default time to 10+ minutes in the Fitbit app:

• Tap on your picture/icon in the upper right of the Today page in the Fitbit app
• Tap on Fitbit settings
• Tap on Activity & Wellness
• Tap on Exercise
• On this page, you will see the Auto Recognized Exercises. Tap on a specific exercise to change the default recognition time (minimum 10 min) or disable Auto-recognize. Those exercises that have Auto-recognized turned off will show as Ignored in the list
• Tap on the arrows in the upper left to scroll through the pages & return to the Today page

[Ramrunner]

Just a heads up this is not just a PW2 issue, my PW1 stopped doing reminders to move notifications properly since the Wear OS 4 update. The December feature drop has not fixed it.

Not just me my son and wife also have the issue. Fully working reminders before Wear OS 4 then after it broke. Hopefully they're still working on it it seems it was easy to break but not as easy to fix.

[Caxman]

I can confirm the same on my PW1 - 10 mins before the hour I get the reminder to move vibration, but the visual message no longer appears.

[Gr4ndp4]

Hi, @Caxman Do you have the "always-on" display on? I've noticed that it works when I use the "On" setting but not when I rely on the wrist action to illuminate the screen. Let us know how you get on.

Cheers

[Caxman]

Hi!  I read elsewhere a few minutes ago that that works, but I have not tried it yet.   When I first noticed this bug, I did see the visual notification briefly once, and it went off very quickly, so you can tell something is wrong...

[Caxman]

Confirmed the alerts work when the Always on screen is enabled.

[Technaudio]

I also have this on my PW1, I get the notification sound & vibration on the watch, but no actual written notification. It's been like this for months.

[Ramrunner]

My son confirms this works, but not an option for me as often I'm having to use battery saver just to finish it the day. Always on would never get me to to my required 24 hour battery life. Hope they simply just fix it. Was all working great before the update. Hate it when an update breaks something. Means no quality control. Very unprofessional.

[azialam.dev]

I am experiencing the exact same problem with my PW1 after updating to WearOS 4. All the notifications have become highly inconsistent since the update. How did your son manage to resolve this issue? Does he own a PW1 or PW2? Thank you.

[Ramrunner]

I was referrring to having an always on display turned on. That fixes it but drains battery faster.

[Gr4ndp4]

Hi, @Ramrunner, you may find some of the points made in this article Can I extend my Fitbit device's battery life? will help you reduce the battery drain you are experiencing. I appreciate some will not fit in with your activities but the article will allow you to review your settings.

Cheers

[Caxman]

Hi All-

Some good news, at least for me.  As of Saturday evening, I noticed the notifications started working again.  My phone - Pixel 7 Pro did get an update on Friday to the Jan 5 security update.  Not sure if that did it, but for now, things seem to be working again.