Mobile data usage increased - RESOLVED 7/13

[EdsonFitbit]

Update 7/13/2018: This issue is now resolved, please ensure you are on the latest app. Thanks very much for your reports. I'll be closing this thread for future replies. 

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Fitbit Update 07/11/2018: Thanks for your ongoing patience as we worked to resolve this issue. We released an update to the Fitbit app for Android, version 2.74.2, that we believe addresses any remaining concerns related to this issue. Please update the Fitbit app as soon as possible.

In addition, all of your Fitbit data synced and remained secure during the issue and none of your data was sent anywhere else. We take our obligation to safeguard your data very seriously and are sorry for any concern that this error may have caused.

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Fitbit Update 07/09/2018:

Great news, everyone! Today we released the Fitbit for Android app version 2.74.1 to all users. This app version released improvements for the issue you are all currently experiencing with an increase in your phone's data usage. Please update the app as soon as possible!

Please let me know how it goes after updating the app. I would like to hear you all confirm that your data/battery usage levels have decreased. 

Thanks for all your help and cooperation! 

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Fitbit Update 07/08/2018:

Hi, everyone!

Thanks so much for your reports of this data/battery issue on your Android devices. 

Our team is still actively investigating the cause and we will keep you updated with any new information. We really appreciate your cooperation in the meantime and hope to get this resolved soon. 

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Fitbit Update 07/06/2018: 

Hey everyone -- First off, thank you for all of your reports. We are working to resolve an issue which can cause the Fitbit app for Android to consume a large amount of mobile data. In the meantime, uninstalling and re-installing the Fitbit app may help resolve related loading & crashing issues. Thanks for your patience!

I will make sure to keep everyone updated on this issue when I have something new to share. Thanks for your patience, more updates to come soon.

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Fitbit Update 07/05/2018: Community members have reported an increase of mobile data by the Fitbit app on Android devices.

I've made our Android team aware of this and they are currently working on getting this issue resolved. When I hear an update on the status of this issue, I will make sure to let everyone here know what I hear.

Thanks for your reports and continued patience.

[jprae52]

How do you reinstall prior version please? 

I'm almost ready to junk my furniture charge 2. Hate the straps falling off.  Now the app is killing my phone.  All too hard. 

[ToiletUser]

I'm running an old version (2.70) and my phone is burning battery again (and getting very hot) 

Fitbit app has used 30% of my phone battery since 8am...

[DWCM]

I get this notification 4 times per day and this is why I am deleting fitbit and going to get a refund and buy (God help me) an apple watch or a samsung. They would have fixed this by now. This is not ok Fitbit, silence is shattering your brand.

[DWCM]

So how are you going to compensate your customers? 

[SunsetRunner]

What's the latest on fixing this issue Fitbit? My versa is now a glorified basic watch as I've had to log out of the app in order to have some battery to be able to use my phone! This is ridiculous. 

[BreaF]

46% of my s9+ battery used by this app. Terrible. Fix it or I'll return my ionic and buy a Samsung. Terrible experience so far with all things fitbit......

[hoofbeats95]

I installed 2.72 and I keep bluetooth on my phone turned off, all day sync off. . . things seem to be ok now.  It's very disappointing that they can't figure this out. As a software developer I just don't understand how this got through testing and QC.  But beyond that I can't comprehend what is taking so long to figure this out.  Especially when excessive data usage costs customers money. 

[Benni100]

2.72 ist all ok!

[curlyjo]

Does this issue drain the battery life of the Android (phone) or the Fitbit device?  I have had an issue with the Fitbit Versa going from a 3-day charge to only lasting about 20 hours and it started last week.  I could never sync with my phone, and there seems to be no fitbit app for iPad Pro, so I have no choice but to use the Windows 10 app.

I am concerned with the issue with the Fitbit Versa as it's less than a month old and I have turned off everything except pulse and sleep, which makes it not worth what I paid for it.  I need to know if my problem is included in this one, or if I need to open a ticket on my issue with Fitbit.  Thank you.

[Fotofit]

Keep me updated on Calorie discrepancy. I wake up in the morning and start out with 0 steps and 479 calories?

[StaceyB93]

@Fotofit I think the calorie deficit when you wake is based off the basal metabolic rate. Which states that you burn a certain number of calories just to be alive and breathe. So, from midnight until you woke up, that number represents the number of calories you burned sleeping. Think about it, we burn calories all day just living. Here is a link that explains it a bit more or just Google "Basal Metabolic Rate". 
https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bmr_calculator.htm

[hoofbeats95]

@Fotofit read the manual - you will accumulate calories for living/breathing.  IT's the BMR.  Fitbit will allocate those to you as the day goes on.  It's really simple. 

[picciottino]

Me being again an a****le on twitter with their poor employee ^^" 
Sorry not sorry, at this point 😕 

[JibbersCrabst]

I just wanted to express my gratitude that you are actively acknowledging and working on this issue. I had a similar issue with a Text Message app a few months back and not only did the developer refuse to acknowledge the issue, they would blame the users. The fix for that app was to clear the data and cache and re-login to the app. I attempted this fix for the FitBit app, but it appears to still be using excessive data in the background. I'm going to attempt the uninstalling and reinstalling fix next.

I went back and looked at how much data the FitBit App was using in previous months:

Mar 10 - Apr 9: 24 MB

Apr 10 - May 9: 187 MB

May 10- Jun 9: 559 MB

Jun 10- July 9: 1372 MB

In each of these months, over 90% of the data is being used in the background despite the fact that I have restricted background data for this app. I also noticed that in the most recent month, there was a HUGE spike in daily background data starting July 2nd. It was averaging between 5-20 MB of daily background data and suddenly jumped to 200 MB of data on July 2nd alone. It has continued to use about 200 MB of data every day since then.

Phone: Samsung Galaxy S7 SM-G930V

Android Verison: 8.0.0

FitBit Version: 2.73

[Bollwerj]

I was given a Versa for Father's Day.  Began wearing it on 2 July.  It had problems syncing on 5 July and quit syncing completing on 6 July.  Going to your community web site I saw where there seems to be a software issue and that you are working to fix it. It will be a over a week on the 13.  I turned off the mobile data feature on my phone to avoid exceeding my data limit. However, since it won't sync it really isn't worth much to me.

If the issue remains after more than a week, I'm returning the Versa. Taking more than a week to resolve a self- induced (you must have pushed an update over the 4th to cause the issue) tells me your engineers are incompetent and their product can't be trusted.

[johnfaf]

I have been disappointed in the way fitbit has been handling this. This issue is costing people money especially on limited or pay as you go data plans. I didn't even realize the fitbit app was using so much data. I came here looking for why my battery has been draining so fast and came upon this post. Low and be hold I am about twice the data I use in a month and I am only halfway through my cycle. I have since uninstalled the app and moved it to my wifi only tablet until this is resolved. I think once fitbit realized this issue was going on they should have sent a mass email or notification to their user base with the issue and some temporary solutions until this is fixed. I bet there are a lot of people that don't realize this is happening and will be very surprised when they get their next cell bill. 

[curlyjo]

I came to this thread because my smart watch battery has been draining 3 times as fast since last week. Are you losing charge on the watch too or just phone?

Sent from Jonelle's iPad

[KimP13]

I haven't ever thought my versa battery lasted but I haven't had it long.
Definitely really messed up my phone..
Battery, cpu (whatever that is) and data usage.

[SunsetRunner]

Have had issues with both, but mostly draining my phone battery. 

[Shelda]

@curlyjo Hi. I'm only talking about the Fitbit Blaze watch battery not holding it's charge.