Calendar Selection and Formatting Issues

[dec7td]

When I went to select a calendar in the app my options were "Calendar" or "Calendar". This should be more specific. When I get notifications it is surrounded by question marks. For example I created a test event and my Blaze displayed "??Test?? ??817-917??". I'm running this on a Note 5. Anybody else having these issues?

[SilviaFitbit]

@dec7td Welcome to the Community! I believe the reason why you're getting this is because Fitbit Blaze won't show emoticons. As you can see in this thread someone else was getting those exclamation mark. 

Hope this helps. 

[dec7td]

The question marks are around my calendar notifications, not my texts. It's
a bug

[rockgeir]

I am also having this issue. No emoticons are in the calendar text. Droid Turbo, newest version of Google Calendar.

[rockgeir]

finally figured this out.

the blaze works with the old calendar software that ships with the phone.  the newer calendar update (the one that must be downloaded) will put the question marks before and after the event name and the time.

to fix this you need to change the notification settings in the old calendar software, as well as shutting them off in the new calendar software.  you also need to adjust the settings in the fitbit app as well as in the notification settings on your phone.  that's at least four places.  if they still don't come up you make sure to check that you don't have the feature to block interruptions turned on in your phone.  frankly it is a real pain in the neck, and this is coming from someone who used to program computers for a living.

as many of you know fitbit does not work with message + for text messages, you must use another text message software for things to work.

i have to say that the blaze has a very nice screen and the fitness software is terrific.  but with regards to integration with your phone to link up text messages, phone calls, and calendar settings all of my fitbit products (charge, surge, and now blaze) have been a mess to set up and not very reliable.  

Moderator edit: format

[rockgeir]

dec7td - figured this out.  see my post above.

[eps105]

I have this exact same problem. I posted this concern onto the main Notifications forum, but received no responses so I'm reposting here.

Here is the link to my post with a photo showing the exact problem:

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Blaze/Blaze-Notifications-Information-Post/m-p/1285762#M11655 

The problem is NOT with emoticons -- It's being generated where no text exists and ONLY occurs with the Calendar function. I am using a Motorola DROID Turbo 2 which uses the STOCK Android Calendar, so I consider this a bug that I am hoping Fitbit can fix (or tell me how I can fix it on my phone, if applicable).

[podious]

Want to put in my 2 cents and hopefully bump this for better visibility.

I got the Blaze last week and noticed this question mark issue on my first calendar reminder that went to the Blaze.  It puts two question marks on either side of the title/subject, time and the location.  I am using a Nexus 5 that has Android Marshmallow and using the stock Calendar application.

For example, my Google calendar event might be set up like this:

Title:  Performance Review

Start Time:  May 6, 2016  9:00 AM

End Time:   May 6, 2016  10:00 AM

Location:  Conference Room 317

When the notfication happens, it looks like this on the Blaze screen:

??Performance Review??

??9:00 - 10:00 AM??

??Conference Room 317??

Except, the question marks are surrounded by a border or box.  

Thinking about also calling in since I just bought this thing and I think that looks pretty unprofessional for the money I spent on the Blaze.

[Kmransom123]

@podious  Just a few posts up a user states how they were able to correct that. Perhaps give it a try. Hope it helps!

[eps105]

The "solution" posted above is an unacceptable workaround, requiring users uninstall all app updates to the Google Calendar and revert to the factory default stock application. There are bug fixes, enhancements, and security updates in the updates that I need to work correctly with my Exchange server sync for my work calendar. Besides, when my phone was updated to Marshmallow, it had a new version of the Google Calendar, so this workaround probably wouldn't work for everyone anyway. The poster of that solution has a DROID Turbo, which is still on Lollipop.

Anyway, as a complete coincidnece, I submitted a support request directly to FitBit earlier today since no one from Fitbit posted on this thread in response to my previous post. I will post here with an update when they reply to me.

[podious]

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@Kmransom123 wrote:

@podious  Just a few posts up a user states how they were able to correct that. Perhaps give it a try. Hope it helps!

---

I shouldn't have to fix anything on my end.  It should "just work".

[ErickFitbit]

@dec7td It sounds like you have two identical calendar apps on your device, if you're seeing the option of "Calendar" twice in the settings for setup of calendar notifications in the Fitbit App. I recommend deleting the 2nd instance of the app and then going through the setup process again.

@eps105 @podious Do you have more than Google Calendar app installed on your phone? Can you share a screenshot of what your calendar notifications setting looks like on your Fitbit App? That will be useful to further into this. Thanks for your help with looking into this.

[Eagle1]

I'm seeing the same thing on my phone and Blaze.  I only have the Google calendar applied in my fitbit app and all portions of the event are surrounded by two ?? on each side as mentioned above. I was hoping that this would go away with the most recent firmware, but that was not the case.

[eps105]

@ErickFitbit Yes, as a matter of fact I do have multiple calendar apps installed. For my work e-mail, I use Touchdown HD, which has its own calendar that is not integrated with the Google Calendar app. When I installed Fitbit, the only choice in the Calendar Notificaitons selection was "Calendar" and it was only syncing with my Gmail Calendar appointments, so it was obvious that Fitbit was not compatible with nor could see Touchdown HD. As a workaround, I used Exchange ActiveSync to also sync my work calendar to the native Google Calender, allowing all of my work AND personal appointments to display on my Fitbit. But even before I did that, I was still seeing the question marks in boxes for my personal appointments in my Gmail calendar.

Attached is the screen shot you requested. Please note that I have also opened a support request for this issue (actually 2, at Fitbit's request) - please see case # 10554486 and 10616532.

[podious]

@ErickFitbit No, I only have the Google Calendar app.  Surely, Fitbit has had this issue reported multiple times by now, right?

@ErickFitbit wrote:

@eps105 @podious Do you have more than Google Calendar app installed on your phone? Can you share a screenshot of what your calendar notifications setting looks like on your Fitbit App? That will be useful to further into this. Thanks for your help with looking into this.

---

[eps105]

As promised, I am posting here after working with Fitbit support to troubleshoot the "question marks" issue with calendar notificaitons.

After several rounds of troubleshooting with the support team, they concluded that, since my Motorola Droid Turbo 2 is not on their supported devices list, I may experience certain incompatabilities, inplying that the question marks are a result of an unsupported incompatibility.

Now, I'm fairly knowledgeable with Motorola Android phones and know that they are very close to stock Android with very little modification to the OS, and there are people who have posted on this thread with the same problem whose phones are on the compatability list. So I don't think this is a phone issue.

Therefore, please check here: www.fitbit.com/devices -- If you have this problem and a compatible phone, please submit a support request directly to Fitbit to keep driving this issue until a solution is found and a fix is deployed. Thanks!

Moderator edit: format

[dec7td]

I'm no longer having notification issues because I sent back the Blaze and bought a Moto 360.  Best decision I made all year 

[eps105]

@dec7td - I cross-shopped the Moto360. The Moto360 is a smartwatch with some fitness functions, where as the Blaze is fitness watch with a few smartwatch functions.

If you're happier with the Moto360, it's probably not because of a couple of errant question marks around a notification but rather that it has more features that are important to you.

The deal killer for me for the Moto360 (and all other true smartwatches) is that you have to charge the battery every 1-2 days. What a pain, and precludes easily using them for sleep tracking.

I can live with a few question marks given that everything else works perfectly and I get 4.5 - 5 days between charges.

[podious]

I have a Google Nexus 5, which is on the supported devices list.  I'll start a support request now...

[ErickFitbit]

@dec7td @rockgeir @eps105 @podious @Kmransom123 @Eagle1 Please update to the latest version of the Fitbit app, version 2.25 and let me know if you continue to experience the question marks or tofus in the calendar notifications on your Blaze. Also, let me know if it's fixed for you! Thanks everyone!