Connected GPS failure

[hawkyou]

I walked Bloomday a 7.5 mile race today. I used the exercise "walk" connected GPS feature. It only tracked 6.8 miles and the map is missing a large stretch. Not sure why this happened. Really sucks.

[GarethDPhillips]

It would be a "sledgehammer to smash a nut" but it may be wroth trying a restore of your phone to factory settings, and then do a run with only the Fitibt app installed, or maybe a few other essential apps, just to eliminate any other apps or services from the equation. 

Similarly, do you have an older iPhone, or other mobile, which you could run with, to see how that works out perhaps? 

I'm open to the possibility of my Nexus 5x never working with 100% reliability, I know the bluetooth in it isnt amazing when using multiple bluetooth devices, especially when one or  more of those are LE devices (its well documented) but I would be less inclined to believe that an iPhone 7 has a poor Bluetooth stack, not least because I have a friend with an iPhone 6 who just upgraded to a 7 and has never had a single glitch in a run, ever. 

It could of course be possible that this is your iPhone 7, but that also seems a little unlikely.

Id be tempted to start by eliminating software / apps if you can live with the inconvenience of going to factory settings, would be interesting to see... (or try another phone)

I get mixed reports from support that a data connection is required for connected GPS, but I cannot see how / why that could possibly be the case. 

[mvan231]

Yeah it seems quite odd. I will try a run without my armband as well. And I
will try a restore too to see if that will help. I'm almost to the point of
giving up on connected GPS. Tracking my runs shouldn't be this difficult

[GarethDPhillips]

I totally agree. I kind of wish I had the surge, as that has GPS of its own, but its no **ahem** ugly!  

A new device will be due fairly soon with GPS, either a Surge 2, or a Blaze 2 I am sure, I may buy that. Im speculating of course, but Im certain that will be the case, as Fitbit are falling being in regards to GPS tracking at present. Connected GPS isnt reliable enough for me, which is a shame, as I am happy to run with my phone. 

[mvan231]

Yeah I agree. I prefer running with my phone for music and for safety in
case something happens. You can't call someone with a watch that has built
in GPS anyways lol

[GarethDPhillips]

really you should buy the Garmin 230, its far superior for running, has GPS, and heartrate, and does Cadence! Its not Fitbit of course, but if the fitbit steps ecosystem is important to you, you could just use mobile track to count steps on your phone. 

Im really torn between giving up on the blaze and getting a 230, or hanging on for something to improve, but I am seriously frustrated as so many runs are getting messed up.  Yes I can track directly in Fitbit or Strava, but I like the heartrate data and the on wrist stats. Its what I paid for. 

Also I like the blaze as a 365/ 24/7 watch. I wouldnt really want to wear the Garmin all day every day, nor do I want to swap watches to run. 

Nightmware!

If I was buying today and starting a fresh, I think it would be the Garmin 230 though, it looks superb and is really great value next to the pricey Blaze (considering it has no GPS)

[mvan231]

Yeah definitely agree. I thought about the TomTom runner as well as it has
heart rate options and one that has built in music too

[Arifyusof]

So far a week, one long 51 km ride, commuting with xiaomi redmi note 4 on default battery savings no issue at all. I'm sticking to this phone until an upgrade is due. Redmi note 2,3,4 (3gb ram) no issues. Samsung j7 (1gb ram) had issues. Can't conclusively say it's the ram. Any other android users have any issue?

Get Outlook for Android

[GarethDPhillips]

Yes the runners look cool too. Close call, I just though the Garmin was a bit more of a pro device. Fitbit is cool, and Im no pro runner anyhow, Im just starting out, but I suspect Fitbit is still a little bit too consumer friendly to be taken as seriously as a Garmin, or even a TomTom at the moment.  I'm sure the next device with GPS will be much better.  I'd take a free Surge from customer care as a complimentary customer care gensture!  Then I could run with that, without any stupid glitches, and I could seamlessly swap between the two devices without losing any data from the fitbit "ecosystem". Thats not going to happen though !  

[GarethDPhillips]

Yes me, Nexus 5x (google phone). I cannot find any settings related to power saving that could affect Bluetooth on my phone though. 

[Colinm39]

@GarethDPhillips@mvan231Thanks for all of the posts.. Gives me more to think about in my testing. My Surge gives a perfect track. My Blaze suffers with the same distance error in an East/West direction that the Charge HR 2 posts are reporting.  Perfect North/South tracking

When I do my East/West route, and the Surge on the other wrist, the Blaze is approx 2 min/km pace faster than the Surge.. at a pace I could never walk.... Yet, at the end of the test both of the devices have mapped perfectly, but always the Blaze distance is higher by about 30cm/second or 12"/second. Those reporting this have proven it is a mathematical error.

So I will test concurrently with my Polar Beat Bluetooth H7 chest strap, MapMyRun and the Fitbit Blaze.. again and see if my Bluetooth hearing aids interfere, they haven't interfered on the singular tests.

Thanks for keeping me mentally active..

[mvan231]

you never know. I may suggest that when they get back to me. They said
they've exhausted all their options and are basically giving up but I
replied telling them that their customer service is terrible and needs to
fix this issue.

[GarethDPhillips]

I've got some more ramblings / observations to get down in writing... sorry for the lengthy text...

Firstly, how did you get on with a restored phone?  I restored my Nexus 5x today as thought it may be a good idea to try the same after suggesting it to you.  I re-flashed the phone image using a cable and didnt even restore a backup, I set it up as a new phone, and went out for an 11km run this evening. I think it was less than 5 mins in and the Blaze disconnected. It NEVER recovered. WHAT A JOKE. I'm so annoyed,  Why the hell cant they use standard classic Bluetooth for this, surely that would be better for the connected GPS feature?  Anyhow... breath...  I think its worse following the restore !

So I have an 11km run with no map, which is very annoying. Interestingly, I think the run was nearer 10km, but as it used step counting only for 99% of the run, I guess this isnt a bad account of the distance all things considered.

When I got home I opened the fitbit app and the Blaze synced, and my run uploaded to Fitbit (and automatically to Strava). I then went and tried to start another run, just to see what would happen. I got the "phone not found" error initially (I think, I cant recall 100%) which made no sense as the Blaze just synced and uploaded my run!  I reset the Blaze, and then I found that it kept saying "check fitbit app" each time I tired to start a run. This was with the app OPEN and the green connected icon showing, so again, this makes no sense. I noticed that the GPS in use icon wasnt appearing on the status bar, and I wonder what is causing this? Clearly the Blaze is finding the phone (or it would say phone not found) but its not starting the GPS? I have an app which locks the GPS so that its always running and locked, and that made the GPS in use icon to show permanently, but still the Blaze said "check Fitibit app". I then killed the Fitit app, and opened it again, and then it connected when I started a run?

So I think I was actually getting the fitbit connected to the phone, but the GPS service wasnt being connected somehow? Really not sure what was going on or what could have killed the GPS connection so soon into the run, but I a so, so utterly fed up with this. 

[mvan231]

I have had the same thing when I reset the app and Fitbit connection. It
was really odd. I haven't yet tried a run after twice restore today and
reset all settings but hoping to log something soon. I go on vacation
tomorrow though so we will see

[climategary]

For some reason a post I made on this thread last night disappeared.

Tuesday night I started a "run" with wi-fi off, and it seemed to be tracking fine, but the map presented at the end showed a straight line that was completely wrong. This was uploaded to Strava, and is utterly useless. I would classify it as a fantasy route, that penetrates houses and cut through a public golf course.  

I've given up on using Blaze on runs until after firmware update. Luckily, I still have the Surge.

[Rich_Laue]

@GarethDPhillips make sure that Fitbit notification services is running, the connected GPS uses this. Since Fitbit is unable to test a rooted phone with a third party OS, things might not work as expected. 

@climate Gary if you see a straight line, this means your tracker lost a GPS lock. You will feel a buzz anytime it looses or connects to GPS. 

[GarethDPhillips]

The service is running

Also my phone isn't rooted. It's totally stock

[mvan231]

here is what I just got from support last night:

Hi Mark,
Thank you for continuing to troubleshoot on your own. We appreciate your efforts.
Note that your case was escalated to be handled by Fitbit's highest tier of support at our headquarters in San Francisco. My name is Danny and your case was first brought to my attention earlier this month. Per our previous email, we have exhausted all troubleshooting at this time.
Since we've confirmed with the replacement that this was not a tracker issue and don't have an immediate solution at this time, we've decided to make a one time exception to offer you a refund for the Blaze. Before we can proceed, we will first need for the tracker(s) to be returned. In order to assist you with this return, we'll be providing you with a prepaid FedEx shipping label.
If you'd like to move forward with a refund, we kindly ask that you reply with the following:
- Full name

- Shipping address
- Phone number

Once your return is processed, we will begin the refund process. Note that because the tracker was a gift, the refund will be issued for MSRP plus applicable sales tax.
We look forward to getting this matter resolved shortly. Let us know if you have any questions.

[GarethDPhillips]

From a customer service point of view, they are doing what is expected. They have replaced the device, and now offering a refund. But you would think they would be motivated to actually find and resolve the problem!  

Maybe Im being pessamistic, but perhaps they are aware that the service is flawed in some way (not for everybody apparently) and they are just remaining tight-lipped until the next model is released. 

Pretty poor, as what else are you to use in their range?  The surge is the only option, but its years old, ugly as hell, and has its own issues (falls apart)

What a joke, you / we basically have no good option to take. 

Take the money and wait for a new device, or take the money and spend it on a TomTom or Garmin with GPS, they will be FAR better. If you love the Fitibt ecosystem enough to want to stay in it, buy a basic step / heath band, or use the mobile track virtual device which works pretty well (using mobile)

I dont want to give up on the Blaze, I like the device, but I am in the same position. I dont know what else I really want to wear 24/7, and Ive bought straps and all sorts for mine. 

[mvan231]

Yeah I am right there with you. It is a bit irritating that they haven't really said anything about figuring out the solution and trying to fix the problem that so many of us are having and being troubled by. It is very frustrating that it has to be such a nightmare for closure of an issue with a popular product. I like the blaze as well. The features and benefits of it are great. But the connected GPS portion of it is pretty annoying. I could've stayed with my Charge HR and had the same functionality (minus the smart watch portion), but it is what it is. I will decide over my vacation period if I will return it. I will try and use the connected GPS since I have done a full restore and reset of all settings but I am not convinced that it will actually have fixed anything at all. 

Much like you, I agree that this is probably an issue with Bluetooth LE transferring the information and GPS signal lock.

Question, when you lose your signal normally, are you running in a straight line? have you recently made a turn or started traveling up a hill? I notice most of the time when I lose my signal it is while running up a hill or just after making some sort of a turn or sometimes both. I know that this shouldn't have any effects on the GPS signal lock or the way that Fitbit is using the GPS data but it seems to be that it isn't able to keep up with rapid movements. I wonder if we try a run in the Bike mode if it makes any difference. maybe the bike mode gathers data more often? I am not sure, I never really knew if there was any difference between activity modes on any activity app or tracker other than to categorize the activity but I had a hunch before that maybe biking is at higher speeds so maybe it gathers more data to eliminate the possibility of missing a portion of the activity where running is typically slower so you can gather data at a lower frequency and still track just fine. probably a bunch of non-sense but it was a thought I had.

[GarethDPhillips]

Ive often wondered if its caused by changing direction, as I often see problems as I turn into a particular road, but I know for 100% certain that its NOT a loss of GPS signal lock, as we know, I can track the run using other apps and they do not lose my position. However, this turn is also early into my run, so it may be that it would die there anyhow.  It all makes no real sense, as I can DRIVE with the device tracking and it doenst mess up, so what is special about running I dont know. Its almost like it doesnt like the shaking action of running (blaze or phone) but that is hard to explain also. 

If I walk around at work or at home with a run tracking, just to test, I struggle to replicate the issue. Its very, very bizzare. But nonetheless, it will persistently fail on a run, or at best die momentarily and skip a portion. last night I lost pretty much all of my 10k as it never recovered, and I just opted to not stop and mess about.