Charge 2 switching notifications off/on randomly

[Shanna19]

My charge 2 is going hay wire... turning notifications on and off all on it own. 

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[Mairharper]

Any solutions yet?

mine is doing the same. Switching notifications on and off every second. It’s totally inexplicable as it started when I was resting. Has not been near water. Has not been subject to any abuse. 

Have tried resetting it, but it is not responding. Not yet anyway. 

With other people suffering the same problem, this is clearly not an isolated issue. What is the solution?

[clair_h]

no. Fitbit and their support were never a help.  I suspect their support is out of india as their grasp of English was limited and they went strictly off of a script, regardless of what I said to them.  Eventually ,my fitbit died so I just went out and bought a new one.

Basically, in my opinion, it's a sign the fitbit is dying so ... just be ready to get a new one.

[AlvaroFitbit]

@PeterSileghem @clair_h @Mairharper Welcome to the Fitbit Community! I hope you're doing well! Sorry to hear about your Charge 2 turning notifications on and off by itself. Try cleaning your tracker's button area with some compressed air at a distance to clear any debris or dirt there and also restart it by doing the following:

Plug the charging cable to your computer or UL certified wall adapter.
Align the contacts of the tracker with the charging cable and plug it in making sure it snaps securely.
Your tracker should start charging.
Press the button for 10 to 12 seconds.
You should see your tracker's firmware version and you can now unplug your tracker.

@clair_h Sorry to hear that your tracker died. What did Support tell you when you contacted them? 

Let me know how it goes!

[Mairharper]

Thanks for the suggestion of using compressed air. In fact when the problem happened last week, I did attempt to clean the points as a last resort myself. And plugged it into the charger repeatedly and restarted it many times. Eventually it stopped misbehaving and it has been good for 3 days now . I hope your suggestion helps someone else though. 

[KD1985]

Hi @Mairharper,

Yes, I had been stuck with this problem for a while, till I got a workaround, mind you - not a solution from the customer support.

So, in my case, I noticed no physical issue with my device, no dirt/wear-n-tear, etc.

The workaround offered, which has worked to this day, was to turn off the all-day sync device option from my phone. Per the standard usage, I used to keep my device at all-day sync always with my phone. But, due to some bug in the software or device, this rendered my device button faulty and unusable. When I reset the sync settings and restarted my device, the problem of auto-reset was solved. To this day, I've been using my device with automatic sync turned off.

Unfortunately, I can't find a log of my chat transcript with the support rep on Fitbit dashboard, else I could attach the entire transcript. Let me know if I can be of any more help. 

[kellyp779]

Mine did the same exact thing. Switching back and forth on the notifications setting on its own. The button doesn’t work anymore and I can’t track my running or anything. I’ve only had it for a year and a half. It’s never been in water and I don’t beat it up. I called customer service and they told me there’s no more warranty on it and the I have to buy a new one. I took it up to a supervisor and waited forever to get one. We got disconnected and they sent me an email saying they would replace it for free as a one time “courtesy.” In my opinion, they need to make quality products. It’s super expensive to have to replace a device like this that should last for a long time. Whatever happened to making quality products??

[KD1985]

Quantity over Quality...

[clair_h]

My reality was that Fitbit's help desk is NOT US Based and goes strictly off of a script.  It did not matter what information I told them, they followed a script, Period. Tis the life when support is sent offshore and language becomes a barrier.  To me, there is no use in contacting FitBit's help desk as all they know is the script.  What you say or send them is not relevant, just the script.

My fitbit eventually died and I just bought a new one.  That is most likely their model.  It'll last a year or two, then you go buy a new one.  Sad but honestly pretty common for most items these days.

For those of you who have found any kind of work around, WOOT!  But I'd say to expect to just have to buy a new one and not to consider Fitbit's Support for any kind of help. Google what you can and try any posted solutions as those are likely to be far more helpful.

[Rich_Laue]

Trying to follow this thread is not easy. 

The thread started of by noteing that notifications are getting turned off on the tracker. 

While other users post that they have the same problem that notifications are turning off in the app, with no mention of the type of phone. The two are not related at all and should not be considered the same. 

If the app is turning off notifications, it is usually caused by the phones OS revoking a previously accepted permission to Fitbit. 

[Mairharper]

The phone is irrelevant.

This problem is tracker based with the misbehaving tracker choosing a one second cycle turning the notifications in and off and continuously vibrating as it does so with the result being a totally unusable tracker with battery depletion within a few minutes.

Actually, I am pleased for you as the fact that you can’t understand the problem means that you haven’t experienced it. Long may that remain the case!

As an update, mine is working again. It was a random incident and I was lucky to be at home and charge the watch several times whilst it was playing with itself. So I was frustrated but not thwarted

[Rich_Laue]

No I havent experianced, this hardware problem. but have noticed that notifications turn off easily if the button gets accidentally pressed or im pressing the button to long .

Some in this thread have mentioned that notifications get turned off in the app, or you saying that this also is a tracker hardware problen, even though I've found this to happen with 8 different trackers with phones running 4 different versions of the OS.. There is a thread on the android board about this. 

[Live2BKind]

Here's another one for you.  I know for a fact that my button isn't accidentally getting pressed to turn notifications on/off.  I've updated my phone OS.  I've rebooted both my phone AND my tracker.  Every setting I can think to check on my phone is turned to "on" for any type of notifications from fitbit.  I've turned off the "all-day sync" as suggested by another user.  And STILL no luck!  Paying 150$ for something that is supposed to have the capability of sending text and call notifications when it actually doesn't is a bit frustrating.  What's strange is that it worked for about maybe a month maybe and then NOTHING......It's only about 6 months old.....if that!   At first, I thought it was my  phone but, now I don't know if it's my tracker or a combination of both!  

Moderator edit: word choice

[Wrylak]

It's fun I am watching mine do it now not on my wrist. Support is no help with the problem either.

[Mairharper]

It interesting and frustrating and annoying behaviour isn’t it?
Just a footnote. After my charge 2 recovered from the problem, I was confident that it was a blip. Unfortunately it has now died. Tries to take a charge and says it is 100% charged as per normal but once off charge, it dies within 2 minutes. This behaviour has been going for 36 hours and resetting does nothing.
I fear I need to buy a new one

Is this built in obsolescence?

Hopefully, yours will not go the same way.

[Wrylak]

Well given finite response is here take 25% off and buy a new one seems to be.



Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone

[Wrylak]

I took the band off of my charge 2 set it on the desk and watched it cycle on off till the battery drained and it died. It is not a OS issue with the phone. The charge 2 itself is cycling the notifications on and off. Customer support is useless unless it happens within warranty. Myself I am really not pleased due to it being out just barely a month. April is my birthday and when I received it last year. 25% off a new device. So the answer is buy another that will fail in a year. Started looking into the Water proof ratings and unless I can find a IP rating I will not be using that 25% off either.

[Mairharper]

I totally agree with you that it’s nothing to do with the associated phones. That is a red herring introduced by some one else. It is an OS issue within the Fitbit
For me, it was not created by water ingress as it started when I woke after 7 hours of sleep. I hadn’t left my bed. And it had recorded normally all night. It was totally random

For yours - Try resetting it several times using the side button. You don’t lose data. The watch may recover. You may not end up 2 weeks later with a dead watch.

My problem is that now that mine has totally died, I know I should buy a cheaper watch but I am hooked on Fitbit. I will just have to buy a new charge 2 . Yesterday, I felt naked without my friend on my arm. It grieves me but it has to be done. The information it gives me is invaluable (to me)

Good luck with yours.

[TriciaP814]

Mine is behaving the exact same! And I've had mine for about 7 months. I have the charge 2 which is supposed to be waterproof or at least is has been this whole time. Not sure why they're saying put it in rice if its supposed to be waterproof...

[Mairharper]

I have never treated mine as waterproof. I take it off for showers etc

Anyway I have bought a new one today. Couldn’t last many more days without one. A loyal customer even when the goods misbehave-I must be mad!

[Rich_Laue]

Fitbit has never said that the Charge 2 is waterproof .It like every other product on the market is water resistant. Fitbit says that it is water resistant to the ocaisional splash and accidental dunking, like when washing your hands. As for swimming, tgistis not recommended. 

However no matter how the water got in, it needs to be removed. The best way is to take the unit apart and clean with deionized water. Since we can not take it apart the best we can do is encourage the evaporation.