Charge 5 alarms not working

[Xylonik]

For a while now I have been having a few issues with my Fitbit Charge 5. Simply put, that the alarms are not going off. Let me start with the first issue that I was experiencing. I had already known that my Fitbit was spotty with its alarms, but this was a day where I finally caught it. I woke up, checked my charge 5, and saw the alarm screen, but did not feel any vibration or hear anything. So I knew the alarms weren't actually alerting me as to when they were going off, but I also found another problem. Last night, tried something to see if I could catch the Fitbit doing the aforementioned thing again. But, what I found was when I set the alarm, everything looked normal, and it showed that the alarm would go off at 10:33 today, which was a few minutes after I had set it. However, when it was 10:33 (I knew this without checking because I had another clock in the room), I didn't feel anything, but I waited a little bit to see if it would work. Mind you, I had not turned on smart wake, so the alarm should have gone off right as it was 10:33. At 10:34, I checked and it said that the alarm would go off at the same time tomorrow. With both of these issues, I'm really not sure what my device is doing or how to fix it. Thank you for reading this long post and preemptively, thank you for any advice given.

[DavideFitbit]

Welcome to the Fitbit Community forums, @Xylonik. 

Thank you for sharing that you've been experiencing this problem with your Charge 5 and that you already tried a few steps. 

Before considering other options, please try the following steps: 

• When you set up an alarm, once you see the green checkmark, please try swiping right to see the alarm details. Other users have mentioned that the process to set up an alarm is not done until you swipe right after the checkmark to look at it. 
• Restart your device.
• If you're still having this problem, you can try removing an re adding the alarm as well.

Regarding the other issue that you mentioned, the restart procedure with the charging cable should be helpful, but I also recommend that you try setting up your Charge 5 as a new device in your account. 

Hope this helps, I'll be around. 

[nesliprm]

Hi Davide,

I've been having the exact same issue mentioned above. Tried all the suggested solutions and finally restarted the device. It did fix the problem BUT only for a month or so, and this morning my alarm didn't go off, again. The alarm function is an essential feature for those who don't wanna wake up to a sound and/or don't keep their phones in the bedroom. I'm quite dependent to this to wake up, that's one of the biggest motives that made me buy a Fitbit. I'm hoping for an update because all the solutions seem like temporary fixes. For now, I'm gonna stop using the alarm, I never know when it's gonna stop working again, as it happens randomly.

[DavideFitbit]

@nesliprm Thanks for sharing this update confirming that you started experiencing this problem again. 

In addition to the restart procedure, could you please confirm if you've also tried the other steps mentioned earlier to set up the Charge 5 as a new device and deleting and adding the alarm again. Let me know if you continue to have the same issue after these steps as well. 

I'll be around. 

[nesliprm]

@DavideFitbit yes, I have tried all the solutions I could find on this forum. Recently there has been a new firmware update (version 20001.188.58) and this seems to have solved the problem for now. I will post again if the issue comes back. Thank you.

[DavideFitbit]

@nesliprm That's great news, thanks for sharing this update! 

See you around in the Community. 

[frachar]

Hi Davide

I have been experiencing the same problems as @nesliprm and constantly have to check and/or reset my device for alarms to work which is becoming tiresome.  My alarm went off yesterday as it has done for the last week or so but today nothing. I haven't changed the alarm settings at all, the battery is fine and device is up to date.

To reiterate, it is a major flaw to have a device whose alarms only work intermittently and stop without any notice. I rely heavily on this and, like is mentioned previously, I don't have my phone in my bedroom at night. The sleep data is the main reason why I spent so much money on the fitbit in the first place and unreliable alarms are rendering it useless.

Can fitbit *please* fix this bug once and for all as there are so many cases of failing alarms being reported. 

Thanks

[PaulMc0811]

Hi Davide

Further to the previous posts regarding the alarm function not working, I have been experiencing the same problem, the alarm does not always go off and the reset only works for a few weeks, there is a fault with this function and a software update is urgently needed, many of us use the fitbit alarm to avoid waking up a partner who does not need to be woken by a clock radio or other type of noisy alarm, however its very important that the alarm function be reliable which it currently is not

[harvardpunk]

I am also having this same problem with my Charge 5. Is extremely annoying, for all the reasons others have stated here. Is coming to the point where I need to get a different device, likely not a Fitbit at this point, as the random unreliability of this absolutely critical function is crippling. The silent alarm is the #1 most important function for me, and it’s not working. The first few times, restating seemed to fix. But now nothing is - restarting, deleting and recreating the alarm, etc, all useless. 
  PLEASE help fix this major issue, Fitbit!

[frachar]

@DavideFitbit 

[harvardpunk]

Update:

  I did a complete factory reset of my Charge 5. That seems to have gotten the silent alarm to work again, finally. However, as we’ve all noted, it doesn’t alleviate the issue that this (silent alarm stops functioning) will inevitably happen again, unpredictably and without warning. Meaning every night I either need to test the function, or be at even greater risk that one morning I’m going to find myself severely oversleeping bc the alarm stopped working suddenly in the past 24hrs. 

  Fitbit, please fix!

[DavideFitbit · Accepted solution]

Hi everyone, thanks for your reply confirming that you're still experiencing this problem. 

This next step is not usually recommended in the forums, since it will remove apps, stored data, personal information, credit and debit cards* (for devices with contactless payments), and saved settings in your Fitbit device, but you can also complete a factory reset following the steps in this article. This could be helpful to resolve the problem with the alarms that you described earlier. 

If the issue persists, after this procedure, I do recommend that you get in touch with the Customer Support team for further assistance with this. They will let you know how to proceed. 

The best way to get help for this problem is to chat with us online or give us a call. You can click here to get connected.

[harvardpunk]

Hi Davide, thank you. Yeah, I did wind up using that approach which has gotten my alarms working again, thankfully. 
My only concern is when will this issue pop up again next… as I’ve used the factory reset method before to resolve this issue, and eventually it resurfaces again. The unpredictability of the alarms suddenly stopping working is a problem, as it means one day suddenly they won’t go off and I’ll oversleep and miss my schedule!  Hope Fitbit can learn more about this issue and mitigate it somehow. 

 Thank you!

[frachar]

I agree with @harvardpunk below - reinstating the alarms is less of a problem than trying to avoid being caught out by them suddenly not working as the only way we find the alarms aren't working is when it's too late. This happens too many times for it to be one off issues, annoyingly.

[harora]

I have similar problems. I have been using Smart Alarm for a long time with no problem. Some month ago the alarm stopped working. I am using my phone for alarm now. When I am awake I check my fitbit alarm and it shows "snooze mode" and a time of some minutes. I wait for the minutes to pass and check again and it still shows "snooze mode" and a new time.

So the alarm when it should go off go directly to snooze.

Tried some resets and it worked sometimes for a couple of days and sometimes the resett did not help at all.

-----------

I tested and activated the alarm yesterday and it seem to work now. Maybe some update while I have not been using the alarm. Will try using it with mobile as backup a bit later.

[DavideFitbit]

Hi, thank you for sharing this update and for confirming the alarms are working properly now, @harvardpunk @frachar @harora.   

Let me know if you continue to have the same problem with the alarms in the following days/weeks. I've seen other users experiencing something similar that have been able to resolve it with the factory reset procedure. Thanks again for taking the time to share all your feedback and comments about this feature.