Charge 5 syncing and notification issues

[skittlequeen]

Experiencing syncing issues with Charge 5 (new on 13.08.2023).  I have fitbit app on iPad, fitbit app on Nokia G42 and website dashboard at fitbit.com.  When these sync with Charge 5, is there a numerical order?  Which device will sync with Charge 5 first, second and third?

Charge 5 is not linking properly with the iPad or Nokia G42.  Charge 5 has previously linked to iPad.  For the last 10 days, attempting several times each day to resolve these problems with intermittent success.  Problems keep recurring and connections keep being lost.  I have repeatedly tried the advice on consumer forum.  Internet advice was to clear cache and storage in fitbit app which worked initially but still having problems.

Notifications to Charge 5 from phone have now stopped and I cannot rectify the problem.  Error message on phone which states notification service not running restart the phone.  Repeatedly restarted phone, does not resolve the problem. 

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[MarreFitbit]

Hello there, @skittlequeen. Welcome to the Fitbit Community Forums. I'm sorry to hear about the issues you're having with your Charge 5. Thank you so much for taking the time to troubleshoot the issues prior to posting here. I understand how you must be feeling, I'll be glad to continue assisting you!

As a friendly reminder, please note that you can use those three devices you mentioned. However, if you haven't set up your Luxe yet, try setting it up with one of the two devices while the other remains with the Bluetooth turned off or better yet, try turning off your mobile device.

However, is very important to turn off the Bluetooth on one device when you want to sync with the other. Why? Well, bear in mind that your Charge 5 can only talk to one device at a time. It can be trusted on many devices, phones, tablets, and so on, but because of the limitations of Bluetooth, it will only be able to talk to one at a time.

The data from your Charge 5 is sent to the Fitbit cloud. After the data has been processed it will be put into your Fitbit account. Now your Fitbit account has access to and will display the data. Opening the app on a second/third device/phone/tablet will have access to the same data and a sync is not needed if a sync recently occurred through a different device.

For more information, see How do I set up my Fitbit device? and/or How do Fitbit devices sync their data? 

Regarding the error message you're receiving in the Fitbit app, I'd like to provide the following steps that actually work for Huawei users, but you have an Android phone so probably they will work for you too:

1. On your phone, open the Settings app > Apps and notifications > Apps.
2. Tap Fitbit > Battery.
3. Turn off the Power-intensive prompt option.
4. Tap Launch.
5. Turn off the Manage automatically option, and turn on the Auto-launch, Secondary launch, and Run in background options.
6. Tap OK.

Note that you may see a message on your phone related to power consumption and apps scanning in the background. If you follow the steps in this message, the Fitbit app can’t run in the background and certain features may not work properly. Repeat the steps above to enable the Fitbit app to run in the background.

Hope this helps!

[skittlequeen]

Thanks for the syncing information.

Regarding the notification service not running message in fitbit
notifications, the process for Huawei phones does not work on the Nokia G42
as when I go to settings - apps - fitbit, the only options I have are
settings - apps - fitbit - battery usage - unrestricted, optimised or
restricted. I did change unrestricted to optimised but I am still getting
notification service not running message in fitbit notifications.

[MarreFitbit · Accepted solution]

@skittlequeen Thanks for getting back and trying those steps. 

To make sure your Fitbit device syncs and receives notifications from your Android phone, open the Settings app on your phone and confirm or adjust the following settings:

• Turn off background restrictions or limitations:
  1. Go to Apps & Notifications > Fitbit app.
  2. Tap Background restrictions or Background limits to turn off the setting.
     
     
• Turn off battery limitations:
  1. Go to Apps > Fitbit app > Advanced > Battery > Battery optimization.
  2. Change the view to All apps.
  3. Search for the Fitbit app and choose Not optimized.
• Turn on location services and allow the Fitbit app to access your location. For more information, see Why is the Fitbit app prompting me to turn on location services?

However, please note since you have more than one phone, you'll only receive notifications from the phone connected to your Fitbit device at the time. Please check this help article Why are notifications delayed or missing?

I'll be around if you need further help.