Problem updating Charge 5 from iPhone8

[Masori]

I have only had the Charge 5 for a day.   It needed repeated attempts to pair and sync & I was completely unable to "update" the operating system on the tracker - it failed multiple times.

I updated my iPhone8 IOS. downloaded the latest Fitbit App,  turned bluetooth off and on, restarted devices and apps, removed other Fitbit devices to no avail.   I went back to store where I purchased it and stepped through the setup with a very pleasant and professional young woman.   

Eventually the update of the Fitbit did work.   The problem appears to be my home Wifi.   When at home the iPhone defaults to Wifi whereas in the store the download was relying solely on 4G network.  

I am surprised that this appears to be the problem because it means the downloading of the operating system to the phone and onto the tracker is done in a piecemeal fashion which involves wifi.  I am yet to see if connecting the phone by usb to computer would have solved the problem.   I am surprised that Fitbit does not make the process more user friendly and transparent so that problems easier to isolate.

Moderator edit: format

[DavideFitbit]

Hi, welcome to the Fitbit Community forums, @Masori. 

I appreciate all the information that you've shared about the inconvenience you had to update the Charge 5. 

I'm sorry to see that you were having trouble with the update, but it's good to know that you were finally able to complete it after going to the store.  Thank you for all your comments! Our team is always working to enhance your experience and your feedback is a big part of that process. The team continues to work to improve the quality of products and services. 

Let me know if you experience any other problem with your device after the update. You can find other important information about problems during the firmware update in this article. 

I'll be around. 

[Masori]

Unfortunately   I did have more problems but they were fundamentally caused by moving data and a sim card from my wife's  iPhone6 into the iPhone8.  I had to repeat the updating and pairing and even though I turned the wifi off the problems persisted.  At the one stage the Charge5 was giving verification codes in rapid fire sequence.   I then restarted the phone, turned bluetooth off/on and restarted the charge5 and things then worked out - big sigh of relief.   The restart sequence on the Charge 5 was a bit awkward to use.    Not obvious that there were options (restart & cancel) below the first screen so even starting restart not clear.  In addition trying to scroll down didnt work as expected - scrolling down to the restart/cancel options would not hold on the screen - had to use 2 fingers - one to hold screen steady the other to select.

I change phones infrequently and pass my old phone down to my wife.   In this case the very old phone couldnt handle the IOS required for the new Fitbit application to account for charge5  so then had to compromise my Fitbit account by trying to link with the charge5 along with my Versa3 and charge2.    Long story - updating multiple phones with old IOS and apps is almost certainly bound to cause multiple problems.  

Moderator edit: format

[DavideFitbit]

@Masori Thank you for sharing your experience with this. I'm sure this will be useful for other users as well. 

If you continue to experience any problem with the update and you already all the recommendations mentioned earlier, make sure to get in touch with the Customer Support team for further assistance with this as well. You can click here to get connected. 

Thanks again for all your comments and feedback.