Why doesn't my FitBit give the correct time after I've changed time-zones?

[wpqs]

Why is it so difficult for my FitBit to update itself after I've changed time-zones, or am I the only user who regularly travels between different time-zones?

FitBit App 3.65.2 (36567071), Charge 5 firmware 57.20001.171.50

• Settings - App Settings
  • Automatic time zone - ON
  • Select time zone - GMT +2:00 (correct)
• Charge 5
  • Sync Now

It is a really simple problem to solve. When synchronizing my mobile app with my FitBit you need to check that the time on both devices match. If they don't then instruct the FitBit to change its time to match that of my mobile. It should happen within minutes of me landing. This is something I've been complaining about for years. Why does FitBit produce a watch that doesn't tell the correct time?

[Rich_Laue]

Your tracker doesn't know what timezone it is in until the first sync after switching timezones. 

Ideally, the fitbit app would be monitoring the phones time of day, and when it changes, the should force a sync. Which it does not. 

So why does it take so long? It depends on when the next scheduled sync is, and if the sync was successful. 

After changing timezones, bringing the fitbit app to the front for a couple of seconds shoipd initiate a sync. 

[Dopovo]

@Rich_Laue you're not saying anything we don't already know but evidently you didn't read properly @wpqs's post or conveniently ignored it.

I'm on the same boat of @wpqs regularly traveling between time zones. As described by OP even if you manually sync the Fitbit tracker with the phone (that has already the new time) the updated time is not reflected. Last time i traveled i was able to have the right time after a couple of hours (and multiple manual syncs), my wife, with her Sense, took an entire day.

[willmalta]

Doesn't the Charge 5 have GPS?.It's so simple to convert lat and long to time zone. Even assuming Fitbit programmers aren't that smart it should be so simple to manually initiate a resync between device and phone. Unfortunately FitBit programmers haven't been taught about the importance of providing visual feedback or error codes so when you try to initiate sync from the mobile app you have no idea as to whether it succeeds or not and more often than not it silently fails - hence the hundreds of complaints about the app not getting data from the device. Again, just poor programming. However there is a work-around. If you change from 12 hour clock to 24 hour you can force a sync and also tell if the it has worked. It is so sad that software quality is seemingly ignored by FitBit. They need to do better.

[willmalta]

Try The trick of changing the clock display from 12hr to 24 hrs as described in my previous post.

[Rich_Laue]

Yes the charge 5 does have GPS, this means that during a run, you do not have to bring a phone with you, and this GPS is only turned on when the user requests a recording of their location during an exercise. Normally the GPS is not on to conserve battery, therefore the watch itself doesnt want or care to know it's location.