Game Golf Draining Battery Quickly

[pb01]

Since Fitbit 3.0 Upgrade Game Golf Drains Battery Life - Tested twice now while playing and from a 100% Charged Ionic (with Fitbit Default Clock face) battery life is only good for 2.5 hours - meaning Iconic is flat dead by 10th to 12 hole. Currently running Game Golf 1.0.9 - the latest version.

Can anything been turned off etc.. or tuned to increase battery life ?

Moderator Edit: Updated Subject for Clarity/Format

[Appin]

Hi, I think it must be something else that’s draining your power because I can manage 18 holes comfortably with Game Golf. How well does the battery last when Game Golf is off? I'd try and make sure that anything else that uses GPS is turned off because that’s the big power eater. Best wishes, A

Moderator Edit: Format

[SantiR]

@pb01 Welcome to the Fitbit forums! Thanks for taking the time to report the situation you are experiencing with your Ionic's battery while using Game Golf. Thanks for sharing all of those details regarding this.

Yes, there are some things you can try to improve the battery life of your watch. Please check them out here.

Just as @Appin informed; it must be something else that's draining your battery power. This depends a lot on app usage and other things you will see listed on the link I shared with you.

Hope this helps. Keep me posted! 

[pb01]

Game Golf is the only app i use when playing golf. I don't have any other apps running. Prior to 3.0 upgrade it was working fine and Game Golf easily handled 18 holes of golf.

I start with a charge at 100%, probably only use it once per hole on my second shot for distance and the battery is drained by 12th hole or 2.5 hours.

[SunsetRunner]

I noticed the same thing, into the back nine and the watch is completely dead. I have seen that since the new update the screen is always on so that's what I think is doing it. I don't know if or how to turn that feature off if its at all possible?

Chris

[Mullinix]

I just bought the Ionic Addidas edition and have used both golf apps.  They both work great and I like Game Golf the best.  But both apps drain my battery (fully charged) by the 11th hole.  The watch will work for 5 days under normal usage.  

Having the watch drained after 11 holes makes the app totally useless.  Am I supposed to charge it every 8 holes???

Please help.

Moderator Edit: Format

[pb01]

Played 18 holes on the week-end and the battery made it through - note a number of times the app exited out to the main watch screen and I had to select game golf again and select Resume Round. This was unexpected behvaiour I had previously flagged - not sure if there has been a silent update to either game golf or fitbit but it does last for 18 holes

The only setting I had changed was turned off the "Reminders to Move" Setting on the fitbit iphone app  Hope this helps other golfers out there ?

[SantiR]

@pb01 Thanks for your reply and for sharing those details and the workaround that helped you out with this. 

Yes, turning off some features should help with this. I think it is the combination of certain features with the Game Golf GPS that drain battery faster. Also, remember that this app uses GPS, which is also a feature that drains battery in hours. 

@Mullinix @SunsetRunner Welcome to the Fitbit forums! Thanks for sharing the experience you are having with this app draining your battery power. 

Please check the factors that, in combination with the Game Golf GPS app, may be draining your battery that fast. @pb01, for example, had to turn off Reminders to Move and the golf app made it through. You could try that as well. GPS is a factor that drains battery pretty fast and this app particularly uses GPS a lot which explains the battery drain. Turn off some other features you don't need when playing golf and it should work.

Keep me posted! 

[SunsetRunner]

@SantiR thanks for the reply, as I said above its the screen awake that's draining the battery. I've used this app since it's release and only had excess battery drain since the last update which has caused the screen to stay awake. I have no other apps on in the background.

Cheers  Chris

[MarreFitbit]

Thanks for getting back and for clarifying your post @SunsetRunner! See the description of the app about the battery life.

For future references, with third party apps, note that Fitbit doesn't own or maintain third party integrations. It's up to the owner of the third party app to implement or update features for their app so in this case is recommendable to contact the third party developer to learn more about future implementations. 

To contact the developer please open their app on the Fitbit App Gallery, scroll/swipe down and under "App Details" you will find the information. It seems that this app doesn't have the option to contact them directly, but you can use the please report button instead.

1. In the app description, click the please report it link: 

2. Select one of the following categories and click Report:

In the meantime, I'd recommend taking a look at: Can I improve my Fitbit device's battery life?

Let us know if you have further questions! 

[Jstudavis]

I had the same experience while using Game Golf today.  My watch usually goes 5 days on a charge.  I started my golf round with 100% charge and the Ionic was completely dead after the 11th hole.

i guess I’ll turn off the heart rate monitor, next time, and see if that helps.

[MarreFitbit]

Welcome on board @Jstudavis, thanks for jumping in here! Sorry to hear you're experiencing the battery inconveniences. Please take a look at my post above and follow the recommendation provided. 

Let me know if you have any additional questions!

[pb01]

I had Screen Awake & Reminder to move turned off and battery still drained going into the 10th/11th hole. From a fitbit/game golf perspective it really is not good enough.

The only thing I can think about is that I had the battery charged off the power socket rather than the PC - next time I play I'll try fully charging it from the PC before playing. I know the doesn't sound logical but...

What else can be turned off ?

[strongjaw]

Hello - was wondering if you had any issues with battery performance when using game golf? Used it twice now (when charged at 100%) and its only lasted about 15 holes?  

[Herman-123]

Hi
Never used it as the app doesn't wirk on mine
Struggled too much


Moderator edit: removed personal info

[MikeBike]

Yeah,

Never was able to get it working right. Looking into purchasing a Garmin.
Software with device seems way to unstable to actually have fun golfing.

[Duggameister]

Mine only lasts for 9 holes now, about 2 hrs. The last update that either Fitbit or Game Golf did kills the battery. I used it dozens of times before the update and it worked great. I don’t use Game Golf anymore because Fitbit and/ or Game Golf have not been able to fix the problem.
I have been a huge Fitbit fan and what disappoints me is that the software update that was done clearly was not tested before released. I am fortunate in that I have a separate Rangefinder , but someone that relies solely on their Fitbit w Game Golf is out of luck, until/if the software battery drain can be fixed.
Doug

[RioRon]

Sorry, it was too frustrating for me to continue it's use. So I can't
comment on the battery life. Good you got it to go at least 15 holes. I
never even had that type of success.
Rio Ron

[MattFitbit]

Hi all!

Just wanted to jump in here to let you know that I have forwarded your feedback to our product team in regard to Ionic's battery drain when using Game Golf. 

Though I see that many of you have already attempted this, please be sure that your Ionic is fully charged before starting a round of golf to get the most out of your battery life. It might also be a good idea to perform a restart prior to starting your game. 

If you have not done so already, I also recommend using the contact developer link found in the app description. This will help Game Golf prioritize this issue.

I will be sure to keep you all updated as more information becomes available. Feel free to let me know if you have any additional questions. 

[pb01]

II was going to try two things this week-end

1. Make sure that Fitbit is fully charged from USB on laptop rather than from a power socket - not sure if this will make a difference or not - I can't see why it would but am trying to eliminate all factors.

2. I logged onto my Gamegolf account and noticed that all the clubs I had entered in "Golf Bag" were now in  activated status - This setting did not exist previously so I've deactivated them. I wonder if this is causing unnecessary  polling from the app on the GPS chip trying to find the club ?

Will let you know after the weekly comp.