(Mac) Fitbit Icon Disappears from Taskbar

[olsonn1013]

I know there are some answers to the icon disappearing from the taskbar, and I know the response to those questions has been to uninstall and then reinstall the Fitbit app. This works, however, I have to do this every single time I sync my Fitbit. It's ridiculous. Is there a better solution to this issue? I've updated everything, and there has been no change. It is not the end of the world, but it is very obnoxious, and I'm hoping there's a more permanent solution.

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[SunsetRunner]

It's probably easier for them to concentrate on the mobile versions and I'd guess the number of macOS users is a fairly small section of the overall community.

[odanny]

Yea, I'm glad I'm not losing my mind, it does the same thing on my MacBook and the Fitbit team just shrugs their shoulders and say "Sucks to be you"

[PHH]

It drives me mad too. I have to reinstall fitbit every fortnight or so.

[SunsetRunner]

Since I last posted here back in October, it hasn't disappeared or had to be reinstalled at all.

Now I've posted that, just watch...

I don't think the software has updated at all, but something seems to have made it more stable - the OS itself perhaps (I'm now on High Sierra).

[RebeccaRebeccaM]

I'll have to test it.  I got so fed up with it that I stopped trying to use it with the online app.  I just use it as a watch and as a pedometer.  Big waste of money really, and I feel like I was cheated.  They've known about this issue for a long time, and never disclosed it and kept selling them to people anyway.

[SunsetRunner]

It definitely still fails to sync on occasion, needing several attempts. Between that and the Android app it's always a bit of a juggle wondering which will work, and I like to update at least once if not twice a day.

[odanny]

I’m going to install the software on my rarely used windows computer and just sync it that way, I’m tired of deleting and reinstalling the software to sync my Fitbit. Definitely something that you don’t know about until after you’ve purchased this and tried to sync it on your Mac 

[KateFitbit]

@SunsetRunner glad to hear you can see the Icon again. 

@odanny, @RebeccaRebeccaM, @PHH Did you check out @PureEvil's post, is it possible the icon is just hidden? Also are you on the latest OS as mentioned in @LanuzaFitbit's post? 

[odanny]

PureEvil’s post refers to a Windows OS, we are having problems with the MacBook, like someone previously mentioned, it does seem like the icon stays up longer than it did a few

months ago, but it will ultimately disappear, and you will need to delete and start the installation process over again. 

[KateFitbit]

@odanny Thanks for getting back to me. When did this start happening? Did you notice this happening after and OS update? What version are you on now? How long is it visible before it disappears? 

[odanny]

I am on the latest version of software, which is High Sierra v. 10.13.3 (I did an update about 2 months ago) and I would say the Fitbit icon appears for anywhere from 4-8 weeks before disappearing. It used to be around 3-6 weeks. It seems to be trending towards the longest time frame, especially lately, and after about 6 or 7 weeks, the problem reappeared and my icon disappeared. I discovered by deleting and reinstalling the software I could get it back, but after this latest round I decided to do a Google search and found this thread almost immediately. This confirmed for the first time that it was not just my computer that this was happening with, it was all Mac users (I have a MacBook Pro that was purchased in late 2014)

[Bubsayton]

Same issue here.  Mac is updated, fresh install of the fitbit app.  Icon stays for 1 day.

[rrod]

this has been going on for all Imac users for quite some time with no response from fitbit to figure app out. It works fine on Iphone but forget computer, as someone said, the app is really made for phones not computers...after de-installing several times and installing again.. I just quit trying to view my info on my imac. (Sierra 10.12.6)

[KateFitbit]

@odanny, @Bubsayton, @rrod Thanks for the feedback. I've reached out to our product team for suggestions/solutions for this. I'll update the thread when I hear further. 

[RebeccaRebeccaM]

I have a Mac.

[RebeccaRebeccaM]

Thanks for your interest.  You must be new.  This Mac syncing issue has gone on for at least a year.

[SunsetRunner]

Oh well, after 3 months or so the icon has disappeared again. 

[SunsetRunner]

It's certainly frustrating - the trouble is the Android implementation doesn't seem much better. I couldn't get my tablet to sync with the tracker at all yesterday.

At least with the Mac there should be a much more limited set of variables to consider when implementing this, owing to the relatively small number of different Macs and supported operating system versions, compared to (say) Android or even Windows machines. Still doesn't seem to make it easier.

As I remarked on a similar thread elsewhere, I realised yesterday that I was a few versions behind on the Mac FitBit software - I had kept a local downloaded copy of the installer for when the icon disappears. However, even installing the latest version and I get frequent connection errors. (Just putting this here as one of the stock solutions offered includes ensuring the latest software is installed).

The current version of the Mac FitBit software is 2.0.2.7169, from 12 October 2017.

[Walker111]

Mine disappears and I use it EVERY DAY. There is a problem between Fitbit and Apple technology, it seems.

[SunsetRunner]

Seems really weird. The icon disappearing must be something to do with the coding (presumably it's crashed somewhere along the line, or something has been corrupted). The syncing issue I have is also present on Android, so I think maybe the Bluetooth signal in the tracker is either weak or intermittent.