Abysmal Android Compatability

[Allanrich99]

Fitbit.  Please step up the game considerably in what phones you are supporting.  It turns out that I am a bigger Fitbit fan than I thought.  I started to leave Fitbit when I realized that my Asus Zenfone 3 was not compatible.  I really love that phone.  I tried Android Wear instead.  It was terrible.  I went back to a Galaxy S7 phone that I really don't love to get my Fitbit functionality back.  But when I look to see what you support, it looks like if I want a phone that was released in the last year, there isn't much beyond Samsung.  You aren't even supporting the LG G6, the Pixel 2, anything beyond the first Oneplus phone.  You have me for now.  But you have me looking for a competitor that will meet my needs.  I know that I am not the only one.  I've read enough of the forums to know that you are dangerously close to losing a lot of customers and dedicated ones too.  Please figure out how you are going to get your development teams on the ball for getting new phones added to your compatibility lists.  If you are that far out of Bluetooth normal standards on operation, then maybe you should rethink how you are accomplishing this task.  Two cents from a lover of Fitbit devices and a hater of their compatibility limitations.

[SunsetRunner]

@Allanrich99 Not being on the supported devices list doesn’t necessarily mean the device is incompatible, just that Fitbit hasn’t been able to thoroughly check and test to ensure compatibility. The trouble with Android is that it is so diverse and users able to change so much. Part of the Bluetooth problem could well be that there are settings that switch off Bluetooth if idle for a period, which if not syncing, is likely, as well as turning it off if battery / power saving is enabled. There list goes on. iOS on the other hand is fairly standardised and it’s  not easy for a user to radically change settings.

Bluetooth is generally standardised. It’s invariably users that have tweaked things rather than manufacturers

[DeeWoo]

I completely agree! I'm still "stuck" with my Ionic since it's a nice watch. But that's it...I get no notifications, and syncing the watch to update my steps and heart rate is a half an hour long operation.

I'm seriously looking for another alternative...I miss my Pebble 😞

[Allanrich99]

I have yet to get either my Blaze or my Ionic to work with a phone that isn't on the approved list, my settings are the same whether I use my Samsung, my Asus or my Nokia.  I know, I shouldn't have this many phones.  I also don't have any problem getting an Android Wear watch to connect to any of the phones or a myriad of Bluetooth headphones.  The only device that regularly performs poorly with my phones is the Fitbit.  The only thing that it does work with is my Galaxy S7 and even then it drops messages about 10% of the time.  Both my Blaze and my Ionic are great fitness trackers that don't sync with my phone properly.  You have hardly tested any of the phones on the market in the last two years according to your own list.  I work at a product design company that develops Bluetooth devices.  I understand many of the challenges of working with the protocol.  What I don't understand is keeping up to date with testing on even the primary phones from LG, Google, and many more.  These are mainstream manufacturers.  The forum is littered with unhappy customers who can't make their phones work with your products.  I am actively looking for a replacement.  Which disappoints me.  I think Fitbit is the best out there with the device itself but stand by my statement that the support of Android phones is abysmal.  I use Bluetooth a lot.  I track the settings in my phone very closely to make sure it is available when I want it to be.  I connect to my car automatically when I get in it.  My headphones connect automatically when I turn them on for working out.  I only have one device that consistently performs poorly on Bluetooth.  There are a lot of really good firmware and application engineers out there.  Maybe it is time to look for some more of those guys. 

[Allanrich99]

I also miss my Pebble.

[SunsetRunner]

I have just switched from my Pebble to Ionic, despite the few shortcomings, I think I will stay with the Ionic and hold out for firmware upgrades to fill in the gaps.

Coming back to the OP and phones, I'm using the Ionic with my Pixel2 with no issues. Full notification support etc. I have also disabled the constant widget, all-day sync, constant connected etc to stop the pixel losing battery as it did in the first few hours after pairing. I now average about 1.5-2 days battery life on the Pixel2. The Ionic is currently on 55% after four days. This hasn't prevent the Ionic receiving notifications as they appear on my phone, I just manually or use other apps to auto-launch the Fitbit app on my Pixel2 to let it sync steps etc back to the phone on a schedule.

[JJFlash]

The Google Pixel 2 has been out for 3-4 months now. I can get my Pixel 2 to sync rarely (and there seems to be little rhyme or reason as to when it does play nice) - and forget about notifications - I've seen none. As the Pixel 2 is pretty much unadulterated Android OS - It should be pretty simple to get the Fitbit App to synch with it I would think. 

[Allanrich99]

So, I've switched to Amazfit Bip smartwatch.  At $99 it's a better smart watch but not nearly as good for activity tracking.  I really hated leaving my Ionic as I loved the watch but I want notifications and they have that figured out.  I still get heart rate monitoring but I don't think it is accurate.  It would be nice to know if Fitbit ever fixes their notification problems.  I might consider taking my Ionic out of the drawer if that happens.  Very disappointing customer.  I've had three Fitbit devices and you have lost me.  I don't think you guys can afford to keep this up.

[DramaQueenDiva]

Just adding on to what @SunsetRunner said, Android globally has more customers than Apple.  Although I am not defending Fitbit (I've had my fair share of syncing issues too), with so many companies using the Android platform, naturally, they are going to have more phones that need testing than the Apple phones. 

Just because a phone isn't on the Supported Devices list doesn't mean that it's not supported.  My phone isn't on the list either (a Samsung Galaxy J3 Luna Pro) and yes it is supported.  It just means that Fitbit hasn't had time to thoroughly test the phone yet on their software.

[N8teGee]

I have to agree too. My LG G6 isn't on the supported devices list but it works fine, no worse then my Samsung Galaxy S6 which was on the supported devices list. In fact I had more sync issues with the Galaxy. 

[Giampi71 · Accepted solution]

 Simply perfect on my Pixel 1 and the new Fitbit OS 2 improved the sync even more

[Allanrich99]

Pulled the Ionic out of the drawer two weeks ago and my problems have been solved.  After updating to the most recent firmware on the watch and the app, I am in business.  Very happy about it, as I love the watch.  Glad that Fitbit was able to work out whatever issue they were having with the updates!