Crashes during exercise

[BMCG]

10/3 morning run, tracking with GPS, looked at watch at mile 2,

checked a couple minutes later and it was the workout screen where you scroll to choose exercise. So I restarted “run” and went home. Synced to phone, 2+mile run is not there, was never recorded, didn’t sync. This is a MAJOR  reason for buying a gps tracker, it must work every time.  

Other problems-

finally got pandora stations to show up when I forced sync for 15th time on work WiFi, got Home put watch on charger, Home WiFi, pandora station and disappeared!!!! Fitbit Please fix software! Will Ben returning off not fixed in next couple weeks for refund. 

I was excited aboit Ionic becuase I like fitbit, battery life vs Apple Watch, and combined the function of my old gps running watch and all day tracker. But it was released with too many problems.  Please post update on firmware fixes that may be in the future. 

Moderator edit: edited title for clarity & format

[5miles]

I checked out the Fitbit coach forum and there are similar problems there also. I love that we can now monitor and analyse  these metrics. So yes, it’s important to me. Even if there had been a more convincing response from Fitbit I would have purchased one and waited fore the fix to be rolled out, but they don’t seem to be anywhere near that yet. Which Garmin device did you buy if you dint mind my asking? I’m now considering the Vivoactive 3. But the much more expensive Fenix 5 looks rather inviting too!

[lachellesays]

I bought a used Garmin Forerunner 230.

I am getting ready to upgrade to the Vivoactive 3. The Fenix 5S is currently on sale at REI for $399 just an FYI if you were considering forking out the extra $100.

I have also found that the Garmin has far superior GPS to that of the Fitbit. My Ionic would lose GPS signal if I were under tree cover, if there were any clouds, or if I was next to any 5+ story buildings. Not very Trail friendly at all. Never have these types of issues with Garmin!

I contacted Fitbit about the GPS signal issues and was told they weren’t issues, that this was all normal. 

[5miles]

Thanks for your help. I appreciate it. I’m in the UK but will check the Fenix prices here. I like to walk and hike, it send that the Fenix might be a better fit, but then I also go to a gym so I need an all rounder. The Ionic looked good but maybe the VA3 will be my choice. I hope Fitbit sort these issues out quickly or they’ll lose their loyalty base, I’ve had the surge (replaced a number of times due to the strap) since 2015. So lots of historical data that I want to keep building on. Once I move I won’t return and they may find this happens repeatedly. Good luck with your training.

[runnerboi418]

In short, yes the performance is that bad and the utter lack of support from Fitbit makes it that much worse.

BEK

[eandersk]

Also had it crash just under 2 miles into a run today, although the data was saved. Still meant that I lost a good chunk of the run before I noticed the watch was no longer recording.

[Graciemt]

It was so frustrating to me, and their customer service was so bad about it that I ended up returning it for a refund. Can’t even do what it’s designed to do and they tell you to wait for a fix when clearly it’s been happening over a year. It’s so ridiculous. 

[PaulHaines]

I think the core frustration of the owners is that the issue has been in
place for over a year, with no view for when it will be rectified.
>From this we can assume the following possibilities:
1. They do not know the root cause (unlikely after 14 months unless they
are not actually looking. But the moderators tell us it is known and under
investigation)
2. They do know the root cause, but have assessed it it very hard to fix
and is taking very long indeed to rectify
3. They have found the root cause is hardware related, not software
related, and to fix would mean a product recall, but that is very costly
and damaging to reputation

[5miles]

Hi all, I have been reading comments on the update release thread. Has anyone seen an improvement in these problems since installing the update?

Keith

[SantiR]

Hello everyone! Thanks for your continuous participation on this thread regarding the exercise app crashing during exercise. Thanks for sharing your experiences and detailed information here. This helps Fitbit a lot. Thanks for your feedback too.
 
Fitbit is aware of this, but may not be able to provide a fix in the immediate future. We'll continue to monitor the situation, and keep our team informed of the impact to you and other customers. We understand that this isn't the resolution you're hoping for, but rest assured we're always working to improve our products.

In the meantime, please manually log your activities for you to not loose credit.

I appreciate your patience and look forward to getting you back on track.

Keep me posted! 

[sfringer]

I find this unacceptable. This issue has been known for almost the life of the Ionic. It's the primary reason many users purchased the device; to track exercise. This is not how you earn customer loyalty (or respect).

How am I supposed to manually track a run in an area I do not regularly run? I have no way to know the distance I've covered (without much extra effort on my part), I cannot track my heart rate which in turn translates to not effectively tracking calorie burn.

It would seem Fitbit should start considering how to compensate Ionic users who are unable to use the device per the expectations set in marketing literature (and even reassurances from moderators).

[runnerboi418]

Well said ... it’s just too bad it will likely continue to fall on the deaf ears of the Fitbit moderator corps. 

[5miles]

I don’t understand how they are continuing to sell these devices. Surely selling a product to consumers that is known to be faulty  breaks some kind of trading standard. From my perspective I hope they fix it soon because I would like to buy one. Shortly though, due to no useful updates, I’ll need to leave Fitbit. 

[5miles]

Hi

I called Fitbit support today. I was hoping for an update on this issue to help me finally decide on whether to buy one. I was told that it has been resolved and there is an update, already released. They also told me that I had a 45 day warranty during which I could return it if I'm unhappy with it. I'm wondering if anyone on this forum as installed this update with good results. A moderator comment would be appreciated if possible.

Thanks

Keith

[CLA200]

There have been no firmware updates to the ionic recently. Cant see that
one is waiting for me so...i doubt it has been resolved.

[sfringer]

@5miles I would find that hard to believe; especially since only recently moderators have indicated that Fitbit is aware of the issue and a fix may not be available in the immediate future.

It's very troublesome that it is nearly impossible to get an official response from Fitbit as a company. The repeated, and sometimes inconsistent, responses from the moderators only seem to provide nebulous help.

[SunsetRunner]

has happened to me several time on walk and elliptical and run my Fitbit ionic will stop recording the workout after few minute, this issue I getting really old. I see the answer is to manually log it but I bought Fitbit for the purpose of what it says it will do  not to log in and manually input the information. If I wanted to do that I would not have spent the $269.00 can we get a fix for it please

[Andrew38]

A few weeks ago I posted about how my watch randomly turned off during one of my runs, and it had done this one time prior to that a few months ago. Once again on a 5 mile run my watch, which was at 50% when I started, decided to turn off 2 miles in. I got back and put it on the charger and it turned on and said it was at 48%. It was 25 degrees with a light wind today, so I am not sure if my ionic can't handle the cold or what the problem may be. 

[EdsonFitbit]

Hi everybody, thanks for visiting the Fitbit Community.

At the moment, we still don't have information about this situation. Our team is till working to get it resolved as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience in the meantime.

@5miles The new firmware version for the Fitbit Ionic 27.32.12.24 is part of our effort to make Fitbit OS 2.2 more widely available. The features of this version are the same as listed in the help site article What's changed in the latest Fitbit OS update?

Keep on stepping.

[BenBenson]

Thanks for letting us know about the new firmware for the Ionic. I have
installed it and will let the community know if I experience any problems.

--

Moderator edit: personal info removed

[Andrew38]

A few weeks ago I posted about how my watch randomly turned off during one of my runs, and it had done this one time prior to that a few months ago. Once again on a 5 mile run my watch, which was at 50% when I started, decided to turn off 2 miles in. I got back and put it on the charger and it turned on and said it was at 48%. It was 25 degrees with a light wind today, so I am not sure if my ionic can't handle the cold or what the problem may be. 

[Andrew38]

A few weeks ago I posted about how my watch randomly turned off during one of my runs, and it had done this one time prior to that a few months ago. Once again on a 5 mile run my watch, which was at 50% when I started, decided to turn off 2 miles in. I got back and put it on the charger and it turned on and said it was at 48%. It was 25 degrees with a light wind today, so I am not sure if my ionic can't handle the cold or what the problem may be.