Devices have stopped seeing my Ionic, syncing issue

[artcwolf]

For the last couple of weeks since the update i've had sync issues.  This morning i went through and removed it from the bluetooth settings in my phone(google pixal 2xl) as it was the last device to stop working.  I've spent the last 45 minutes rebooting both phone and ionic and it's not seeing it.  I turned off the phone and went back to my desktop(windows 10) and removed it from bluetooth and it's not seeing the device now as well.  Before today it was at least being seen.

Moderator edit: subject for clarity 

[LiliyaFitbit]

Hi @artcwolf, it's nice to see you again in our Community Forums. 

I am sorry to hear about the syncing difficulty you're experiencing with your Fitbit Ionic. Thanks for trying to resolve this, I appreciate the additional details and I am here to help. I recommend following the complete troubleshooting instructions at Why won't my Fitbit device sync?

If you're still experiencing difficulties with this, please let me know and we'll continue to work towards a resolution.

Let me know how it goes. 

[artcwolf]

I did a factory reset and that took about 2 hours to make it work and was able to get it onto my phone and my PC. The devices had a very hard time paring even after the reset. NOW once i updated to the latest Sync on my PC is spotty again, and i don't keep bluetooth on my phone so i have to remember to turn it on from time to time.  I'm not removing it from a device at this point and i'm hoping i don't lose days if it doesn't sync correctly.

[PaulMe]

There are many, many threads regarding syncing issues. You really need to leave Bluetooth connected on your phone. This is the default most people use there phone in. I also never turn off Bluetooth.

I appreciate you may have a valid reason for switching off Bluetooth - but this is not what is normally done. Syncing issues with the Ionic are fairly common. Switching off Bluetooth will exacerbate these syncing issues.

Have you searched the previous threads for Syncing issues. It's ALL been discussed many, many times.

Very quickly - Go into Apps & notifications>Fitbit and FORCE STOP the app. Back out and go back into the app and swipe down for syncing or hit your account icon top left and click Ionic>Sync Now. You may have to do this several times for syncing to work. You also may need to FORCE STOP the app more that once. Perseverance usually wins out in the end.

Once again - Turning off Bluetooth is not recommended as the Ionic can already be problematic with syncing. It doesn't need any more help in that area.

LOL!

[artcwolf]

i've searched the thousands of threads here that all lead back to the fitbit default troubleshooting steps and most are not resolved (that in and of itself shows a major problem).  I've done them, i spend all day thursday doing it. Even the steps you listed here i have done. I've gone into the task manager on the PC, i've gone into androids running apps and forces it to stop running there. i've had to reboot my ionic in the morning many times, turn off bluetooth on my desktop, and even force stop the apps and sometimes it might work.  i should not have to do all these steps each time to sync. 

If fitbit is recommending that we don't turn off bluetooth because it does cause problems, then that is a programming or hardware issue on their side.  Bluetooth is a 30 ft ranged connection that happens to let other devices talk to it directly with minimum latency. Switching bluetooth off and and on, is no different then turning your wifi connection off and on on a laptop, it's is a signal from two devices and that is all. Turning off and on bluetooth will also reset the connections if there are issues, the same thing you do if you are having wifi issues on your laptop. It should not exacerbate these syncing issues.  It should not cause a battery drain issue on the device either (yes read that before) as the devices will continue to check in if bluetooth is on or off because you can't turn the bluetooth connection off on the ionic itself.

i have a truly valid reason I'm a former PC tech and now a network security/server admin, and knowing the rise in hacking that is going on, i prefer to have less devices on when i'm in the wild. I turn it off on my laptop even. With wired headphones, because 'bluesnarfing' and 'bluebugging. are a thing, and i haven't come across a VPN that covers bluetooth connections yet. Call me paranoid, but i've seen the end result of hackers taking over a PC, and an entire network shut down because of it, or the identity of someone in the company that was stolen because of it, and it makes my head hurt at how careless people are  because they don’t know.

I'm waiting on my wife who updated hers yesterday to tell me is she runs into the same issue. 

[PaulMe]

If fitbit is recommending that we don't turn off bluetooth because it does cause problems, then that is a programming or hardware issue on their side.

I never said Fitbit recommended turning off Bluetooth. I recommend not turning it off as the connection can be flakey as it is. You can complain all you like. Unfortunately that won't solve anything. All you can do is work through all possibles in a methodical manner. Perhaps contact Fitbit support. If nothing works for you then you will have to move on. Many have. Some have success in resolving their issues. 

There is a wealth of information on hundreds of pages of posts. It's all been discussed before. No magic fix I'm afraid.

If you're 'paranoid" of Bluetooth vulnerabilities then perhaps you shouldn't be running devices that use it.

Life is too short for me to be worried about a Bluetooth hacker ruining my life.

[Rich_Laue]

@artcwolf doing a factory reset or removing the tracker for a sync issue will only add more problems to get resolved. 

When it comes to the sync troubleshooting guide, we find it pretty thorough, with the only missing step being to clear the Bluetooth cache. 

As for Bluetooth the biggest issue is the tracker may only be connected to one device at a time. However a sync sends your trackers data to the Fitbit server, where it may be accesses through any other phone, tablet, computer without this device needing to sync. 

Yes Fitbit suggests leaving Bluetooth turned on. This allows for periodic syncs throughout the day, notifications to show up on the wrist, various apps, like weather also need to communicate through the Internet.