Fitbit Ionic and the LG G6 - WTH?

[klankford78]

I received a Fitbit Ionic for Christmas and I have not been able to set it up. I downloaded the program and it says the Ionic can only be set up via mobile phone. I have tried to set it up via the Android app so many times it is ridiculous. I have a LG G6 with Android 7.0 and it fails every single time. I searched the internet and found that only the G3 is compatible? This must be an error because that phone is almost 5 years old. My G6 is about a year old. With no avenue to set up through the windows program, and the constant failure of setting up through my mobile phone I am wondering is this a very expensive mistake? What do I do with the watch? Surely I am confused or not reading something correctly because a new technology watch should surely be compatible with a phone that debuted at about the same time as this watch did. What is the solution?

[klankford78]

Believe it or not, through customer support chat, Mara was able to fix this issue! apparently there is a wifi setup option and several button combinations etc. that will make it work. Idk why Fitbit has to make it so difficult but it worked. now fix the **ahem** app so people can use the product. there is no excuse for the app to refuse to work as it is supposed to and clearly can as evinced through my experience. There is a way to make this work. If i remembered all the steps i'd post them.

[klankford78]

24 hrs later and this **ahem** thing won't sync for **ahem**. I should have bought a Garmin or some other product. Wtf is wrong with this company?? 

This company should be investigated and sued for false advertising and consumer fraud. This app DOES NOT WORK WITH THEIR OWN PRODUCTS. It does not sync. They lie and claim its a thousand other issues while they push out new devices (that won't sync either) and advertise as if everything is OK. I swear I thought I learned my lesson with the Charge HR 2 but now this Ionic has really got me pissed off. WHY WON'T YOU FIX YOUR **ahem** PRODUCTS?!?!?

[Rich_Laue]

Before buying a Garmin @klankford78 please do your research.

Unlike iOS, there is no standard hardware, or in some cases operating system for Android phones. Each manufacturer is allowed to add whatever hardware they want, and some manufacturers also heavily modify the OS.

This presents a problem for both Fitbit and Garmin each android phone needs to be individually tested and sometimes their app needs to be modified to get the phone to work.

This is why both Fitbit and Garmin out out a list of devices that have been tested and found or rewritten to work.

[klankford78]

ALL Android device manufacturers follow a very BASIC set of hardware requirements. Nearly every Android sold today has the necessary hardware for Fitbit. My G6 isn't listed as compatible because they haven't gotten around to testing it. Got that STRAIGT from Fitbit Support. You know what IS "compatible"? The LG G3. A five year old phone. The G6 entered the market at.... the same time as the Ionic. The G6 has both Legacy and BLE capabilities with version 4.2 supporting A2DP, LE, and aptX HD. Other device manufacturers give a **ahem**. It's getting clearer that Fitbit doesn't. 

[mm121584]

I have the same issue.  FitBit Ionic and LG G6.  i just tried live chat with FitBit and was basically told that since the G6 isn't on their list of compatible devices, that's why it's not syncing.   But they couldn't explain why it worked fine for almost a year up until about a month ago.  So they did something on their end with the platform andI end up with a watch on my wrist. I am so pissed off right.  Glad i spent $300 on a FitBit to receive my email and messages on it and now it don't work.  What the hell am I suppose to do with a watch?   My phone tells me the time.  So this thing is junk now.  

[mm121584]

I have the same issue.  FitBit Ionic and LG G6.  i just tried live chat with FitBit and was basically told that since the G6 isn't on their list of compatible devices, that's why it's not syncing.   But they couldn't explain why it worked fine for almost a year up until about a month ago.  So they did something on their end with the platform andI end up with a watch on my wrist. I am so pissed off right.  Glad i spent $300 on a FitBit to receive my email and messages on it and now it don't work.  What the **** am I suppose to do with a watch?   My phone tells me the time.  So this thing is junk now.  

[klankford78]

The ONLY way I can get a sync is by putting the phone in airplane mode and then turning on Bluetooth and WiFi. After a few attempts it will sync. Doesn't fix the notifications issues or the reliability expected of an expensive device from a large tech company.

[mitwess]

the ionic will sync with the g6, you just have to reboot your phone every day or two, and it works better over wifi. i have all day sync off but always connected on in the settings. sometimes you have to pull the screen down once or twice to initiate / finish a sync. basically if you initiate a sync and don't see your heart rate live updating, you need to reboot your phone.  alternately syncing with the windows app via your tablet computer always works. 

[mm121584]

just got off the phone with tech support.  He had me remove the Ionic from my Bluetooth settings.  Turn off Bluetooth. Reset my Ionic by holding the left and bottom right buttons for 15 seconds.  turn back on Bluetooth and try to Sync.  For whatever reason, this worked.  It synced and I'm getting my messages again.  He suggested if it stops working again to do a factory reset of the Ionic and re set up the Ionic in the app.  Hope this helps!!

[Rich_Laue]

That is the standard response Fitbit gives for untested phones, I think it is a CYA.

Personally I feel we should treat the phone as compatable until proven not.

Of course with a problem like this, it is best to search the full forums with the phone model.

Many people like to post their phone problems in the hardware boards instead of the Android board.

[N8teGee]

It's a strange situation really, the G6 is one of the phones I've had the least amount of issues with. I'm happily using it with all of my fitbit trackers with almost zero sync issues and notifications working fine. I had more issues with my Samsung Galaxy S6 and that was a supported device.

I wonder if external factors are causing issues for some people? Eg. WiFi/Bluetooth/Wireless interference. 

[cardioweight]

Just for the record, my LG G6 works perfectly well with the Fitbit Ionic. That said, I m not sure if I am one of the lucky ones or I just got the setup right each steps. But you can be right, I too sometimes feel the unstable software performance. But I got it to the lastest firmware update of 27.33.1.30.