Fitbit OS 3.0 - Ionic Firmware Release (27.33.1.30)

[MattFitbit]

Fitbit Update 1/10/19: 

Hi all! Big thanks to everyone for your feedback on the release of Fitbit OS 3.0!

Since the majority of users have now updated to 3.0, I will be closing this thread from further comments to help keep our community discussions on-topic. 

If you are experiencing an issue outside of the firmware update process, I invite you to start a new thread on this forum and we will be happy to assist you there. Thanks again and happy stepping!

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Fitbit Update 12/26:

Hey, everyone! We're aware that some of you may have noticed a fast battery drain on your Ionic watches after completing this firmware update. Our team is investigating the root cause of this issue and whether it was caused by this update or other factors are involved. 

In the meantime, if you're experiencing this problem please try a restart on the device then consider switching to a Fitbit made clock face! Many 3rd party clockfaces (especially those with animations) are known to use up more battery. If you try this out and are still seeing a fast battery drain, we can connect you with Customer Support for next steps or you can reach out to them and create a case. 

We look forward to getting you all back on track! 

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Fitbit Update 12/22: 

We've released Fitbit OS 3.0 out to 100% of users. Please make sure you have the latest version of the Fitbit app (2.84) before downloading the newest firmware. 

We're excited for you all to have the newest Fitbit OS, but please let us know if you have any questions about this update. Happy Holidays, everyone! 

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Hi, everyone!

I am excited to announce the release of Fitbit OS 3.0! (Firmware Version: 27.33.1.30)

We've started to roll out this update to 20% of Ionic users. This is a progressive rollout, and all Ionic users can expect to have it soon. We roll out releases in phases as a cautionary measure so that we can monitor performance closely and make adjustments if needed.

WHAT'S CHANGED?

Please check out this help article to see what's new in this update.

HOW DO I UPDATE?

Step by step instructions for updating your Ionic can be found here. We recommend updating your Ionic over a home Wi-Fi network as this can greatly reduce the time it can take to get set up. For more information on connecting your Ionic to Wi-Fi, check out this article.

If you run into trouble updating your Ionic, please follow these steps:

1. Restart the watch. 
2. "Remove" the watch from your account inside of the Fitbit app.  
3. "Forget" the watch from your phone's Bluetooth settings (along with any other Fitbit devices paired to your phone)
4. Try the update again. 

If anyone isn't seeing the Today app after updating, please try the following:

1. Make sure you're running the newest version of the Fitbit app. 

2. Connect to Wi-Fi in the Fitbit app, plug your Ionic into the charger and let it sit. This will automatically update the Today app. 

Looking forward to hearing everyone's feedback on the latest release. If you have questions, please let me know in this thread!

[LarrySernyk]

Great to hear it worked for you. My update went fine too and I really like the new Today features.

[ranpat86]

I've at the Fitbit Ionic Since OS 2.0 was released.  I had trouble with getting it installed but nothing like the 3.0.  After 2 attempts it stays on the Installing screen for hours.  I left it on over night just thinking surely this thing will be updated by morning. Nope still stuck on the installing screen.  I've performed a factory reset, removed the ionic and uninstalled the app in an attempt to get the ionic to work but nothing I've tried has worked.  My wife has an Apple iWatch and we both have Apple phones.  When she has an update on her watch it just updates without any issues.  I'm actually at the point where it is time to buy an Apple iWatch because I know it will just update unlike the ionic. I'm not sure what to do at this point but I know I will probably not buy another Fitbit. Don't get me wrong I love my Ionic but man this is a pain trying to get this thing updated.  It shouldn't be a pain at all.  You should be able to hit update and magically it's done! Hopefully you can point me in the right direction to get it working again.  Thank you!

[ranpat86]

I'm attempting to updating my Ionic for the 3rd time to OS 3.0 and it fails every attempt on my Apple iPhone 8. It gets stuck on the Installing screen.  I just left it installing when I went to bed last night thinking it would be done by the time I got up.  Nope, still stuck on installing.  This is my 3rd Fitbit and I must say regardless of which one updating is a complete pain.  No rhyme or reason as to why it must be this way.  My wife has an Apple iWatch and when there is an update it just updates without any issues.  I won't be buying anymore Fitbit's after the Ionic until I know for certain you have worked out the bugs in the update process.

[ranpat86]

This is the photos of my 3rd attempt at updating to OS 3.0 on my Ionic.  My second attempt started last night at about 9 pm.  I left it going all night (9 hours) still stuck on installing.  So my 3rd attempt this morning has been going for over 2 hours and it's fully charged.  I have read through post after post the issues with updating the various Fitbits.  I'm not sure what testing you have performed prior to releasing updates but there seems to be a lot of issues for users. I had the same issue when I updated to OS 2.0 but it worked after numerous attempts.  There is no reason for numerous attempts.  We spend way too much money for our Fitbits and it's not too much to ask for them to work. Extremely frustrating!3rd Attempt to update to OS 3.0

[pointy101]

If any one get bricked stuck on the flashing Fitbit logo ,you have to let the battery drain and if you get red X updated failed try again.Then try again with a different device 

[whittlebeast]

I do software beta testing fairly often.  The programmers have to find the pattern before they can find the issue.  If people really want this sorted out...

Post if your watch is connected to wireless or not

Model of your phone and the release of OS

And where in the process your update failed.

PS: both of my Fitbits updated fine.  An 2 month old Ionic and a new Versa.

Andy

[Coppelltodd]

I can still not update the ionic firmware.  I still have 27.31.1.29.  The previous response was zero help.  Now my wife bought me a charge 3 which we will be returning as it will not add to my galaxy s8.  Very disappointing.  

[SunsetRunner]

Not sure if this is related to this firmware. First I couldn't sync the device, then I removed it from the list of paired devices and I can't pair. Logcat spits out tons of warnings like this:

12-25 18:20:19.694 5753 6357 W : Failed to write characteristic(adabfb02-6e7d-4601-bda2-bffaa68956ba) service(adabfb00-6e7d-4601-bda2-bffaa68956ba). Retrying(1) because device is busy.
12-25 18:20:19.894 5753 6357 W : Failed to write characteristic(adabfb02-6e7d-4601-bda2-bffaa68956ba) service(adabfb00-6e7d-4601-bda2-bffaa68956ba). Retrying(2) because device is busy.
12-25 18:20:20.095 5753 6357 W : Failed to write characteristic(adabfb02-6e7d-4601-bda2-bffaa68956ba) service(adabfb00-6e7d-4601-bda2-bffaa68956ba). Retrying(3) because device is busy.

This is a BT issue. I restarted my phone, restarted my watch ( several times ). During setting up it's found:

But then it shows this screen:

What is advised on the screenshot didn't solve the problem either ( turning on/off BT ). Errors still coming up in the terminal.

Last time I synced it yesterday around 4:30pm ( also with problems but somehow it worked ). Now I can't use it at all.

Edit: other BT devices work fine with my mobile. I tried to unpair them too just in case, didn't help a thing.

[SunsetRunner]

Ionic got detected after a factory reset but trying to update with WiFi fails, it gets to show Fitbit logo with lines in various language ( welcome screen? ) and after a while, the red cross appears. Now trying to update it using BT. Painfully slow. It's just ridiculous and if problems with BT connection are related to the firmware then I may end up back at square one.

[Ebojager]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

Ionic got detected after a factory reset but trying to update with WiFi fails, it gets to show Fitbit logo with lines in various language ( welcome screen? ) and after a while, the red cross appears. Now trying to update it using BT. Painfully slow. It's just ridiculous and if problems with BT connection are related to the firmware then I may end up back at square one.

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I've heard others say you can update via Bluetooth, I though it needed Wi-Fi? Can some explain how this is done? 

[SunsetRunner]

You can update also via bluetooth. If you set up wifi and update fails the app shows option to switch to BT instead. I think BT works as a proxy to "outside world" for the Ionic. So, in fact, the phone must be connected to the network and Ionic to the phone via BT. But transferring data over BT is just slow. I tried three times to go with update via WiFi and all attempts failed.

[SunsetRunner]

Update: factory reset, updated and freshly set up and I can't sync again. Trying to install different clockface I get an error "Unable to connect". Fitbit app shows that there is a sync error. What now? Another factory reset will force me to update to brilliant and untested 3.0 and again it will render the watch useless.

Update: restarted twice and it managed to sync. just wondering for how long.

[STEWEE]

I would have loved to have put music on this watch but I have the watch 4
weeks and been factory reseting everyother day as per instruction from fit
bit to resolve the issues but it never works fed up off this watch wish I
bought something else

[fstshrk]

My watch updates without any issues to 3.0. Works very well. I think the today screen is slow to display. Other than that no issues. 

Thanks to Fitbit team.

I would really like to see an SpO2 measurement taken every 15 minutes or so while stationary like what the Garmin 5X  Plus does. 

[goldmine56]

I do not have the Ionic watch I gave up on this one. I am happy with my new watch. Best wishes on you and I hope it works out for you. 

[MarioTS]

Upgraded two days ago, all is good. 

Went smooth and all seems working fine. It took about 1 hour though for me. Monitoring the battery life, but so far so good. Seems I had no issues. 

[drtechieMOH]

agree, the latest update rendered my ionic a useless piece of expensive junk! NEVER NEVER AGAIN with FitBit

[SunsetRunner]

Again, I can't sync this junk! Sync error all over again. I am seriously considering binning it. Place of a garbage is in the garbage bin.

Ironically, I never had any sync problems ( sporadic occurrences don't count for me ). New FW damaged one of not many good experiences I had with this device.

[JibbersCrabst]

I think my FitBit Ionic is completely broken at this point from attempting to install this latest firmware. My first attempt to download and install the update was on 12/23/2018. For some reason, it wasn't connecting to WiFi, so I chose to try over Bluetooth. Doing so took several hours to transfer the data from my phone to my FitBit Ionic. It seemed to download the data ok, but it failed during the installation. This lead to my FitBit Ionic stuck at the "Installation phase" with a blue FitBit logo. I couldn't get it to restart or connect to my phone at all. I tried to restart it but it wouldn't register me holding down the buttons. I let it run out of battery hoping that would trigger a reset, but it did not. I eventually called customer service, and they taught me how to perform a factory reset by holding down all 3 buttons for 12 seconds, then releasing the bottom right button and holding down the other 2 until it vibrates. After the factory reset, it started saying "Data Not Cleared Sync and Try Again" but I could no longer sync it to my phone. Since then, I have performed numerous Factory Resets and numerous attempts to download and install the latest updated both over WiFi and Bluetooth, but it always seems to fail during installation and I get stuck with a FitBit trying to install until it's battery dies. I've gone through all the hoops of deleting the FitBit from the app, un-pairing it from my Bluetooth settings, uninstalling/reinstalling the FitBit app, reconnecting the Ionic to the App but the end result is the same every time.

As I stated earlier, I've been trying to update the firmware since 12/23/2018. The actual amount of time I've spent troubleshooting this has got to be close to 10 hours at this point including talking with customer service. I had similar issues the last time there was a firmware update, but eventually it was able to accept the update. I honestly have no idea what to do at this point. Is there any way to download and install a previous OS on my FitBit?

[Taebo]

Hi there

ive updated to the new Fitbit software but im not getting any tips and reminders via the today app. Eg. Sleep, hydration, good morning etc. 

otherwise im really enjoying the water logging (although it doesnt sync easily with the app)