GPS not connecting

[YoniC]

I press the run app on exercise and in the top left it says connecting but it never connect and then it won't connect to strava

Moderator edit: Updated subject for clarity 

[SilviaFitbit]

A warm welcome to the Community @YoniC. Your Ionic should vibrate when you find a GPS signal, if it doesn't find a signal immediately, keep in mind that environmental factors including tall buildings, dense forest, steep hills, and even thick cloud cover can interfere with your watch's ability to connect to GPS satellites. 

If you've checked the above and you're still having issues, please restart it. 

Hope this helps! 

[Mogan]

I have had the same issue now.  The GPS will not connect for two days, and we are talking about five and six hours trying to connecting.  Restarting didn't do anything and do a factory reset didn't work either.  No issue about weather, we have hadn't much in the way of clouds for about a month.  It's Florida.

[Johno84]

Exact same problem. Did you resolve this? Very frustrating! 

[Johno84]

Hi, im having the same problem and nothing i do resolves it. Can you give me any advice? Im starting to lose patience with it! Thank you

[YoniC]

No one has answered it

[SilviaFitbit]

Welcome to the Community @Johno84 and @YoniC. I would like you to confirm you've tried the following details in order to make sure your tracker will properly connect to the app How accurate is GPS?. Also, you can try restarting your tracker as well. 

Additionally, provide me with more details: 

- What type of activity are you tracking?
- Are you getting any error message or just the GPS signal that's not working?

Keep me posted! 

[SunsetRunner]

I've got this issue now as well. previously gps would connect after about 30 seconds standing outside before a run. Now it just says connecting. left it in that position for my last 2 runs. never connected. annoyingly it doesn't even fall back to the phone gps if available. restarted many times. makes no difference. Don't really want to reset as it's taken me about a week to get some music onto it and I assume I'll lose that

[SunsetRunner]

in case this helps anyone else...

My ionic actually picked up GPS for today's run, first time in a while. picked it up in about 20 seconds. the only thing I've done that's different from all the times previously when it would not work is that I'd reset back to one of the default fitbit ones. that's probably a coincidence but worth a try if anyone having this trouble is using a non fitbit one as fitbit don't seem to be jumping on this issue.

I have read in other threads that some of the other clock faces have been causing other weird issues so I suppose it's not out of the question.

[SilviaFitbit]

Thanks for getting back @SunsetRunner! I appreciate that you've shared the troubleshoot that worked for you regarding tracking exercises with GPS. 

Hope you can continue tracking your exercises with Ionic. 

[SunsetRunner]

Same issue, haven't been able to connect since the previous firmware update, hoped the new update would fix it. I've tried restarts, turning off the GPS on the dashboard, and in settings. I haven't done a factory reset and that seems to be the standard answer for everything, even the wfi connect issue it didn't fix that either. I have had to do firmware updates with Bluetooth everytime, even though I can see the watch connected on my router!

[ShawnSullivan]

I have the same problem for 2 days, no GPS. I have done all the resets but I am not getting a straight answer from fitbit - why is this happening? I cycle every day the same routes, in great weather on a sea front, so no tall buildings, not big trees, so why even after one hour does it not connect? I want a solution - or a full refund and I will be a cheaper watch that works to track my activities. So annoying that the twitter help does not give solutions either. Surprise me - tell me what is wrong with my fitbit Ionic? why does it not find GPS???

[ShawnSullivan]

I have the same problem for 2 days, no GPS. I have done all the resets but I am not getting a straight answer from fitbit - why is this happening? I cycle every day the same routes, in great weather on a sea front, so no tall buildings, not big trees, so why even after one hour does it not connect? 

[SunsetRunner]

ok, I did a factory reset, took 3 days to reload firmware and to get it running again! still no wifi transfer even though it shows connected on my phone and my router. And after all that it still won't connect to GPS, just shows connecting. I left it in one spot for over 30 minutes. Go look at my exercise logs you can see how many time and for how long it tried to connect. Back to my Garmin edge 500 for cycling!

[TKurtS]

I am having the same issues. Have reset the watch. Removed it from the app and reconnect to the app. Changed back to Fitbit watch face, and not only does it not connect to gps, it quits trying after a couple minutes, exits exercise  mode and goes back to home on the watch. Can someone tell me why I paid this much money for a watch that doesn't even do what I specifically bought it for? 

[ShawnSullivan]

Hi, I contacted the Fitbit help, you have to go to the UK site where you get the option of an on-line adviser that is not available in Spain for example, we went with them all the reset steps etc and I gave it time, however it still had problems connecting (I would say 80% of the time). Fitbit volunteered to replace the watch and sent me a return label to send it via DHL. I now have a new Fitbit Ionic replacement, which is so different. The connectivity is almost instant, also I have noticed that the battery in the previous ionic did not seem to last as long as this one does - maybe this was something to do with the fault. I would advise you to speak with Fitbit directly, they are a little slow to respond, but it is worth it. I am now 100% happy with my Fitbit. 

[SunsetRunner]

I also got a replacement. It did connect quickly but then dropped signal and never got it again. I need to try it again as I've been away but I suspect there are a couple of issues. Hardware in at least some models takes too long to connect, and software for all seems to be incapable sometimes of reconnecting when GPS is dropped.  I'm hopeful that they will eventually sort out the software side

[owassoscott]

My ionic stopped connecting to GPS two days ago.  I restarted several times and did a factory reset and it still does not connect.  I am about to give up on fitbit altogether.  After having a surge strap break and no replacement being available I thought an ionic would be the perfect solution.  Right now I am thinking I have spend way too much money on fitbits to continue giving them my business.  

[Jeremy8]

Resetting the ionic has worked for me. Just be patient with it. When you see the “connecting” message on that’s all you need to do. You don’t have to keep staring at it until it connects. Your watch will vibrate indicating that it has connected to gps. Hope this helps!

[SunsetRunner]

Over the last  month or so my GPS on ionic doesn’t connect or takes ages 30+ mins, or connects then drops and connects and drops (while standing still not moving from start point). All above is from the the same start point (so no cold start for GPS).

I’ve tried factory reset / removing etc - still same (works about 1 in every 3 times).

it seems to be since the last firmware updates.

Also...my bionic loses app notifications after each time my iPhone is powered down and up (for example battery dies), and I have to reset Bluetooth pair or remove / readd to app.

is this due to the firmware update or potentially faulty ionic? I’ve tried all the help links in the other posts from people.