Fitbit Ionic, 6 months old, firmware version 27.70.7.14
Samsung XCover4, Android 9.0, BT version 4.2
All-Day-Sync and Always-Connected enabled in Android app
JBL Reflect Flow wireless earphones, BT version 5.0
The Ionic synced without problems with the phone for months, and then I had to do a hard reset on the phone for non-Fitbit-related issues. After re-installation of all apps, the Fitbit sync over BT was spotty, with the phone often not finding the Ionic. It was very frustrating. Moreover, when I paired a set of BT earphones to the Ionic, both the JBL (BT v5.0) and an older set of Powerbeats 2 (BT v4.0), I had the crackly, unreliable connection described in many blogs. The connection winked out every few seconds. Moving the Ionic to the right wrist made a small, but hardly significant improvement. The Ionic needed to be within a few cm of the right earphone to get continuous play, which is, of course, ridiculous.
Given that the sync problems were not present before the hard reset on the phone, I checked configurations. I had not only installed the Ionic in the Fitbit Android app, which is the prescribed procedure, but I had also paired the Ionic with the phone over the Bluetooth menu in the Android OS. "Ionic" was listed among the paired devices in the OS. I unpaired the Ionic in the Android OS, and was surprised that the All-Day-Sync continued to work. In fact, the sync problems that had appeared after my hard reset appear to have gone away. I have retested the JBL Reflect Flow wireless earphones, and they also appear to function normally. The range over which the playback remains normal is much larger, and there is only a very occasional drop-out. This result is new, but I wonder if a double pairing of the Ionic via the Fitbit app and the Android Bluetooth menu causes the adverse effects, both in sync behavior and music playback.
Comments from technical assistance? Should the Ionic appear in the OS list of paired devices? Does the app manage the BT connection independently or parallel to the OS?
