Ionic Firmware Release - 32.10.20

[CarlosCFitbit]

Fitbit Update 08/23/2018: Hi everyone! 

Just wanted to thank you all for your participation in this thread. 

Since the majority of Ionic users have successfully updated to OS 2.1.1 (v32.10.20) I have decided to close this topic to further posts. 

If you still have not updated your Ionic to OS 2.1.1, check out this post for some best practices on how to update your device. 

If you are experiencing an issue with your Ionic unrelated to the firmware-up process, I invite you to start a new topic on the community or find a related topic. 

Thanks again to all the great feedback we have received on this firmware. Looking forward to the next Fitbit OS update! 

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Fitbit Update - 6/7/18: Fitbit OS 2.1.1 has been released to 100% of Ionic users!

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Hi, everyone! 

I am excited to announce the release of Fitbit OS 2.1.1! (Firmware Version: 32.10.20)

We've started to roll out this update to 30% of Ionic users. This is a progressive rollout, and all Ionic users can expect to have it within a few weeks. We roll out releases in phases as a cautionary measure so that we can monitor performance closely and make adjustments if needed. 

You can find the release notes for this new OS version by following the link, here.  

Step by step instructions for updating your Ionic can be found here.

As a reminder, I 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 any trouble updating your Ionic, I can also recommend reviewing these troubleshooting tips. 

Looking forward to hearing everyone's feedback on the latest release. If you have any questions, feel free to post them in this thread. 

[LarryQW]

Early today, I suddenly started observing a rapid discharge on my phone and Ionic using this update. My Moto Force Z2 Android phone which typically lasts two days (2%/hour) was observing >10% loss per hour. My Ionic which was lasting 5 days (20%/day) lost 40% in two hours!! 

I also noted that the App was continuously Syncing even though I had "All-Day Sync" turned off, and cycled that button a few times to be sure. 

I first updated the Android App to the new version 2.74.1 (that also fixes the high data usage). This seemed to fix the continuous syncing issue with the app. Maybe it just fixed a stuck software sync button with the upgrade? 

The Ionic looked to still be loosing power rapidly. So I did the three-button reset. After a brief reboot it came back no longer loosing power. Now, it's only loosing ~1%/hour (20%/day) again. (I left "Always Connected" and "Keep-Alive Widget" active, and get the long life with these active.)

I was freaked out, but now is all back good again with the Ionic. 

[Shastaski]

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@craisin wrote:

I am starting to worry whether buying this Ionic was such a good idea.

I had very few problems with my Blaze. It did not have as many "bells and whistles",

but so far (after reading about all the problems encountered by so many, and after

experiencing so many myself, the "bells don't ring and the whistles don't chirp"!

I feel quite disheartnened (and my wallet feels a LOT lighter).

Have I made a mistake, or will things eventually get better?

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I received mine for a Christmas and it had its little quirks along with anything new but I have absolutely loved it! Well, in the beginning of June, corresponding with the last firmware update, the battery on the Ionic was losing its charge in less than two days. My phone was being drained by the app. After working with tech support just once on it, they replaced it and the latest app update has eliminated the phone drain.  Anyway, not everyone here has the success I have coming to a resolution, but mine is an example of they do happen! A little patience, persistence and will can lead to success! Good luck!

[Mark2018]

Now app 2.74.2

I can't see improvements.

[LarryQW]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

I have had several issues since the update. 1.) Runs no longer update to Endomondo. I2) GPS is very slow to sync on my watch now. If I go into exercise, select run I have to wait about 3 minutes for the GPS to sync. 3) GPS track is short about 0.1 mile per 2.75 mile section run.

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There's another thread on GPS accuracy here. However, I have this firmware version and have some comments.

1. I don't use Endomoto so can't say anything here.

2. My Ionic will get "Connected" within 10-20 seconds after hitting the "Exercise | Biking" buttons.  This is about the same as my two handlebar Garmin GPS. I usually start in clear sky areas. But I don't loose signal even on steep wooded hills 

3. I am also look to be shorted on my ride mileage by a similar amount to what you see, around 0.5 miles on a 14 mile ride, for instance. I see this shorter mileage on all types of rides.

On the other hand, I find that the Ionic GPS performs very well on position accuracy. Riding back down the same switch back trail on steep wooded hills, the Ionic tracks are practially on top of each other, whereas my Garmin Edge 1000 and eTrex 30 wonder up to 100'. 

Also the barometric altimeter on all three GPS (2 Garmin + Ionic) read 2400' of climb +/- 40', or less then 2% error. 

[Shastaski]

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@LarryQW wrote:

Early today, I suddenly started observing a rapid discharge on my phone and Ionic using this update. My Moto Force Z2 Android phone which typically lasts two days (2%/hour) was observing >10% loss per hour. My Ionic which was lasting 5 days (20%/day) lost 40% in two hours!! 

I also noted that the App was continuously Syncing even though I had "All-Day Sync" turned off, and cycled that button a few times to be sure. 

I first updated the Android App to the new version 2.74.1 (that also fixes the high data usage). This seemed to fix the continuous syncing issue with the app. Maybe it just fixed a stuck software sync button with the upgrade? 

The Ionic looked to still be loosing power rapidly. So I did the three-button reset. After a brief reboot it came back no longer loosing power. Now, it's only loosing ~1%/hour (20%/day) again. (I left "Always Connected" and "Keep-Alive Widget" active, and get the long life with these active.)

I was freaked out, but now is all back good again with the Ionic. 

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What is the 3 button reset?

[LarryQW]

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@Shastaski wrote:

What is the 3 button reset?

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There's two ways to reset: Factory and Reboot.

The Reboot, keeping all your Ionic settings and data, is done by holding down all three buttons on the Ionic (one left and two right) until the screen flashes. I keep holding just a bit longer until I see the Fitbit Icon, and then release. Within a minute, the Ionic restarts with all the settings and data kept in place. 

I've also done this reboot before to fix a problem with the Ionic not holding a bluetooth connection, and that worked then as well. It's a quick painless check for any Ionic problem, so I don't mind doing it early in the debug process. 

The Factory Reset is obviously much more painful, loosing data and requiring you to restore firmware and settings. I've never done that. I remember the Factory Reset process is to release one of the buttons during the three-button reset, so I try to keep my hand firmly on all buttons during the reboot trigger. 

[Shastaski]

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@LarryQW wrote:

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@Shastaski wrote:What is the 3 button reset?

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There's two ways to reset: Factory and Reboot.

The Reboot, keeping all your Ionic settings and data, is done by holding down all three buttons on the Ionic (one left and two right) until the screen flashes. I keep holding just a bit longer until I see the Fitbit Icon, and then release. Within a minute, the Ionic restarts with all the settings and data kept in place. 

I've also done this reboot before to fix a problem with the Ionic not holding a bluetooth connection, and that worked then as well. It's a quick painless check for any Ionic problem, so I don't mind doing it early in the debug process. 

The Factory Reset is obviously much more painful, loosing data and requiring you to restore firmware and settings. I've never done that. I remember the process is to release one of the buttons during the three-button reset, so I try to keep my hand firmly on all buttons doing the reboot. 

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Ahh thanks!! I did not want to Factory Reset, I figure I might need the reboot at some point so thanks again! Right now, things are good with Ionic, keep my fingers crossed.

[Gryzor]

Installed the update. Problems remained *exactly* the same as before:

-problems syncing

-problems with the bluetooth

-high data usage (ate through 5MBs in an hour or so).

Given that even the update that suppsedly fixed the problems came a month (at least) after it was first reported, I can safely say that the company just doesn't give a #@&*^$# about customer experience.

And to think that, since I was not aware of the high battery and data drain issue, I thought that it was something else on my phone not working right (it's an older phone, after all, with a custom ROM) and went through a factory reset... 

Meanwhile, my Ionic still doesn't get two full days. At around 24 hours after charging I'm usually at 40%.

[disgustipated]

There was another update for me last night that the "whats new" no longer says "a more comprehensive update will follow". For that update that said it wasnt comprehensive battery and sync seemed kind of ok, sync still not reliable but battery didnt seem to drain. I woke up this morning to the new new update applied and my watch down to 13% battery after going to bed at 40% last night... so we'll see how this works.... im now waiting for it to charge a bit now before i can go on my run this morning which i hadnt anticipated having to wait...

[Shastaski]

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@disgustipated wrote:

There was another update for me last night that the "whats new" no longer says "a more comprehensive update will follow". For that update that said it wasnt comprehensive battery and sync seemed kind of ok, sync still not reliable but battery didnt seem to drain. I woke up this morning to the new new update applied and my watch down to 13% battery after going to bed at 40% last night... so we'll see how this works.... im now waiting for it to charge a bit now before i can go on my run this morning which i hadnt anticipated having to wait...

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Thanks for the heads up!  That is why I have the auto update off on my phone because I have had app updates foul up my phone to many times over the years.  The Update a couple of days ago fixed a lot for me, I hope this improves on even that and does not go back the other way!

[disgustipated]

After I rebooted both the device and my phone to be sure its all fresh things seem to be a little better but will be monitoring. this morning I got it up around 40% for my run and its still showing 40% now on the device. Still curious about the jump from 40% to 13% overnight. I'm positive it was at 40% before bed because i was curious if i needed to charge it before bed for my run in the morning. Version on the device still shows 32.10.20 so an update wasnt pushed to the device...

So far opening the app and it connects after a few seconds and syncs. will be monitoring because it would usually become unreliable after a good bit of time. Time will tell with the data usage as well

Any input from a fitbit rep with details on what the "comprehensive fix" was? If it was something that was able to be seen in a logcat from android i can pull these logs from my phone easily and verify that I am not seeing them. I know i saw some very odd repetitive stack traces for bluetooth reconnection with the other apps.

Moderator Edit: Format

[SunsetRunner]

Does your GPS track your runs accurately compared to other GPS devices?

[Shastaski]

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@disgustipated wrote:

After I rebooted both the device and my phone to be sure its all fresh things seem to be a little better but will be monitoring. this morning I got it up around 40% for my run and its still showing 40% now on the device. Still curious about the jump from 40% to 13% overnight. I'm positive it was at 40% before bed because i was curious if i needed to charge it before bed for my run in the morning. Version on the device still shows 32.10.20 so an update wasnt pushed to the device...

So far opening the app and it connects after a few seconds and syncs. will be monitoring because it would usually become unreliable after a good bit of time. Time will tell with the data usage as well

Any input from a fitbit rep with details on what the "comprehensive fix" was? If it was something that was able to be seen in a logcat from android i can pull these logs from my phone easily and verify that I am not seeing them. I know i saw some very odd repetitive stack traces for bluetooth reconnection with the other apps.

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Interesting to be able to view the logs.  On firmware updates, that notification will show up in your phone FitBit app.

Moderator Edit: Format

[LarryQW]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

Does your GPS track your runs accurately compared to other GPS devices?

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I'm not a runner, but there's 28 pages of discussion of this on the Ionic thread I linked before. 

There's some suggestions there that the running mode is less accurate than biking or others because it tries to use stride instead of the accurate GPS sensor. 

[disgustipated]

I've only ever used my cell for gps tracking so I don't feel its a good comparison being that the cell can triangulate from A-GPS which uses cell towers to help. With that said though... the tracking seems ok; however It did completely lose a majority of one run  but that was for the previous firmware right after i got the device, so we'll see. I got a mile and a half in and notice it said "connecting" on the device, through the run i just left it as i wanted to see if it would reconnect. it didn't. I also started the run at 21% battery and it died completely shutting off around 3 miles. this is based on when i powered it up after changing when i got home and it reported only mile and a half in and odd time data. I have yet to go on greater than a mile distance run again to gauge the latest changes. 

Interesting side note - I took the ionic with me on a kayak trip and it was pretty accurate when in run mode (so that the gps would be on). It was comparable to when i did the same thing on my phone following me down the river.

[YFG]

Since the new update the GPS won’t connect for most of my runs. So, it is using strides instead.

[dawnfernando]

same here, every time I call support they tell me they are "working on it" 

[Anirt]

I have the same problem. charged the fitbit to 97% today. after a walk in the woods without activity was started (just plain walking) I had 12%. It suddenly died, without notifying the mail or the phone. really weird.

Moderator Edit: Format

[SunsetRunner]

So I don't know if this has to do with the update but Pandora also updated their app 2 days ago and now I can't get my Pandora app to sync stations for the life of me. I've been trying every resolution that has been posted on the forums with absolutely no luck. Extremely upset because the music option is one of the only reasons I got this fitbit so any and all help would be greatlyappreciated. I have tried different wifi, deleting and redownloading the pandora app on my phone and on my fitbit, turning my fitbit off and back on, resetting my fitbit to factory settings and reupdating it and starting all over again with NO progress. Please let me know if there is anything I can do, this whole process has been extremely disheartening after months of no issues.

Moderator Edit: Format

[dmichaels81]

I’m not one to complain, but my ionic is the worst thing I have ever purchased.  It won’t hold a charge;  the auto-dim feature doesn’t work and it just simply has not lived up to “Fitbit” standards.   I’ve long been a Fitbit fan but fear I may have to switch to Garmin.  Seems like the Ionic goes from one problem to another