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. 

[Made-in-808]

It sounds like someone here on this thread has one of the golden ionics. most don't and I concur their scripted fix-its are a joke. I believe a lot of folks on this thread experienced hard failures on their ionics post 32.10.20 as I did and who's to really say it's h/w or f/w?? Could it be both? I say "yes" but only FB can answer this. I was 6 months into my watch that I had the basic set up, nothing added and I was happy with it. Granted the only gripe I had at the time was loading music but I was able to get a play list on painstakingly though. In the end it was the lack of support I received and it took only 5 minutes on the phone with FB to seal my fate (I bought it on ebay and they refused to even troubleshoot the problem with me). Of course this is after the plethora of times I tried on my own reading through many posts hoping and praying I could fix it.

I take it back. It took about 6 minutes. 4 to validate I was a user of the watch,1 minute speaking to the rep and about another minute of uncomfortable silence after I voiced my disdain about my situation.

I've moved on to another brand and I'm having success. Maybe not 100% but FB never was/is/will be. I'm just sticking around to find out what comes of this debacle maybe not for you @LarryQW and I hope it stays this way for you.

[LarryQW]

@Gryzor: Yeah, I have been noting here and on other site's reviews that Fitbit support has been deliberately slowing down or suppressing returns of the watch.

   In the couple times I called Fitbit support, like when the server was down and I couldn't initialize the watch, I found their response time to be good, they listened well, and quickly gave proper support information. So their support exists and is capable of working well.

OTOH, I see many reports such as yours that Fitbit support does everything possible to suppress hardware returns: running people through lots of detailed user and setup checks; repeated verification; offer platitudes; and outright delays on returns well beyond stated times. Some of this filtering makes sense, for things that can be quickly fixed over the phone. But a lot of this appears to be deliberate suppression of return rate. I suspect support has been given a dictum that returns are the absolute last resort, even in obvious situations. Makes sense due to Ionic's quality problems and their need for reducing the warranty and replacement costs.

[LarryQW]

@Made-in-808: Sorry to hear about your lack of support due to your eBay purchase. I had read through this forum and several review sites before my purchase. I also noted that many Ionic watches were working initially, but then had failures after just a few months, like with your watch. So I knew what I was getting into, and was careful to form a strategy:  buying from Amazon along with a 2 year extended warranty for $25. I also waited nearly a year after the Ionic introduction for them to help work out typical reliability issues that will occur with any innovative new product.

I suspect the number of people who have "golden" Ionic watches is well above 50%, just from the Amazon reviews alone. Furthermore, as returns get much higher than 20%, most products cannot make money and survive, even with Fitbit's stated 47% gross margin last quarter. So they simply can't market the watch if the failure rate was that high. (Or maybe this is why the Ionic isn't promoted as much as the Versa, they lost $118M, and warranty returns are being suppressed.) In any case, I felt I had a 50/50 chance of getting the Ionic to work at least for the first months, with warranty support after that. I expect to be highly annoyed someday when it fails, but prepared for it.

[PaulAvo]

@michaelhames - Dear Wimpmeister, I'm not impressed with your proposed actions. My investigations
show most Ionic customers are satisfied. Your bandstand intentions won't
help any of us. Just forget it.

[LarryQW]

@Gryzor: With Fitbit support making you run their gauntlet for return, maybe you can get over their last obstacle of "incompatible device" by borrowing a phone or other device for this check.

[Gryzor]

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@LarryQW wrote:

@Gryzor: With Fitbit support making you run their gauntlet for return, maybe you can get over their last obstacle of "incompatible device" by borrowing a phone or other device for this check.

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I would, if it wasn't so inconsistent. I don't have access to another device for as long as it needs to verify...

Plus, of course, it would have to be in their "compatible" list 😄

[Made-in-808]

@LarryQW I commend you on your due diligence prior to making your purchase. Personally I never go by reviews unless they are from a legitimate source. Amazon is not one of them but, in terms of service and return policy etc I agree purchasing via this method seems to be best practice for this particular product. My wife has owned a few FB models purchased from AMZ most recently the "Blaze" and the minute it started having sync issues she was done with it and her return for a refund met no resistance.

As for the company's financial performance I never focused on it. My main issue was the lack of support offered to me. I don't want to see a company suffer revenue loss. It affects more than just issues with the Ionic or FB as a whole. Yeah I was pissed off the way I was handed off and so I wanted justice so my voice on this thread has been negative about experiencing most of the issues expressed with this f/w release and the bad service. I'm over it now but I want to see if FB will rebound from this and help a lot of users who have no more use to their Ionic other than an expensive paper weight or watch.

Remember, you're on a topic where it's more than 50% BAD not GOOD reviews

[jslcbb]

I still do not have the update. My app on my phone is up to date. There is no option to update my ionic. I still have version 27.32.10.20

[soss3osp]

@jslcbb as sad as it is but you do have the actual firmware. whenever referred to it, the leading 27 is omitted. maybe this is the model number for the ionic

[soss3osp]

we are all waiting for a new one not enriching thousand features but solving the many open problems in the current version.

but somehow i fear they will just "be proud or excited  to announce one new feature" but won't solve anything.

**ahem**, i did like that watch (and all predecessors) and the fitbit ecosystem so much. and the ionic did feel excellent while being daily worn. i liked its looks despite all talks about its optical awkwardness.

and what did this company do: built lousy firmware for the ionic and when they saw that the ship is sinking thay made the move towards the versa.

[RMSim1]

Well, I read through most of the threads for the OS 30.10.20 update and thought I’d add my frustration.

Love the watch – best device I’ve ever owned.  My 3-year old Surge finally broke and I upgraded to the Ionic – Worked great out of the box – everything synced, notifications: email, text, calls – really a fantastic piece of equipment.  Love the pay feature.

Liked it so much, my wife ditched her Charge 2 and bought one!  Two watches - $600 later and we were really happy with the expense.

Then, one day last week, my notifications stopped.  Went through all the tutorials three times – still wouldn’t connect.

Chatted for an hour with on-line Customer Service – they finally told me it was a “known problem” with iPhone 6S running IOS 11.4.1 and that they were working on an update to fix it.  No date when it would be released.

Yesterday, when the update came out, it started working again!  Halleluiah! I thought it was fixed and moved on – but this morning, no more notifications.  Update is loaded, went through the protocol again three times and still no notifications.

What the heck.

Now I am back to where I was – just curious – are notifications intermittent on anyone else’s iPhone 6S running 11.4.1 or am I alone in trying to get Fitbit to update this “known problem”?

[jfa002]

I have a 6s+ on 11.41 no problems with notifications.

Sent from my iPhone

[HansRT]

iPhone 6s with IOS 11.4.1 and no problem. Even get the notification for E-mails earlier in the watch than in the phone.

[Cindrbug]

I have the latest update and still my iconic crashes. There are times when the iconic just turns off, therefore does not record anything. This is frustrating. When I get my iconic to come back on it has the time of when it went off. I have to turn the iconic back on and resync with my phone. Then it will work for a while until it does it again.

[jfa002]

I'm not experiencing those issues. I'm on the latest f2f.

Get Outlook for iOS

[YFG]

Return it if you still can. It won’t get better—8mos if waiting for better

[YFG]

Good for u!

[YFG]

Return it. 8 months in (waiting) it does not get better.

[ruriimasu]

I returned mine after 7 months and got myself another brand. Synced right out of the box, and fast! No crap excuse of compatible or incompatible devices. It works or it fails. Period.

[ifco22]

After a long time I'm trying to pair Ionic with a PC with Windows 10 (1803) is still not going. I thought the new version of FW would be something to solve. but I do not see any change. In the application, I can not get a 4-digit code from the watch screen. If I follow the steps in the tutorial, I will get the code over and over again. After half an hour, it stops talking and I can only pair it with the phone. I can only pair with the Phone. Will it ever be solved? Is there a problem with me? I do not even have a bracelet setting. On the cover of the watch it was mentioned as a function not as a planned function sometime in the future.