Ionic Firmware release - 27.31.1.29

[MattFitbit]

Hi all!

I am super excited to announce the release of Fitbit OS 1.2! (Firmware Version: 27.31.1.29)

We've begun to roll out this new firmware to 10% 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. This firmware update includes:

Feature update:

• We improved the way we track your distance when you’re tracking a run with GPS.

What’s fixed:

• We fixed an issue where some customers’ clocks didn’t update after switching time zones.
• We fixed an issue where some customers experienced syncing issues after interrupting clock face installation.
• We fixed an issue where some customers noticed the Exercise app crashed after double tapping an exercise.
• This release also includes bug fixes and stability improvements.

Click here to view our Fitbit OS help article!

Instructions for updating your Ionic can be found here.

I would also recommend updating your Ionic over Wi-Fi 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 let me know! 

[Blackperl]

My Ionic did take only 10-15 minutes for the update. I can notice that the screen responsive (sliding/scrolling) is better. @MattFitbit I tell you 1 thing why we need Unicode support. I'm from Thailand I've used Ionic for a month . 3 of my friends are really interested in smartwatch/fitness like Ionic. They asked me about Ionic and 2 of them really want to buy Ionic (they asked me where should I buy Ionic) but I have to show them that Notification is useless (it show "?????" when received my local language) because Ionic has not supported Unicode yet. This is the reason I have to stop them from buying Ionic and recommend garmin/apple watch. To be host I want my friend to use the same Ionic as mine but I can't see my friend get disappointed because Unicode support is big problem. 

[Realdjyoshi]

Zero issues updating at all. IDownload and install was under 30 minutes

Hopefully the ionic is more stable. 

I agree that Bluetooth connectivity needs to be addressed .

Would be nice if quick replies can be integrated in text readread screen .

[Giampi71]

I also add my experience that the update went very smoothly taking only 19 mins under Wifi.

Screen very responsive, notification, HR, GPS all perfect (but they were also before the  update)

[Bazzer65]

My iconic has synched perfectly well for two months, but after the firmware update last night (14th Feb 2018) it will not synch with my phone (Samsung Galaxy A3). Any advice please?

[OlegM]

@Blackperl, please vote for unicode support feature: https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Feature-Suggestions/IONIC-Unicode-to-support-languages-Notifications...

[NHMike]

I haven’t attempted the update yet but it is available for me.  How do you force it to update over WiFi rather than Bluetooth?  Will it default to WiFi if WiFi is enabled?  Im using an iPhone for sync’ing.  I’m not having any connectivity issues, just want to use WiFi because it will be faster.

UPDATE:  I figured it out.  Just enabling WiFi on the app defaulted to WiFi update.  Worked fine and completed in about 20 min.  

[Trikke]

Wole up this morning (in Belgium).

Checked my sleep patern.

Saw the update invite.

Launched it.

Took a shower.

Updated!

Voila.

I want to marry with my Ionic.

This is my 12th fitness smart health watch in about 3 years, and I stick to it.

Far out better than all the rest. Period.

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@MattFitbitwrote:

Hey everyone! 

Just wanted to jump in here to thank you all for taking the time to update your Ionic to Fitbit OS 1.2. 

After reading through your comments, I can see that some of you were successful in updating your Ionic, while others were not as successful. 

@AusieGirl @OggieHocky @bIonicman Sorry to see that you weren't able to get updated. I would definitely recommend following the steps detailed in this article to ensure your Ionic is properly connected to your Wi-Fi network.  

I would also recommend making sure you are connected to our home Wi-Fi, rather than a work or public network. If you are still having issues connecting your Ionic to Wi-Fi, I would follow the troubleshooting steps detailed, here. 

For those of you who are unable to update via Wi-Fi, you do have the option of updating via Bluetooth. However, I do have to advise that this method will increase the time it will take to finish the update. 

If you are having any issues when attempting to update via Bluetooth, there are some great troubleshooting steps detailed in this article to help the process. 

@Swdecord @Hendos You can see what was included in this release by following this link to my initial post. 

@MikeGn @Blackperl Thanks for your suggestion to add Unicode support to Ionic.

As @OlegM suggested, I would recommend casting a vote for this feature suggestion, as this is the best way for our team to gauge interest in adding new features to Ionic. 

@BubbaJojo @Jim-LaQuinta Sorry to hear that your Ionic is no longer syncing. I could recommend following each of the troubleshooting steps detailed in this article. This should help to get your device syncing with Ionic again. 

@Fern_23Google changed its permission requirements beginning with Android OS 6.0 (Marshmallow). As a result, the locations permission is necessary to sync your tracker with your Android device. For more information, check out this article. 

@USAF-Larry @Ozzie65 @Jnesbitt82 @USAF-Chandler @SunsetRunner Thanks so much for taking the time to provide your troubleshoots. Your assistance is truly appreciated! 

I will continue to monitor this thread as we roll out this OS update to more users. If you have any questions, feel free to let me know! 

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[Colinm39]

My update just came through.. Used 4G+ on my Android and the total time only took 9.5 minutes

No change to my use of the Ionic..

• Still has difficulty connecting to GPS even when there are Satellites.
• Pay Wallet still won't open
• Pay still works
• Syncing  "appears" slicker.. Immediate for the Ionic when I open the App
• Followed by the Fitbit One.. appears to be concurrent - in Multi mode
• Will confirm sleep stage in the morning

Here is the Satellite test..So all looks OK there..

[Codsworthy]

Basic reason is inconsistent hardware, yes it has a Bluetooth chip but it could come from 3 different manufacturers on the same spec. 2 out of 3 could work fine, 1 may stop working due to the update.

This is where Apple really win over ever other company in my opinion. Every component of every Apple product is identically specified and from 1 manufacturer usually, if it works on one, it works on all. Unfortunately a company the size of FitBit doesn’t have that kind of leverage with manufacturers so often buys via 3rd party middlemen… who buy off spec components from whoever is cheapest.

Matthew Bingham

Sent from my iPhone

[Colinm39]

@NHMikeAbout sleep stages.. I find that the PC Dashboard has the results before the App on the Phone. Also the RHR,

When I test this, I sync with the Android, have the browser open on the PC at the Fitbit Dashboard and keep refreshing the view.

It seems to take about 2 minutes on the previous firmware to complete the round trip for RHR and sleep. So I'm assuming that's the process.. But I haven't been able to get any information from the Moderators about the sequencing of events..

When I turn the Bluetooth off on my Phone, sometimes I get the error message.. Like... "Turn Bluetooth on so that we can access History" or similar.. Where that's in the cycle, who knows..

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@NHMikewrote:

Several folks here stating that the upgrade broke sleep stage functionality but my sleep stage functionality did not work last night either, and I hadn’t updated yet.  My wife and her friend's didn’t work last night either, and they both have different models.  Maybe something else going on.  Where is the sleep stage processing performed?  On the watch, app, or server?  Can a Support rep confirm?

Orher folks also stating on here on here that the update broke other functionality like sync.  I confirmed today that all the functionality on mine is working fine.  Not sure why an update would break functionality on some units but not others.  Weird.

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[Falzy]

I updated in 10 minutes with no issues.

[SunsetRunner]

Hello Matt, 

Did this update address the playlist music syncing issues that many users have pointed out. 

[bIonicman]

All,

after working on this myself for about 9 hours last night and overnight, I finally got this update done. Overall I am seriously disappointed by the process, it amazes me you have to go through all the steps I had to take to fix my unit. Furthermore, from my previous post, the level of support is ridiculous, some very serious improvements are in order if Fitbit wants to play a big role in this market.

Anyway, here is what I had to do, after my Ionic basically was left useless and would not connect at all anymore, as indicated in my earlier post :

- I removed the Wi-Fi settings from the Fitbit app.

- I removed the Ionic from the Fitbit app.

- I un-installed the Fitbit app from my phone.

- I deleted the Wi-Fi settings from my phone. (this is crazy, but after trying a few times, I decided to go this route.)

- I turned Bluetooth off on my phone.

- I performed another Factory reset on the Ionic. This of course will delete any and all data from the unit. 

- I installed the Fitbit app on my phone, not using Wi-Fi.

- I turned Bluetooth back on again, and connected the Ionic to my phone. (Note, no Wi-Fi).

- During the initial setup of the Ionic, it automatically checked for updates and of course found the latest Firmware, which is started to download, over the air, not Wi-Fi.

- This failed after about 3 hours, and I started it again.

- After another 5 hours, the download finally was done and installed, my Ionic was back to the factory settings with the new Firmware installed.

I changed the settings again to the way I want them to be. Initially I got several 'sync errors', but for whatever reason that started to work after about 30 minutes, so I am not sure what happened.

I have not been able to do much with it today, so I cannot say anything about the actual software functionality.

Overall I am very disappointed by all of this. I should not have to 'factory reset' the Ionic to apply an update at all. To me is looks like FitBit needs to take a very serious look at how all of this works. Take a good look at the connectivity issues as well. For quite some time people on this board have complained about it, and it does not look like it got any better, given that I ran into sync errors right away, which I had never seen before.

This has gotten me to the point for now that if I have to replace the Ionic at some point, I will look elsewhere, unless Fitbit is going to show it cares about its customers and really wants to play a leading role in this market .....

[Deikn]

Is this firmware compatible with Huawei mate 10 pro?  There are many people waiting for that update. 

[USAF-Larry]

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@Deiknwrote:

Is this firmware compatible with Huawei mate 10 pro?  There are many people waiting for that update. 

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@Deikn, the compatibility of the phone is an issue with the Android app, not the firmware of the tracker.

[edit001]

I finally managed to update the watch via Bluetooth (don't have access to a wi-fi at the moment)... it took  3 hours and 10 minutes..... insane. DON'T update via Bluetooth !

[harmitfc]

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@Falzywrote:

I updated in 10 minutes with no issues.

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Same here! My Ionic is a lot faster on swipe and the installed apps work quicker. I'll check the GPS out later when I go out for a run...

[huangguiyang]

I wish when I want to sync the data, it can be synced immediately.

Especially the sleeping data. Because the other data can be seen on the watch.

It is a good idea to show sleeping data directly on the smart watch, because the connection to the phone is unstable.

For the update, I think the reason why the wifi connection is unstable is that the wifi hardware is not compatible to some wifi networks.

I found a potential good solution. Using the computer as a mobile hotspot may be able to solve the wifi stability.

Last time, I try to let it to connect my home wifi directly, I need to try many times to successfully update it. It is rather frustrated.

This time, because I noticed some people can update without any problems, I suspected it is due to the wifi compatibility. Because my computer's wifi connection is stable, I let it generate a mobile hotspot for ionic. It updates successfully for one time.

I suggest the other people to try this method, and reported whether it can solve the wifi connection problems. 

If it indeed solves the wifi connection problems, fibit can show it at new version of the software to solve the wifi problems.

[Crazy-Fritter]

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@bIonicmanwrote:

Well, the situation got a lot worse tonight.

I spend around an hour with Support to sort this out. Long story short, nothing worked, and ultimately we ended up doing a Factory Reset.

The unit still does not want to connect anymore, not even to my phone, which was working fine so far.

So, the final conclusion is, my unit needs to be replaced ....I ended up getting an E-mail stating if I wanted a new unit, I have to pay 50% of the price, or otherwise I can get the same type unit as a replacement.

I asked if the replacement would be a new unit or refurbished one, and the changes are it will be refurbished.

I paid $300 for this thing, less then 2 months ago. A software updates is being issues, which renders my unit useless, and now I can get a refurbished unit as a replacement or pay $150 to get a new one ?

What ???? This is the worse customer support I have seen in a long time. If you care about your customers you fix this issue, or get a new one out asap. At the moment mine won't work as it will not connect to anything anymore ....great .....

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That's always irritated the hell out of me, you pay for a brand new item, it turns out to be defective, and they want to send you a used one (aka somebody else's problem) 😟😕👎, or gouge you $150 more for the privilege of owning what you already paid $300 for. In fact it sounds downright illegal. 

Except of course in the fine print it says they have the right to screw you 😬 

I would take the used replacement and send it back instantly every time it didn't work until you get one that works like new. And I would never buy another Fitbit product, and spread the word every where you can of how you were treated.

Sales of the ionic are stalling out, so Fitbits cut back on production to try and get more inventory moved out, including moving the large amount of returns. Do a quick Google search and you'll see.

At least we know now what we're getting into if we buy an ionic.....or any Fitbit 😨 

Of course there's other companies that have that same policy, but unlike Fitbit most of them make quality products you never need to exchange. With Fitbit the replacement policy becomes a major issue because of so many devices needing to be returned. 

I won't be getting any more Fitbit devices after mine wear out until I see major improvements in the quality and reliability of their products.

[SunsetRunner]

Since this update last night ALL of my notifications have stopped including all texts and calls, on my iphone 8 to my ionic.  How can this be fix?  VERY FRUSTRATING!!!