Ionic- Fitbit OS 4.2 Firmware Update (71.6.19)

[KateFitbit]

Update 9/3/2020: This update should now be available to all customers. If you have any difficulty updating, make sure you are following the directions in this article, and then provide as many specific details as possible in your post so that we can assist.

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We've started rolling out Fitbit OS 4.2 Firmware Update (71.6.19) for Ionic. 

We release firmware updates to all customers in phases. The update will be available to everyone soon, and a banner will appear in the app when you can install the update. If you don’t see the banner yet, check the app again later.

*Firmware releases are not distributed based on region or location and can reach anyone no matter where you reside. We do not recommend performing a factory reset to force the update to your device as your data will be lost and you may not get the update. Please be patient and wait until you see the update banner inside of the Fitbit app to begin the firmware download.

WHAT’S NEW AND FIXED

Release notes can be found here.

HOW DO I UPDATE?

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

We 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 recommend reviewing these troubleshooting tips. 

[YojanaFitbit]

@LMKlivinit thank you for reporting this information with us. If you've already restarted your Ionic with these instructions: How do I restart my Fitbit device?  But the screen doesn't respond, please perform a factory reset with the buttons of the Ionic :

1. Important: You’ll need to reinstall any apps on your device after the reset.
2. First remove your Ionic from the Fitbit app and Bluetooth setting on your phone
3. On the Ionic, hold all three buttons for about 10 to 12 seconds. 
4. When the Fitbit logo disappears, quickly release the bottom right button, continuing to hold down the left and top right buttons (releasing the bottom right button as soon as the logo disappears is time sensitive). 
5. When the device vibrates, release all buttons. 
6. Wait for approximately 1-2 minutes while the device clears all data. Eventually, the Fitbit logo appears and the device boots and displays Fitbit.com/setup.
7. When the device successfully resets, advise the customer to use the normal out of the box process of updating the firmware (See How do I update my Fitbit device?).

@LaithD sorry about the hard time you're having updating your Ionic. Please check the instructions here: Why can't I update my Fitbit device?

@FitmanFit thank you for your feedback. As @KateFitbit mentioned before you can find more details about updates to Fitbit OS here: Release notes  If you have more details about the feature "Find my phone" check this suggestion. You can keep using the same clock face after the update, if you have more questions about an specific clock face you can always check with the developer. If you're having syncing and notifications issues check these steps: Why won't my Fitbit device sync? and How do I get notifications from my phone on my Fitbit device?

[briskerr]

This update bricked my Ionic! I loved this watch. But what am I supposed to do now... buy a watch from a company whose updates my render it useless? A 35% discount isn't going to cut it.

Woke up middle of the night. Checked the time and my watch screen was a light gray. Then it turned black. I've charged it back up. Nothing. I've let it sit for a few days to kill the battery, then charged it back up...black screen. All the while trying the different types of resets.

Customer service was nice, but not helpful. 

I sold this watch to members of my running group. Going to look embarrassing when I explain to them why I don't have it anymore.

[rtk1103]

I also updated my Ionic this morning. The update caused my screen to go black, although it is still communicating with the app. It will not reboot or factory reset. This is the “help” their customer service gave me:

Although your tracker is outside the scope of Fitbit's warranty terms, we want to offer you the following: 35% discount on a new Fitbit

[robbijay]

That’s crazy. Why would they expect anyone to pay 65% of something they broke with their update?!
This gets worse!

[FitmanFit]

@YojanaFitbit You wrote: "As @KateFitbit mentioned before you can find more details about updates to Fitbit OS here: Release notes" Did you notice that I had already linked to the release notes in my original post?

I knew where to find the release notes. My question was about the "Find my phone" feature which @Samirspatil claimed was added in OS 4.2. Since I couldn't find anything about "Find my phone" in the release notes, I asked for clarification. So again, is "Find my phone" a new feature in OS 4.2 or was that just misinformation by @Samirspatil? You wrote: "If you have more details about the feature "Find my phone" check this suggestion."

Thank you, I know where to find feature suggestions. I'm not interested in feature suggestions, though. I'm interested in features that may be implemented in OS 4.2 despite not being mentioned in the release notes. You wrote: "You can keep using the same clock face after the update..."Are you sure? Can you state that unequivocally for every watch face If so, great!

I'm just unsure because you continued with "...if you have more questions about an specific clock face you can always check with the developer." N.B., how would I contact the developer if, there is no contact information on the watch face page?

You wrote: "If you're having syncing and notifications issues check these steps".
Thank you, but I don't have any such issues. My question was whether OS 4.2 still supports syncing with the Huawei Mate 20 (which is an officially supported phone model). You'll appreciate that I don't want to upgrade to OS 4.2 only to find that all the generic "syncing and notification issue remedies" won't succeed because OS 4.2 does not work with the Mate 20 anymore for some reason.

Since I have never updated my Ionic before, could you please answer my question 2. which was about whether I'd be able to cancel the update, should the offered firmware update not be version 71.6.19? I don't want to update to any intermediate firmware version.

Finally, any word as to whether the loss of GPS functionality has been replicated by Fitbit? Multiple users reported having no GPS reception after the update anymore.

Moderator Edit: Formatting

[VCC671]

Hello,

after the Firmware Update (71.6.19) for my Ionic, the screen is blank. I've tried multiple times to hard restart and the it is still has a blank screen. I know the screen is not defective because I purposely let the battery drain to a low percentage and the charging percentage was showed for a second or two and my Ionic charged to a 100%. I verified the 100% by logging into the Samsung Note 8 phone fitbit app. My Ionic still communicates with my phone, its syncs perfectly but I still have no display. 

Is there an option to connect the Ionic to the computer to reset it back to the prior firmware version? Would this help on correcting the blank screen. 

It would greatly appreciate if you can provide me a remedy to fix this issue.

Note, my Ionic was working fine prior to the Firmware update (71.6.19).

Best Regards,

VCC671

[KJ3000]

After the update my display was fuzzy, had ghost screens when I swiped through the menu and, by the end of the day, the screen won't even turn on. The green light is on, but not the screen. I have tried all combinations of restart and reset (1, 2, and 3 button.) None of them are working. Don't do the update! 

[PaulMe]

@FitmanFit, You wrote: "You can keep using the same clock face after the update..."
Are you sure? Can you state that unequivocally for every watch face?

I think you already know the answer to your question. Of course Fitbit can't and won't guarantee that your clockface will remain after any update. It should - and there is a 99%+ chance it will. But we are talking about software foibles here so things can and do go wrong. Not just a Fitbit issue. Why can't you download the clockface again. Is it that important to you?

But I agree. A full changelog should be provided for each and every software/firmware update. Simply good customer relations. Imagine if Microsoft or Apple didn't provide bug fix and improvements/additions information when they release new software. Even motherboard manufacturers provide information when a new BIOS update is available.

You may have to direct your Huawei Mate 20 question to Huawei. As I said in another post Fitbit won't and can't test their software on EVERY phone on the planet. They test the OS. If the manufacturer has tinkered with the OS or a 3rd party piece of software interacts negatively with Fitbit. Who's problem is that? Certainly not Fitbit's. Reposted after "mysteriously" being deleted/removed - twice.

Moderator Edit: Formatting

[rtk1103]

Turns out the 35% discount is only on discontinued models from their British site. Unreal.

[FitmanFit]

@PaulMe 

You wrote: "I think you already know the answer to your question."

I don't ask questions I know the answers to.

I was alluding to the fact that the answer seemed a bit too generic to be reliable and also was qualified by the remark that I could always contact the watch face developer. In combination, I felt that this answer was inviting another enquiry for confirmation. 

You wrote: "Of course Fitbit can't and won't guarantee that your clockface will remain after any update. It should - and there is a 99%+ chance it will. But we are talking about software foibles here so things can and do go wrong. Not just a Fitbit issue."

1. My question was  not about whether the watch face will "remain" after the update. It was about whether the watch face will continue to work, i.e., whether OS 4.2 has potentially introduced incompatibilities with existing watch faces.
2. Maybe you personally believe in "software foibles". I don't. Software should be engineered. Hardware is deterministic and so should be software. Any deviation from that documents that developers are biting off more than they can chew and while that may be somewhat "normal" as in "frequently encountered", I refuse to accept it as "normal" in the sense as "not objectionable".

Note that in regard to my actual question -- will the watch face continue to work? -- the developers should know whether or not the changes to the code they made could introduce incompatibilities to existing watch faces. I accept that some behaviour can come as a surprise and outside cleanroom developments there are no 100% guarantees, but sometimes it is easy to confirm that no issues should be encountered.

You wrote: "Why can't you download the clockface again. Is it THAT important to you?"
If it would be just a matter of downloading the watch face again then it would be fine. My question was a different one (see above).

And yes, the watch face is very important to me. It defines what I'm looking at multiple times every day.

You wrote: "You may have to direct your Huawei Mate 20 question to Huawei."

Why would I expect Huawei to test a third-party application?
Huawei has no obligation whatsoever to guarantee that Fitbit devices continue to work with their hardware and OS versions. I can hope that they care, but Huawei made no promises about Fitbit compatibility.

You wrote: "As I said in another post Fitbit won't and can't test their software on EVERY phone on the planet."

Even though I explicitly mentioned in my original post, it seems to elude you that the Huawei Mate 20 is on Fitbit's list of officially supported phones.

Given that extra information, I hope you'll agree with me that it would be indeed "Fitbit's problem", if they continued to have the Huawei Mate 20 on their list of compatible phones but broke compatibility with OS 4.2 and/or a new version of the companion app.

All I'm asking is whether the published list is still reliable.

[jgfurbush]

What's not new and fixed is the problem people are having updating their Fitbit watches. I love my Fitbit Ionic but it is very difficult to update. I have been trying for four days now. I have tried all the advice from the community and the Fitbit website with NO luck. I see by the community post this has been an issue for a few years. Fitbit should probably try to fix this problem. Sadly I'm switching to Apple watch even though I like my Fitbit better but at least the Apple watch works.  

[abs_olute]

Hi

No matter how many times I try to update my Ionic, it keeps saying it has been updated but shows an older version number. And the update tracker notification is still there. Is there any way around this? I have done all the restarts, logged out and logged back in to my account. forgot my device etc etc following the advice on this thread and nothing works.

I have noticed in the last couple of weeks that the auto brightness has stopped working (yes I have checked the quick menu and settings and changed every option under the sun and it does not work) and it is now starting to freeze counting my steps and I have to regularly restart the watch to "jolt" it back into action. This is obviously not a long term solution and was hoping the firmware update my help resolve this issue but that isnt working.

Thanks!

[NoKeRse]

Got a replacement unit at my place today. Trying to connect it to my phone .starts to update, and ends in update failed . And now back to a black screen with white Fitbit logo .any advice on what to do ? The replacement watch shows 27.20.16.23 and prompts me for an update . But it always ends in an update failed or just back to the setup screen .or the white Fitbit logo . I feel sorry for those of you just getting an 35% discount . After the fourth try and ending up in an error message that update failed in the app. I ended up with 27.70.8.0 . What a utter chaos 

[NoKeRse]

Nah, not buying an Apple product.😄 But I can admit that the lack of response and ignorance from Fitbit Im consider jumping ship after 7 years of using their devices. I really miss my first Fitbit Flex that just counted my steps and nothing more. Today's devices get more complex ,but Fitbit should provide an option to update their devices through the charging cable in recovery mode or similar. As well as testing the uodates a little better prior to releasing it to the public . And since the update banner is not going away before update is done.they should provide an option to hide it. And when an update breaks the device they should offer an replacement instead of the we are sorry here is a 35% discount .

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi everybody, thank you for sharing your comments and feedback about this firmware update.

@VCC671 @KJ3000 @jgfurbush @abs_olute thank you for trying the steps suggested on the Community Forums and Help articles. I've reported this information to our team, you will be getting an email shortly to check what is happening in every case. Thank you for your patience. 

@FitmanFit thank you for sharing the correct link and also for sharing all those details in your post. With Fitbit OS 4.2 you can use the new "Find Phone" feature from your Versa, so this information is true. We appreciate your feedback about the release notes.

About the clock face you mentioned on your post, please confirm those details on the Fitbit app > Versa > Clock Faces > Minimal Style > Contact developer. You can send a direct email to the developer to confirm more details about this clock face.

This update doesn't change the list of compatible devices. You can confirm the information about phone compatibility here. In regards to Fitbit updates, there is no option to cancel the update but you can wait if you don't want to update it to this version and wait for the next one. User with GPS problems has been escalated to check possible solutions. 

Hope this helps!

[FitmanFit]

@YojanaFitbit Thank you very much for your very helpful reply.

"With Fitbit OS 4.2 you can use the new "Find Phone" feature from your Versa, so this information is true." Thank you for the confirmation. I'm assuming the "Find Phone" feature is now also available on the Ionic (I don't own a Versa).

"About the clock face you mentioned on your post, please confirm those details on the Fitbit app > Versa > Clock Faces > Minimal Style > Contact developer." I followed these steps but don't find "Contact developer" as an option for this particular watch face. Using the Fitbit app appears to lead me to the same gallery.fitbit.com page and it seems developers can opt out of being contacted.

"This update doesn't change the list of compatible devices." Thank you. It seems that I should be able to take that as confirmation that OS 4.2 will work with the latest firmware update available for the Huawei Mate 20 (Android 10), correct?

"In regards to Fitbit updates, there is no option to cancel the update but you can wait if you don't want to update it to this version and wait for the next one. User with GPS problems has been escalated to check possible solutions."

Thank you very much. I'll wait with the update to see whether there is a systemic GPS problem or not.

Moderator Edit: Formatting

[blacque]

Thank you very much for this response. It is by far the best response I've ever seen on here. Thank you for attempting to address our individual problems with personalized responses. I look forward to a solution to the GPS issue.

[PaulMe]

@FitmanFit, I hope you'll agree with me that it would be indeed "Fitbit's problem", if they continued to have the Huawei Mate 20 on their list of compatible phones but broke compatibility with OS 4.2 and/or a new version of the companion app.

What about regular updates to Android 10. Security and bug fixes. These could cause issues. You will have to live with that. Perhaps Fitbit test all compatible phones each time Android or Huawei release and update within Android 10. Not sure if they do? Risk management on your part I would think.

Moderator Edit: Formatting

[Paul46123]

After reading the steps for troubleshooting, almost all of the steps require the use of the screen -- mine won't come on!  It completely drains the battery in less than a day, but it seems to give some feedback to my phone as I was getting sleep times before I quit wearing it.  Like everyone else, seems to have happened hot on the heels of the firmware update. 😞 

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi everybody. Thank you for your comments. 

@Paul46123 welcome to the Community Forums. I've noticed that you already have a case open for this situation, I've updated your information and our team will be getting back to you shortly. Thank you for trying the suggested steps.