Ionic Not Syncing with Samsung Galaxy S8

[SantiR]

Hello all! I hope you're well! I created this thread to compile any post which is about difficulties syncing the Fitbit Ionic with the Samsung Galaxy S8 and therefore keep the Community organized. 

If you are experiencing something like this, please try the following:

• Make sure you have tried all of the following:

1. Force quit and then reopen the Fitbit app.
2. Go to Settings > Bluetooth and turn Bluetooth off, wait 10 seconds, and back on.
3. Open the Fitbit app.
4. If your Fitbit Ionic didn't sync, restart it. 
5. Uninstall and reinstall the Fitbit app.
6. If still no luck, check this helpful article for more details.

Also, try this:

• Make sure your Ionic is connected to Wi-Fi. Check this post for more details about that.
• Check if the Fitbit App is updated to its latest version (2.66).
• The newest Ionic firmware version just begun to roll out. This progressive roll out will be available for every Ionic user in a few weeks. Once you see the update is available, complete it.

This should help you out. Please try the above steps.

@BWilsonSr @TomDNA @Buzzman @LeisureWalk @USAF-Chandler Hello all! I moved your posts to this thread to keep the Community organized! 

Keep me posted! 

[BWilsonSr]

Did it happen to fix the syncing problems with Android devices? Namely, Samsung S8, where it loses connectivity and won't find the tracker without rebooting the Ionic multiple times, simply because you walked out of Bluetooth range for a moment. Also curious if it helped with the slow sync with the S8, and frequent disconnects even when not leaving range.

[TomDNA]

Dear Matt,

I was able to update the firmware with relative ease using my Samsung Galaxy S8. I also have a Win 10 computer. However, after updating, my Ionic cannot sync to either the S8 or Win 10 PC. I tried the reset (pressing left & lower right buttons), but the problem persists. Help. 

Moderator Edit: Format

[Buzzman]

I just installed the firmware 27.31.1.29 update on my brand new Iconic (received Sunday). Now it won't sync with my Samsung S8.

It did it briefly then nothing.

Also, shows no available devices nearby on Bluetooth. My phone and headphones had previously connected via Bluetooth.

[LeisureWalk]

I surprised myself by how annoyed I was to perform an update to make things better and ended up making them so much worse.  I do not have an S8.  I have a Samsung Galaxy J3.  I just managed to do my second manual sync of the day.  This time, I had to:

1) Shutdown the Ionic

2) Restart the Ionic

3) Do a manual sync from the app

Although I am now synced, I am not satisfied with the current performance of this product.  Fitbit cannot treat customers as a testbed for beta software!

[USAF-Chandler]

---

wrote:

I do not have an S8.  I have a Samsung Galaxy J3.  I just managed to do my second manual sync of the day.

---

Disclaimer: I just want to pre-face by stating that I'm not a affiliate of Fitbit or any of it's subsidiaries, nor do I claim to be an expert or professional certified to service Fitbit, Android, iPhone/Apple devices.

Proceed at your own risk.

Solution: Having the same issue sporadically when I first started using my Ionic, I too became slightly frustrated with the App, so I'll break the steps I took to remedy this conundrum.

Thankfully, Fitbit included a background widget that, from my personal experience, has not affected my devices performance, battery life, or any other issues. Addtionally, I have not noticed any issues with my Ionic's battery issues.

From my knowledge, this applies to android devices only, as I do not own or have experience with Apple.

1) Open the Fitbit App. From the main page, Select the "Ionic" Icon.

2) Scroll down to "Always Connected" and give it a tap!

Fitbit's Disclaimer/Warning: "Depending on your phone, you may experience battery performance issues with your Fitbit. If you experience significant battery rain, please disable Always connected."

   2a) As previously stated, I haven't personally experienced these issues.

3) Select "Continue" if you feel like this is a good choice for you.

Hopefully this helps resolve some syncing issues with your Fitbit Ionic!

Moderator Edit: Format

[TomDNA]

As I wrote in my follow-up to this post, since repeating the "left-button/right bottom-button" hold maneuver, my newly updated Ionic has been syncing quickly and accurately to both my Win 10 computer and my Galaxy S8 android. Overall, the touch screen and other features seem to be working better than ever.

Of course, I cannot avoid some anxiety after reading on the Community Forum about the unexpected crashes that others have experienced.

I do appreciate that Matt and the other folks at Fitbit are quite attentive to users' problems, even if the recommended solutions do not always cure for every issue.

[BWilsonSr]

Mine was always set to always connected since day 1 (and tested with the extra widget for if you're having notification problems as well), and unfortunately that didn't do the trick. I tested without always connected turned on as well, but, same problems there. If it *is* syncing ok, it will stop once you walk far enough away from your phone. Once it loses that connectivity, it doesn't willingly reconnect typically. Its an intermittent problem that can persist for hours until the watch is shut down a few times, at which point it *usually* starts working again, for a little while anyways.

---

@USAF-Chandlerwrote:

---

wrote:

I do not have an S8.  I have a Samsung Galaxy J3.  I just managed to do my second manual sync of the day.

---

Disclaimer: I just want to pre-face by stating that I'm not a affiliate of Fitbit or any of it's subsidiaries, nor do I claim to be an expert or professional certified to service Fitbit, Android, iPhone/Apple devices.

Proceed at your own risk.

Solution: Having the same issue sporadically when I first started using my Ionic, I too became slightly frustrated with the App, so I'll break the steps I took to remedy this conundrum.

Thankfully, Fitbit included a background widget that, from my personal experience, has not affected my devices performance, battery life, or any other issues. Addtionally, I have not noticed any issues with my Ionic's battery issues.

From my knowledge, this applies to android devices only, as I do not own or have experience with Apple.

1) Open the Fitbit App. From the main page, Select the "Ionic" Icon.

2) Scroll down to "Always Connected" and give it a tap!

Fitbit's Disclaimer/Warning: "Depending on your phone, you may experience battery performance issues with your Fitbit. If you experience significant battery rain, please disable Always connected."

   2a) As previously stated, I haven't personally experienced these issues.

3) Select "Continue" if you feel like this is a good choice for you.

Hopefully this helps resolve some syncing issues with your Fitbit Ionic!

Moderator Edit: Format

---

[Reaver]

Once I received the message to update firmware on my fitbit ionic everything stopped working.  I tried everything.  Finally I did a factory reset on my ionic and it will not pair with my phone at all.

What can I do?

[joe3175]

I have an S8+ and when I tried to update the watch I was unable to. I finally got a message on my phone saying my app was out of date and I needed to update the app first. Have you tried that?

[EricRay]

This still did not help. I go to set up Ionic my Galxay S8 Active finds watch then says not working. It has been working just fine for the last few months. Last week it would not sync I went trough these steps and it worked. Now it is not working at all. I love fit bit but if this keeps happening i might have to starting looking other places.  

[EricRay]

This still did not help. I go to set up Ionic my Galaxy S8 Active finds watch then says not working. It has been working just fine for the last few months. Last week it would not sync I went trough these steps and it worked. Now it is not working at all. I love fit bit but if this keeps happening i might have to starting looking other places.  

[Melveta]

I just purchased a Samsung Galaxy S8 Active. My Ionic will not pair.

[SantiR]

@Melveta Welcome to the Fitbit family! Thanks for reporting the situation you are experiencing with Ionic not pairing with Samsung Galaxy S8 Active.

I was checking the list of supported devices and the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active is not showing there. This is the main reason why it is not working correctly. Still, it may work, so please try these set up troubleshooting steps.

If it doesn't, I'd recommend trying with a different mobile compatible device or with a computer.

Keep me posted! 

[Melveta]

I'll try that. Are there any initiatives to include the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active on the list of supported devices.

[TomDNA]

If you google Fitbit Ionic Compatibility, type in Samsung Galaxy S8 and
Select Ionic from the list of devices, you will get this page:
Features compatible with Samsung Galaxy S8 + Fitbit Ionic Looks compatible
to me! But still won't sync.

[SantiR]

@Melveta Thanks for your reply! The developer team is aware of the need to add new devices to the list of compatible devices. If your phone meets the requirement of Minimum Supported OS (Android 4.4 KitKat), you can try the tips I left above. Note that we don't guarantee that the synchronization would be will be successful as we are still testing on this phone model.  

@TomDNA I hope you're doing well! The Samsung Galaxy S8 + does appear as a compatible device. Please try these syncing troubleshooting steps to sort that out.

Keep me posted! 

[Amb4040]

I have the S8+ and my Ionic will not sync. I purchased the Ionic at the beginning of August 2018 and it worked for a few days and then it was intermittent. I returned the watch today and received a new one. Finished the setup and the watch appeared to be working but..... I am still having the same issues. I am extremely disappointed in this watch and Fitbit as a whole. 

[PrybarIN]

I had tried everything you have listed but had no success until I restarted my Galaxy.

[Dynagirl2006]

The past 2 or 3 weeks, I have had major issues getting my Ionic to sync with my S8+, too. I've tried everything, including changing my watch face, force restarting, etc. I can get it to work for a few hours then it's back to failing the sync. So far today, my watch says I've walked over 5k steps and my app is stuck at 3k from the last forced sync I managed to make. It's set to all-day sync. Obviously that doesn't happen.