Ionic and PC compatability

[jess_123]

Hi, 

I am thinking of buying my Dad the ionic for Christmas. He doesn't have a smartphone and i am wondering if anyone can tell me if it is the same as other fitbits that come with the USB stick so he can look at the dashboard on a PC? I have a charge 2 and have not actually used my PC to view my dashboard before, is it the same as viewing on a smartphone? 

thanks! 

[MaginB]

Welcome to the Forums @jess_123! 

That's sounds awesome what a better gift than a Fitbit Ionic! To take advantage of all of the great features that the Ionic gives like GPS, Fitbit Pay, etc. It's better if you sync it with a Compatible Smartphone. When you buy an Ionic the box does not include a Wireless Dongle as you can see below, however you can buy one on the Online Store. 

Hope it helps! 

[shipo]

@jess_123, a few comments:

• I have a Windows 7 PC with the Fitbit Dongle and syncing with my Ionic works very well.
• I have also heard (but haven't tried) Windows 10 PCs with embedded Bluetooth can be used for syncing as well.
• It is my understanding the Ionic MUST be setup/initialized with a phone; I tried setting mine up via the PC and got a message to usu my phone.
• If your dad doesn't have a phone, you should be able to set it up using yours.

[DramaQueenDiva]

Does the computer have a built in Bluetooth? If it does, all you need to have him do is enable the Bluetooth on the computer to get it to sync....no dongle needed!

Regardless, you will need to download the Fitbit app on the computer and open it when you want it to sync.

[shipo]

---

@DramaQueenDiva wrote:

Does the computer have a built in Bluetooth? If it does, all you need to have him do is enable the Bluetooth on the computer to get it to sync....no dongle needed!

Regardless, you will need to download the Fitbit app on the computer and open it when you want it to sync.

---

I do not believe the above is always accurate.  Why?  I have two laptops, one owned by my company and a personal unit; personal laptop is very high end and has embedded Bluetooth.  Both laptops run Windows 7 and both require the Fitbit Dongle, and when I don't have it plugged in, regardless of which machine, I get the following message when I attempt to sync:

[Julia_G]

Hi, @jess_123, I think @shipo has given you very accurate information and advice.  A small correction to what @DramaQueenDiva mentioned above: if your Dad's computer runs Windows 10 and has built in Bluetooth it is correct that you will simply need to download the app.

However, if your Dad has an earlier version of Windows, and/or does not have built in Bluetooth, then he will not be able to use the Fitbit app, because it does not work with the wireless sync dongle.  In this case he must instead download the Fitbit Connect Software.  When you go to the setup page you will have the opportunity to choose either the app or the Connect software.  I hope that makes sense.

I absolutely love the Ionic, and since I live in the UK (so Fitbit Pay barely available) and since I use a Windows phone (so lots of other features also not available) I still find it a really great fitness device and I am very happy with it.  So I think it would suit someone even without a phone.

Edited to add: thanks @shipo !  I see we both posted the correction.

[jess_123]

Thanks for your help everyone! He recently got an iPad for work and it is compatible with that thankfully so problem solved 🙂

Sent from my iPhone

[Julia_G]

@jess_123, I use my iPad almost exclusively to sync with my Ionic and I can confirm it works flawlessly.  

[Caswell]

I just recently purchased the Ionic and was having the same problems.  My Comcast router broadcast on 2.4 and 5 GHz with the same ID.  I just went into the router settings and noticed that the 2.4 GHz mode was only broadcasting 802.11 g,n.  However, there was an option to have it broadcast 802.11 b,g,n and that did the trick.  My Ionic connected right away.  Keeping my fingers crossed!!

[obreezy89]

So if I already have that thingy from one of my old fit bits it'll work and I can sync the ionic to my laptop?

[Caswell]

I have the old USB dongle...I couldn’t get it to work with my Ionic.  Let me know if you get it to work.

I was having WiFi issues and found the problem was in my WiFi router.

[obreezy89]

Thanks. If that's the case I'm not even going to bother getting an Ionic.

[SteveH]

The fitbit dongle will work with any fitbit. I'm using the dongle I got with my One with the Ionic.

[obreezy89]

Ok cool. So I can 100 percent sync a Ionic to a MacBook (it's kind of old)
using the dongle?

[SteveH]

Few things in life are 100% certain!

I'm a windows user rather than a Mac so I am going from documentation here, but the setup site at www.fitbit.com/setup has download options for the Mac and Mac 10.5

According to this help file ( https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1872/ ) the downloaded fitbit connect software will work with a Mac's built in bluetooth so you may not need the dongle:

"(Mac only) If your computer has Bluetooth, go to your System Preferences and verify that it is turned on. Note that even when Bluetooth is on, the signal can occasionally be weak or problematic. When this happens, plug the wireless sync dongle into a USB port on your computer as shown. If your Mac doesn't have Bluetooth the dongle is required."

[obreezy89]

Thanks. I've been researching that answer for a while