Ionic doesn't track my sleep

[TheMightyZeus]

The main reason I wanted a Fitbit was as a sleep tracker, and I went with the Ionic because I also wanted a new smart watch. So I purchased one two days ago.

The first night, it didn't track my sleep at all. So I got on the forums and read other people's problems and tried restarting it. I then manually added the time I was asleep, so of course I didn't get insights, only basic info.

Then last night, it did record sleep, but only started several hours after I went to bed. As a result the total time was less than three hours, so I still didn't get insights. 

I've made sure the settings are correct, I'm not on sensitive mode, it's set to off-hand, the band is tight enough, I've restarted the device, it is synced. 

I've read that it thinks you're asleep after staying still for an hour, and I wonder if that's my problem. I move around a lot in my sleep, so being still for the first hour of sleep each night seems extremely unlikely. But I can't be the only person who doesn't lie still in their sleep, and I've heard the sleep tracker works really well. Another factor that I thought might impact it is that I have a higher than average heart rate. I'm regularly in the "fat burning zone" just sitting still, and the lowest my heart rate got during sleep was 64 the first night and 59 the second.

Are there any settings I can adjust or other things to try, or is the sleep tracker just not going to work for me in its current state?

[WavyDavey]

Hi @TheMightyZeus,

I would give it a little time to calibrate to you, your heart rate and movement patterns.

First, let's give the tracker the best shot at capturing a night's sleep, and determining your restless sleep vs. actually moving around awake. How do we do this?

An hour or so before bed, take the tracker off. It's a good time to charge it. Then, when you are ready for bed, put the tracker on, and go to sleep. I find by doing this, the Fitbit gets a little help in determining when you're awake or asleep.

Try that tonight, and report back tomorrow what your sleep chart looked like. If it works, try that for a few nights, and see if after that it picks up your sleep better.

[TheMightyZeus]

Thanks for your suggestion. Last night I tried charging it for an hour before bed, and it once again didn't track my sleep at all. I'm wondering if maybe I just got a defective unit?

[DanalynnA]

My Ionic stopped working properly on my sleep a for the last 3 days since I updated the app from the app store. I went into settings on the watch and did a shut down for about a minute & then restarted it. It has been syncing properly since then.

[SunsetRunner]

@TheMightyZeus  Are you wearing it tightly enough to track your heart rate at the time?  Have you tried changing the sleep sensitivity from Normal to Sensitive? Assuming you have already tried a shutdown or restart you may need to do a factory reset or exchange the device. 

[DramaQueenDiva]

Also, just out of curiosity, are you hitting the "Start Sleep Now" function in the app?  If you are, then this is why you are not seeing Sleep Stages.  This is only to be used for non-wrist worn trackers.  Since the Ionic is a wrist worn tracker, all you need to do is go to sleep.

[TheMightyZeus]

Thanks for the input, everyone.

@DanalynnA I did shut down and subsequently restart my watch after the first night.

@SunsetRunner As mentioned in my original post, the band is tight enough. To elaborate, it records my heart rate at all times and the only gaps I see on the HR chart are when I take it off. According to Fitbit Help, sensitive mode would actually be counter-productive as it would register my movements more, not my sleep. I fear I may need to attempt an exchange, and also fear that even that won't solve anything.

@DramaQueenDiva No I'm not. The idea that I could just sleep with it on and it would work was very appealing, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to be working out that way. And I'm not just not seeing sleep stages, I'm not seeing sleep at all for the most part, unless I manually add it after the fact. The running total is that out of three full nights of sleep, only two total hours were automatically recorded.

[SunsetRunner]

@TheMightyZeusMy comment was not that it wasn't recording a heart rate, more that it might not be reading one correctly.  Many devices will record a heart rate for a minute or two after you take it off and set it on the table as they would rather guess and fill in the blanks than leave blank spots letting customers know how often they can't get an accurate reading.  I had one that would keep increasing the heart rate every second while I wasn't wearing it providing completely inaccurate information and was simply told it was by design.  With devices being able to "guess" your heart rate for a minute or two would be enough for the heart rate graph but not for sleep tracking.  That is why I recommended tightening it just in case.  

[TheMightyZeus]

@SunsetRunner Well I can't tighten it any further without causing physical pain, so if it can't track my heart rate the way it is, it's simply not sufficient.

[JDennis]

     I too bought the Ionic, mainly for tracking my sleep. I’ve only had my It for 8 days. It tracked my sleep the first night, rather lousily, and has not done so again sense. I’ve shut it down and restarted it several times. I’ve completely wiped it and reset it to factory settings and then set it up again. I’ve tried the charging method mentioned previously as well. And I’ve tried wearing it tight, medium and loosely.

     I just now noticed that it IS still showing my heart rate even though I took it off 15 mins ago.

     I’ve also noticed that my step count is extremely high when I wake up?! I don’t move very much in my sleep. According to my girlfriend, I might roll over 2 times in my sleep and I don’t fidget or anything either. I’m a very solid sleeper whereas she sleeps very lightly. 

     At this point, all the Ionic is to me is a very expensive Starbucks card! I love the look, fit and feel of the Ionic but if it doesn’t work, then it’s nothing more than a bracelet. 

     I would very much like to find a fix for this issue!

[DramaQueenDiva]

Have you tried loosening it at night then?

[JDennis]

In the last 8 days I have tried just about every notch on the band. From super tight to almost loose enough for it to spin on my wrist.

Jesse

[TheMightyZeus]

I believe it was a notch looser the first night. Any looser than that and
it slides around and I can see the green light for the heart rate tracker.

[JDennis]

So because I am irritated by this issue, I decided to go and buy a Charge2 and try it for sleep tracking yesterday. I set it up and put it on a couple of hours before I went to bed. It tracked my sleep just like it should! So I have to conclude that it is not user error in my case. 

[DramaQueenDiva]

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@TheMightyZeuswrote:
I believe it was a notch looser the first night. Any looser than that and
it slides around and I can see the green light for the heart rate tracker.

---

I may have asked this already, so forgive me if I did, but how is the battery level on your device?  Critically low batteries will not register Sleep Stages.

[JDennis]

Full battery. 

I spent some time with customer service this morning about this issue. One thing of note is that there is a new version of the Apple app as of 3 hours ago. I uninstalled the app off of my phone and reinstalled the new version. After that, I restarted the Ionic by holding down the left and lower right buttons for 30 seconds. We will see what happens tonight and I will update you all tomorrow. 

[Canucklecabeza]

New to Fitbit™, just 10 days or so. The first 3-4 days, I was fascinated by the sleep stages data. Then the data stopped appearing. Last night, it said I slept 11PM to 7AM, which (not only missing the sleep stage data but also) is wrong. I was awake, working on taxes and other mundane tasks from 3:30 to 7, and then slept again from 7 to 8AM!

I did change some settings. But surely turning on "Run Detect" shouldn't turn off sleep tracking!

[JDennis]

Nothing has worked so far. Tech support is pretty useless and have been telling to switch this or that over and over with no effect. I think it’s time to give up on the Ionic and just get my money back while I still can from where I bought it. 

[SunsetRunner]

My husband is having the same type of issue.  He got his New Ionic a week ago and it’s only tracking sleep after midnight but he goes to bed around 9 pm.

[Canucklecabeza]

You have to wonder about the accuracy of sleep tracking when the Fitbit is only capable of sensing movement and heart rate. Last night I was awake from about 0422 to 0700, reading, but the Ionic says I slept from 0454 to 0754 with only one significant awake interval.