Ionic losing connection to phone constantly

[jrobbins]

So I have a very short time frame of experience with the Ionic - 24 hours.  It has been a painful time with the Ionic not staying connected to my phone (Pixel XL running 8.0).  But during the past 24 hours I have had to restart or repair the ionic numerous times in order to get the watch to sync only to have it stop syncing within an hour or so.  I have reached out to support a couple of times and each time they have given me steps to get it connected - BUT that is not sustainable to do daily.

I cannot be the only one with this problem.  A quick search showed some steps to fix it which only work less than half of the time. 

I am trying to figure out at this time if it is software or hardware problems.....  I really like the watch and want to get mine working with no problems.  I had been using a One and there was never any issues with sync or connections to my phone.

Honestly not sure what I am expecting to get from this post - maybe someone else had the same issues that they fixed?

[jrobbins]

Well I went for 3 or 4 days with no problems and then, BAM!  Problems all day again today getting my Ionic to connect and sync. 

[RL7]

---

@jrobbins wrote:

Well I went for 3 or 4 days with no problems and then, BAM!  Problems all day again today getting my Ionic to connect and sync. 

---

This is exactly what happens to me even when I try the fixes mentioned here. They work temporarily and then I hit a reinforced brick wall. 

[SunsetRunner]

If you aren't posting your specs (pref in your signature or every time you post) what you are saying really isn't really helpful. Thanks

[JASpillane]

It's especially frustrating when you start running a 5K and realize about a mile in that the fitbit isn't syncing with the app. Happened to me yesterday a mile in on the treadmill, and I had to reboot the phone and get it to sync again to count towards my exercise days.

Fitbit Ionic, Samsung Galaxy S7

[jrobbins]

All info was in original post so is not really need in a forum signature for this post if you read everything prior. 

I get the need for posting what you are using, especially which OS.  But honestly what phone you are using should not matter as it is a single Android app and single iOS app.  I also get that different phones and different os versions have different needs, but that has been Android since day 1.  If it does not work correctly with certain phones/os versions fitbit should say that.

I can and will be the biggest fitbit cheerleader with the next guy/gal as I think it is a great watch and platform.  BUT they need to get it together with the Ionic and sync issues that seem to be plaguing a few people.

[tastyhouse]

Same problem with my Pixel XL.  Works for a while then randomly decides to stop sending alerts, syncing.  Good luck updating your watch face - I have to reboot my ionic and restart bluetooth if I ever want to do that.  In addition to that I get random notifications on my phone that my credit card has been removed from fibit pay - without me doing anything!  Sure enough when I tried to pay at the supermarket - I got a credit card error - android pay on my phone with the same card worked just fine.  This "smartwatch" is a buggy mess - returning mine tomorrow - its not worth the hassle. 

[SunsetRunner]

---

@tastyhouse wrote:

Same problem with my Pixel XL.  Works for a while then randomly decides to stop sending alerts, syncing.  Good luck updating your watch face - I have to reboot my ionic and restart bluetooth if I ever want to do that.  In addition to that I get random notifications on my phone that my credit card has been removed from fibit pay - without me doing anything!  Sure enough when I tried to pay at the supermarket - I got a credit card error - android pay on my phone with the same card worked just fine.  This "smartwatch" is a buggy mess - returning mine tomorrow - its not worth the hassle. 

---

Please read this thread from the beginning. When you come across my posts you will see some advice. I run a Google Pixel.

[tastyhouse]

---

@SunsetRunner wrote:

---

@tastyhouse wrote:

Same problem with my Pixel XL.  Works for a while then randomly decides to stop sending alerts, syncing.  Good luck updating your watch face - I have to reboot my ionic and restart bluetooth if I ever want to do that.  In addition to that I get random notifications on my phone that my credit card has been removed from fibit pay - without me doing anything!  Sure enough when I tried to pay at the supermarket - I got a credit card error - android pay on my phone with the same card worked just fine.  This "smartwatch" is a buggy mess - returning mine tomorrow - its not worth the hassle. 

---

Please read this thread from the beginning. When you come across my posts you will see some advice. I run a Google Pixel.

---

Okay so I tried disabling those two settings and miraculously the ionic is behaving exactly as I would hoped it would.  Clearly a software-related bug because the settings are supposed to do the exact opposite of what they are doing.  Hopefully it gets patched in a future update.  Thanks for the advice.

[SunsetRunner]

---

@tastyhouse wrote:

---

@SunsetRunner wrote:

---

@tastyhouse wrote:

Same problem with my Pixel XL.  Works for a while then randomly decides to stop sending alerts, syncing.  Good luck updating your watch face - I have to reboot my ionic and restart bluetooth if I ever want to do that.  In addition to that I get random notifications on my phone that my credit card has been removed from fibit pay - without me doing anything!  Sure enough when I tried to pay at the supermarket - I got a credit card error - android pay on my phone with the same card worked just fine.  This "smartwatch" is a buggy mess - returning mine tomorrow - its not worth the hassle. 

---

Please read this thread from the beginning. When you come across my posts you will see some advice. I run a Google Pixel.

---

Okay so I tried disabling those two settings and miraculously the ionic is behaving exactly as I would hoped it would.  Clearly a software-related bug because the settings are supposed to do the exact opposite of what they are doing.  Hopefully it gets patched in a future update.  Thanks for the advice.

---

I disagree that the settings are supposed to do the exact opposite. You still need to perform a manual sync in the app to get the latest info, and notifications have nothing to do with sync/still work immediately.

The settings when turned on are fairly useless because they waste battery but they should still work however (they don't). 

[tastyhouse]

Youre welcome to disagree, but if the two settings designed to improve syncing and connectivity degrade the ability of the ionic to sync with your phone id argue they do the opposite.  Either way, your info worked 100% effective

[SunsetRunner]

---

@tastyhouse wrote:

Youre welcome to disagree, but if the two settings designed to improve syncing and connectivity degrade the ability of the ionic to sync with your phone id argue they do the opposite.  Either way, your info worked 100% effective

---

No sync'ing takes place if both are off. You have to perform manual sync. That is by design and intended. It is not supposed to do the opposite of anything. It works.

Turning on all day sync does not improve performance or sync'ing It just schedules regular sync intervals. Fairly useless and wastes battery, unless you are constantly looking at the Fitbit app on your phone. This seems to screw up on Pixel phones maybe others.

Turning on all always connected could improve performance of sync'ing by 5 seconds or so as you don't have to wait for a connection, again though fairly useless and wastes battery. 

This seems to screw up on Pixel phones maybe others.

[SunsetRunner]

I have the same issues as everyone else. I am constantly having to restart my phone to get the notifications working again. I used to have the same issue with the blaze too and always just put up with restarting my phone after I notice notifications aren't working. Really annoying and frustrating. Im going to test what it's like with all day sync and always connected turned off as others have suggested but I dont have my hopes up much for this to work

Fitbit Ionic with HTC10 android 7.0

[SunsetRunner]

---

@SunsetRunner wrote:

Im going to test what it's like with all day sync and always connected turned off as others have suggested but I dont have my hopes up much for this to work

Fitbit Ionic with HTC10 android 7.0

---

Oh ye of little faith 😉

[emukingalator]

Same as others, however I'm on a Pixel 2 XL. I was on a Nexus 6P and running fine since Ionic launched with no issues. Switched phones and bam, got all these issues.

FitAlexS's recommendations were all that worked for me in getting my Ionic to sync at all, albeit manually as he/she stated. Thanks!

Hope Fitbit fixes this soon. Probably issues with newer BT tech or Android Oreo API's is my guess.

[jrobbins]

as the OP just thought I would revisit this.  While it is great that turning off all day sync and connected works for some folks - it does not work for me.

I have had all day sync and always connected off the last three days (including after rebooting watch and phone) and it has been a PITA to get my Ionic to sync.  Opening the app and trying to force it to sync has not worked.  For some reason the phone does not find my Ionic.  I end up having to turn my phones bluetooth off and back on, restarting my Ionic, or restarting my phone - sometimes multiple times each.  Sometimes to no avail.  

Still hoping for a fix in the near future!  Though I wonder if the Blaze had these same issues

[JASpillane]

I discovered by accident this week (we lost power and internet at home for a week) that the Ionic also hates to sync with the phone if there isn't any internet connection available to the app on the phone. When I was in WiFi or 4G it would sync fine, with the caveat mentioned above, but when I lost WiFi and had only 3g or less internet it would fail repeatedly to sync.

[emukingalator]

I would like to add to my information, on Pixel 2 XL, but I have also configured the Ionic as a "Trusted Device" for the Android OS. Can others report if they've also configured their devices as such to keep their phones unlocked?

I suspect that the two may be conflicting... where the Android OS wants to maintain connection to see if it should remain unlocked, and the Fitbit app wants to remain connected because of the all-day-sync and always-connected settings we desire to set in the Fitbit app.

[JASpillane]

Mine is configured as a trusted device as well. I don't think that causes a problem with syncing but I do notice sometimes the phone goes dark anyway, even though it's supposed to stay awake near the fitbit.

[SunsetRunner]

---

@emukingalator wrote:

I would like to add to my information, on Pixel 2 XL, but I have also configured the Ionic as a "Trusted Device" for the Android OS. Can others report if they've also configured their devices as such to keep their phones unlocked?

I suspect that the two may be conflicting... where the Android OS wants to maintain connection to see if it should remain unlocked, and the Fitbit app wants to remain connected because of the all-day-sync and always-connected settings we desire to set in the Fitbit app.

---

Trusted or non trusted device makes no difference. It's just the sync settings for me:

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Ionic/Turn-off-All-Day-Sync-amp-Always-Connected-by-default/td-p/227...

[jrobbins]

I do not have it set up as a trusted device. No trusted devices set up at all.