Ionic sync issues

[Propagandian]

At this stage getting the device to sync requires more effort than actual exercise. You have to keep restarting bluetooth and pressing the sync button to hope against all odds that a connection can be made for just a few seconds. This is a problem that seems to have gotten worse over time instead of better.

Now, I'm not going to ask if there is a fix, because many have the same problem, and having me follow the troubleshooting list, or having me forcibly restart the device, or having its battery run out is simply not the answer. After over a year of this being an issue it's obvious that this is a flaw on Fitbit's side and not the user's. It's clear the Ionic doesn't function as required.

Instead, I want to ask if this is a general problem across newer Fitbit devices? I own a Flex 2 and it doesn't have this issue, but does something like the Charge 3 have better performance, or should I just cut my losses and move to another platform?

Moderator edit: edited title for clarity

[SunsetRunner]

All the issues with sync for me started happening after last update of firmware. Now it is a daily chore to sync the device. I jump through all the hoops you mentioned ( including force stop of Fitbit app ) and there is a chance it will sync. I used to sync quite often and now I just don't bother. Once a day or even two. Failed sync doesn't even report an error. I found out some time ago that it may be related to the BT connection as the app keeps throwing "device is busy" in android logs but that doesn't help if there is no fix from Fitbit side. I lost any confidence in Fitbit and moved to another platform but kept the device as supporting one.

Edit: 2 hours after writing this ( when my last sync happened ) workout done, can't sync again. Will try again maybe tomorrow.

[Rich_Laue]

Most of the sync problems have been with the latest app updates, may I ask people to include their phone model or if they sync through some type of computer?

Yes we know Android has had problems, but yesterday's update is working a lot better for me, with only needing a restart of Bluetooth a couple of times. It still seems to take forever with a forced sync.

[SunsetRunner]

@Rich_Laue  "yesterday's update is working a lot better for me, with only needing a restart of Bluetooth a couple of times" - I'm dreading asking how bad it was before the update 😄

I use Samsung Galaxy S8+ with the latest app ( automatic updates on ) and sync only with the app. I managed to sync again today after a few hours from replying here. Force stopped the app, unpaired device, off/on BT, restart watch - repeated several times and somehow it kicked in ( like you say, very slowly ). This is something I have to do daily if I want to sync. I sync a lot less because don't want to waste my time.

[Rich_Laue]

Since Fitbit embeds it's drivers into the OS if an update gives me problems, my steps are.

Remove app

Restart phone

Install a fresh copy of Fitbit

[Longbow52]

Having the same problem, my ionic refused to sync on desktop computer on Windows 10. Had no trouble for a year then latest fitbit update watch will not sync.

[SunsetRunner]

@Rich_Laue tried that but since it doesn't solve the issue permanently I find it to be an overkill solution. The workaround I do does work for me sometimes but it's not something that should be considered "normal". I can really pinpoint the beginning of the problem for me - last FW update. Syncing Ionic was one of the not many things I never had to complain about and the update took it away. Before, there were sync issues occurring so sporadically that I never considered them to be a problem. Now, syncing with jumping all the possible hoops is a daily necessity. It may be "normal" in the Fitbit world but it isn't in mine. I just want to trigger syncing and get it done. My wife's Charge 2 doesn't have this problem. Every morning she likes to compare our sleep stats and I can't tell her mine because I can't sync 😄 Ridiculous 😄

[Propagandian]

If I were to include the device through which I sync would there be any expected improvement in the near future? I somehow doubt a problem that plagues so many across various devices would become a phone specific thing, especially given bluetooth follows a global standard. I also doubt any level of QA done wouldn't have caught this.

For what it's worth, I tried syncing it on the Windows 10 app as well as the Fitbit mobile app for Android on the LG G7 ThinQ. The last sync was Monday and my mobile app updates 20 or so hours ago, so the problem spans across app versions.

It should also be noted that my phone's bluetooth doesn't belong solely to Fitbit. There are a myriad of devices using it and having Fitbit restart it a 'couple of times' each day interferes with other services. Other services which just so happen to not have any problem at all. I'm therefore extremely reluctant to just restart bluetooth because Fitbit.

[Rich_Laue]

Certain phones are known to have problems, some phones are known to install and sync fine but notifications have a problem. One phone works great but will not setup a tracker.

When it comes to the different operating systems, there are not common steps that users have discovered to work on one OS but not the other.

That is the one reason I ask, I can give all kinds of steps that have helped Android users but know very little about iOS and even less about windows .

If you are reluctant to turn Bluetooth off/on then restart the phone, better yet shut the phone down..

Normally simply clearing the Fitbit apps cache was enough for me. With the app updated this year I've had to delete the Fitbit app data and restart the phone . Sometimes shut the phone down and restart.

Yesterdays Fitbit Android update seems to work better..

[warren52nz]

My Ionic has trouble synching.  Sometimes takes all day and never less than about 15 minutes (and that's rare!).  I sync with a Samsung S7.  Have tried "forgetting" the bluetooth device and re-pairing it and rebooting the watch.  Doesn't seem to help.

I have noticed that if I try to use the Ionic while its supposedly synching, it responds VERY slowly or not at all to display the screen or scroll through options.  Seems like it's busy as others reported. Maybe that's your clue for a fix.
Yesterday I enabled "All-Day Sync" and now after trying to manually sync it for the past half hour it still has a "last synched" tag of 2 days ago.

By the way it sends out music on bluetooth OK so the BT is working.

[Rich_Laue]

Music users the standard BT @warren52nz  the ionic since through BTLE, they are different.

Have you updated the Fitbit app, update was released two days ago, and it is the first Fitbit app update that has worked for me this year. Your experience may be different since you most likely have a different phone with different apps installed.

[Longbow52]

Yes, it was the update which buggered the sync. Managed to sync last night
by switching the ionic watch off then back on. Just a pain.

[Jeff.B]

Yep. Just want to add that I've been having these sync issues for the last two years since I got my Ionic. Extremely frustrating when I put my phone and ionic right next to each other and no matter what I do, it keeps coming back with

"Looking"

"Could not find Ionic"

My computer finds it just fine. This has happened across multiple phone models also. It's not me, fitbit. It's you.

What are you people going to do about fixing this?

[07vstrom]

I can tell you for sure that the Charge 3 is even WORSE! I tried 2 of them and they were absolutely rubbish. I moved to the ionic in the hope all the problems were sorted. Alas they are not and I'm taking this back too.

All these posts here saying that they 'gave up on syncing' or only do so infrequently. Isn't this part of the essence of having a 'smartwatch'? Or do people buy this as sort of a status item i.e "I bought a top of the line Fitbit, and I don't really care how or even if it works as advertised!!"

I wanted a watch I can use to track activity, analyse results, and receive notifications. As it stands, without being able to sync reliably, all it does is track activity (very inaccurately i might add). It's not really a 'smartwatch' at all is it? 

[Rich_Laue]

Maybe @07vstrom the common point is with the Fitbit app and not the model of the tracker.

The Fitbit app works wonderful for most people but a very few have been having many issues. This presents a nightmare for the developers who need to discover the common points of the phones that are having issues. In my case 4 people in my family have Galaxy S8's, I am one of the 4. The other three have less issues with every update. Really I have the same phone, different cell carrier so technically it is not the same phone. Up untill this year every update has been a smother experience. I have since rolled back to v2.85

[clly]

Yes usually you'd have to reset (turn off/on) the phone or watch to get it to sync. But lately it seems so only sync about once per week at bout midnight. Every so often it would show heart rate on the phone at the gym. But now I can't get it to sync. Yep, this can be more of a workout than the gym! If I want to remove the Ionic and reconnect I get to lose all my data stored on it. They need more than a spinning circle.  Something more intelligent so I can see if it is synchronizing or just displaying the word on the screen.  Three phones and three fitbits later and still the same issues.

This could be a really great device but I'm considering looking for a more reliable device that doesn't refuse to sync with location services off and then continue not to sync even with everything turned on.  I was using Garmin but two marathons and finding the expensive...well when I went to sync that it showed on the watch I had completed the Marathon but the data just disappeared between the marathon and sync.  Could you imagine running one with a Fitbit and when you went to sync the datat the resolving issue was to delete the fitbit, delete your data, and reconnect it? 

I think the best starting point is to remove the requirement to have location services on and not be required to be at your home wifi. I think it's locked to only sync when I'm at home and there's no setting to say it's ok to sync through cell phone service or the wifi at the gym.

So now do I lose all my data from this week or see if it will sync on its own later or after 5 years see if someone else has something better?

Why won't you just sync?! You show synchronizing but you aren't! Stop asking me to turn on location and why is that even a requirement and then you don't sync when it's on? And why only sync at home?! If this issue gets resolved and I change my wifi name...will I never be able to sync again or is the location service so I can only sync at home?

[Rich_Laue]

@clly  since you meeting location services, I'll assume you have an Android device, since this is the only OS that required location services to be enabled. Unfortunately this is a requirement of the Android OS and not Fitbit. Fitbit is simply letting the user know that location services need to be enabled.

Let's take a look at the Fitbit app. 

At the top to the right of the tracker, above the battery is a wireless icon. If this icon is flashing green, it means that the app is displaying love data from your tracker.

Now let's tap on the icon of your tracker, on the next page you will see the time of the last sync.

[clly]

The green flashing icon on the to doesn't seem to indicate data transfer (I think it just keeps the last settings) But with everything on it still has the same issues.

Decided to uninstall everything and factory reset:

Took a few times to connect (it would trigger to give the 4 digit pin but have issues connecting)

Then it showed an update. Tried to update and saw the progression on the screen. Then it stopped.  Now the screen is blank and no flashing green on the back from the HR monitor.

No left button lower right button holds will reset it. And there is no fitbit icon when trying to reset. It's like it's dead and it had a full charge. 

Have had sync issues with an S5, S6+, S8+, two Surges and this Ionic. Even with all the options on.  Before I had noticed, you could force it to sync if you changed a parameters like the exercises or turned on/off a feature.

I'm almost wondering if there is any truth to electronics sold through AAFES are factory rejects or the substandard product line items.

If I have to purchase a new watch then I might have to find something more reliable now that others now have the built in heart rate monitors. Not sure why this app requires a separate wifi connection and location service. I would probably look at the app compiler used because other apps don't require this.

[07vstrom]

I'm not arguing @Rich_Laue that it is just the tracker. The app itself is a big part of the problem. The issue is that if a company says their device is compatible with a certain phone then it should be compatible! I have an S8 and the reality is that android is the most widely used phone OS in the world. The only thing that the device has to do is talk to my phone using Bt. No other Bt device I have, or have ever had, fails to connect to my phone as regularly as Fitbit. Given that without being able to connect reliably, much of what makes this device a 'smartphone' is null and void. You cannot separate the device from the app itself if you want to use it properly. 

[Rich_Laue]

No one said that in adding @07vstrom  so far the last two app updates 3 days ago and today are the only ones this year that show signs of singing. However I still have to occasionally clear cache to get the app to sync.

Today it synced 15 minutes before the app updated, the web version did update at the correct time.

@clly  the green flashing icon does not indicate data transfer, it is telling you that the Fitbit dashboard is acting as a remote display to your tracker.

Ok you did a factory reset, digging the hole deeper, did you remove the Ionic from your phones Bluetooth, failure top do so may peridot the app from setting up the Ionic, however you have gotten party this setup and in the process of an update.

I would start the update again. I'm not sure if your issuing wifi or bluetooth to update. Generally when wifi fails the app offers to switch to Bluetooth.

If Bluetooth then fails I suggest setting the ionic up again, this time skip the wifi setup and go straight to Bluetooth, not sure why but several have reported this to work.