Ionic syncing issues

[nicnack]

I'm sure this has been covered before, but I have had my Ionic for 2 weeks now and still have troubles with syncing. Everyday. I open the app and will try to sync but it won't. I have to restart my watch, force stop the app, switch my bluetooth on and off a number of times before it will sync properly 😞 It usually takes around 15 minutes to get it to sync. Is there a way to fix this issue? It's starting to get frustrating. 

[Purnendu]

Good for you. Its better than daily wait on fitbit tech to take ownership. I am amazed they can do these to customers these days.

[RL7]

Thanks @Purnendu

I'm sure they wanted to get the product out for the holiday shopping season and came to the decision to release it in spite of its flaws. I'm sure it wasn't an easy decision for Fitbit to make. But the pressure was on from a business standpoint.  

We know these issues can be resolved by the Fitbit team, but when? The length of time may be a long one and it doesn't make sense to buy or hold onto an Ionic right now if you'e experiencing these issues.  Sometimes these fixes take a lot of time to address. Bottom line, it's not a fully functional product for many of us here. We can't be expected to overlook this as the days roll on and the window to return the device shrink.  

The silver lining in all of this is that Fitbit really does have best in class customer support so they will help out if you decide to return. That's

provided you ordered from them. I got mine from Best Buy and was able to return it outside of the return window for store credit.  

Hope everyone on this thread gets up and running with their Ionics soon. 

[Colinm39]

@RL7  I agree with you and we are only seeing those that take the time to help or ask for help.. Statistically all could appear reasonable from a business point of view.

I'm happy with the Ionic for what I do, and for a small fee, I paid for an extended warranty on my Ionic, mainly because of the outlay. Well worth it, and in all my years of using Fitbits I haven't had a technical failure and need to return.  Just occasional syncing on all models, and I have never worked out what fixed the issues over many App od Firmware upgrades..

I can understand why Fitbit don't/wont publish a list of fixes. With all of the variables out there they can't possible cover everything.  Think of it, 36 companies selling phones whether direct manufacture or badge engineered x Number of models for each supplier x Number of variables in the OS x Number of models Fitbits x poor reception..... Unthinkable, the permutations and Fitbitters like me have very few problems over 6+ years. Except GPS connect from the Blaze to the Android App in a East/West direction in the Southern Hemisphere.. So I only use the Surge and Ionic for comparisons now..

My only replacements were scratched glass on a Blaze and small band sent by mistake for the Surge, both replaced by Fitbit withing days, direct to Australia from the USA..

On signing off Ionic Battery 72% and phone 75%.. Hasn't missed a forced sync and notifications keep coming through..  Less than 30 seconds to fully sync from my various shopping and home visits..

A good run (sync) today,.

---

@RL7 wrote:

Thanks @Purnendu

I'm sure they wanted to get the product out for the holiday shopping season and came to the decision to release it in spite of its flaws. I'm sure it wasn't an easy decision for Fitbit to make. But the pressure was on from a business standpoint.  

We know these issues can be resolved by the Fitbit team, but when? The length of time may be a long one and it doesn't make sense to buy or hold onto an Ionic right now if you'e experiencing these issues.  Sometimes these fixes take a lot of time to address. Bottom line, it's not a fully functional product for many of us here. We can't be expected to overlook this as the days roll on and the window to return the device shrink.  

The silver lining in all of this is that Fitbit really does have best in class customer support so they will help out if you decide to return. That's

provided you ordered from them. I got mine from Best Buy and was able to return it outside of the return window for store credit.  

Hope everyone on this thread gets up and running with their Ionics soon. 

---

[RL7]

Sounds like you have it worked out as best as possible given the technical circumstances. Hope it keeps up until the official fix comes in. 30 seconds isn't bad at all. I'd call that supersonic compared to the two minutes or more (sometimes never) it took me to get everything linked up. 

In the past, I have experienced the minor hiccups with syncing. And, like your experiences, they always worked out.  This one, given my experience, feels more pervasive than what I've seen in the past.  Like it's a much deeper flaw than we've seen before. But I'm likely just being overly cautious.  

The Ionic is such a beautiful device to me at first glance. Everything I want is there, I just need it to work.   I also think it was one of the most comfortable watches I have ever worn to boot. 

Meanwhile my Flex 2, Charge 2 and Blaze seem more than up to the task in the interim. As you can see, I do love my Fitbits. But only when they function reliably.  

[Colinm39]

@RL7Thanks for getting back... We are on the same wave length.. I put up with the Surge for awhile but I could only wear it for non-activity. With my large wrists there was no breathing space on the sides and I would always get irritation.

Ironinally, with the incorrect order when Fitbit sent the small band model I used a band extender. That proved for my anatomy the issue was the fixed shape on the sides.  It opened the sides enough to stop the irritation..

Then along came the Blaze.. and now the Ionic which has been 24/7 for 6 weeks, never washed, never in the shower and no irritations.

Like you, the Ionic is sleek and is impressing many when I pay through that.. Nearly 200 touches now and only two failures..caused by data transmission and an unknown when the bank thought it was a "hot" card.. So every Pay has registered successfully.

Image showing enough air gap with the band extender on the Surge

[dan_x]

Found a temporal solution until getting my Ionic replaced. It reproduced 3 times - connect the ionic to the usb, leave the phone near it for 1 min in sync mode and it will sync. Hope that helps... try also boot restarting both the phone and the watch.

ionic, iPhone 7 Plus

[Ksmit99999]

Thanks! I’ll try that!

😎😎

Sent from my iPhone

[Colinm39]

I have not missed a sync all day and done in less than 30 seconds. Ionic battery 67%, phone battery 60%. I have already noticed less battery drain on both devices.

We are all trying to find answers so in my case it could have been the 21 Apps that updated yesterday.. Nothing related to the Android or Fitbit.

[Rachel09]

My Ionic is only connecting very occasionally to my Honor 6. It doesnt even work when I turn the bluetooth off and on. I've only had it since friday but will be taking it back unless I can get it to connect. Any tips?

[Colinm39]

Reporting in after an excellent sync day yesterday and on awakening.. Now in my home environment.

Ionic Battery 58%.  Phone off all night and charged. Phone battery at 97% after 6 minutes trying to sync. Red sync errors

Restarted Ionic.. Synced immediately and has synced whenever I go into the Fitbit App.

Final test before I post, opened the App an immediate sync

[MattFitbit]

@nicnack @Ksmit99999 Great to see you on the forums! 

I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for your feedback. 

If you haven't already done so, I recommend performing each of the steps detailed in this article, to get your Ionic syncing again. If you are still unable to sync, I also recommend performing a restart. 

Additionally, if you have any other trackers paired to your account, I would try removing them. This has helped some people to get their Ionic syncing again.

If you get stuck at any point, let me know where.

@DramaQueenDiva Thanks for the assist! 

[Ksmit99999]

Mine has synced now - when I left the hotel yesterday morning and logged into the office internet, my ionic synced immediately! The same happened with my husbands surge.

When I returned to the hotel in the evening it failed again.

First thing this morning once again synced when on WiFi outside hotel.

So my problem seems to have been the hotel internet!!

Yippee! Problem solved!!


Sent from my iPhone

[RL7]

That's awesome news!  Glad it was a simple fix for you. 

@Colinm39 my bank isn't supported yet by fitbit pay but I was really looking forward to using it. I hope they do eventually support it. 

I've seen a few people out and about purposeully adding an air gap with their surge by wearing with the band slightly raised (one person had a massive air gap) and all seemed happy with it.  That model was a beast and I was considerng it myself but I have smaller wrists and it just would have been too large for me. 

When the Ionic stuff is finally sorted out we can look back on these early issues and have a good laugh.  

One thing that can be said for certain on these forums, we are all pretty passionate about our Fitbit trackers.    

[SunsetRunner]

Mine has now finally connected as well, three and a half days after it stopped syncing and could not be added back to my account. 

Didn't do anything "new" to make it work, just continued the traditional steps. 

It was taking over 30 minutes after entering the four digit bluetooth code, so long that it would time out and say that the code I entered was incorrect because the Ionic had generated a new code. After timing out a couple of times, it connected to my account this morning.

[LwrHrtRt]

Unfortunately, I'm having the opposite problem today.  In the past, I was able to unpair, and then resetup as "replace Ionic", but today, I'm not able to get it to connect after the 4 digit code. I've tried at least 3x already this morning.  I hope FitBit gets this working reliably.

[Minesh13]

Unable to synchronize my fitbit iconic  

[LindaCompau]

Mine too!!!

[RL7]

I wonder if this is a server side issue at Fitbit as opposed to an issue with Bluetooth and the watch itself.  

[MattFitbit]

@Minesh13 Welcome to the community! 

@Ksmit99999 @SunsetRunner Great to hear that you were able to get your Ionic syncing again!

@LindaCompau @LwrHrtRt If you haven't already done so, I would recommend performing each of the troubleshooting steps that I posted, here. Let me know how it goes! 

[nicnack]

Well seems my workouts are syncing per normal now. Hopefully it stays that way - I've got a half marathon on Sunday and would hate to lose the data from that!! 

I have also just opened my app this morning, and for the first time since I purchased my watch, it synced straight away!