Ionic touch screen not working

[KajMikael]

My Fitbit Ionic touch screen stopped working this week. I have made factory reset but it still do not react to finger touch? Happy for hints solving this.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[MrAmbition]

Your comment about changing clock faces struck a chord with me.  I too had recently changed clock faces before the touch issue happened with my Ionic.  Of course, I made no connection at the time that changing the clock could have caused some malfunction to occur with the touch functionality. It's neither here nor there at this point.  Due to my fondness of the FitBit friends I've gained, I reluctantly purchased another Ionic.  If this Ionic dies prematurely, then it certainly will be my last.  I'm in the tech industry, and we regularly repair electronic devices.  Therefore, I exhibit extra care when maintaining my devices.  I would have no gripe at all if the watch failed due to my negligence.  However, that certainly wasn't the case.  FitBit should offer a better solution than the 25% credit they offer as if it's really a big help.  Ok, rant over 🙂

[SunsetRunner]

I make no claim to be a Fitbit expert or master of Ionic watches. I am a tinkerer, I have a hard time quitting on things. My touchscreen stopped working as well. I noticed mine stopped working after I let the watch completely die. I plugged it in and let it charge back to 100%. When I turned it back on it was very hard to use the touch screen. Sometimes I could get it to work but other times I was not able to make it select items on screen. I tried my finger, my daughters fingers and my wife's fingers and sometimes it would work.

I had no other issues with the watch working. Screen was bright, all buttons worked, sync with phone. I could change desktop clocks but that did not help turn back on the touchscreen, I also rebooted the watch many times using the back and lower right buttons. That would reboot the watch but not kick start the touch screen.

I tried everything I could do with the mobile app and connecting to my watch but nothing would get the touch screen working. I did not disconnect my watch from my account and reconnect. I did not try to change my wifi connection or bluetooth connection from my phone.

What I did do that brought the touchscreen back was. I connected my watch via fitbit ionic charge cable to my PC, I opened the fitbit desktop app on Win 10  that allows for connection to transfer music files. I honestly did not do anything in the app. I then tried my touchscreen and it was active again.

Now all of these items I did in a relative short amount of time. I managed to change my clock face 7 times in the matter of 4 minutes and nothing appeared to make the touch screen work but maybe my efforts resulted in a delayed effect. I don't know. However once my touchscreen was working again I have noticed that some clock faces are making the watch less responsive and it does not seem to be a simple versus complex screen design.

[oleg2020]

Hey there, I had a similar issue.  Although ionic is supposed to be waterproof, moisture builds up under the screen after long exposure to a wet environment.  Moisture buildup messes with the touchscreen function, and it stops working.  I found a simple solution; remove the arm bends and place your Fitbit in a cup filled with uncooked rice for a few days.  Rice absorbers the moisture, and after several days in a cup filled with rice, my Fitbit was back to normal and works how it is supposed to. Hopefully, this works for you.

[Pallava]

I can't see anything on my screen and it doesn't respond to touch. It syncs but some sensor isn't working as I don't see sleep stages. What can I do? Is there water damage and sensor damage at the rear?

[Rene0031]

Fitbit has a frustration guarantee policy.

You are right mine is not working touch screen not working , i never buy a fitbit again

[MrAmbition]

Rene0031, I agree with you 100%.  Since they obviously have a multitudinous amount of issues with their watches, they could at least have some reasonable repair or exchange program available.  I literally know dozens (no exaggeration) of former Fitbit customers who've since gone to other brands.  I'm on my last Ionic.  When this goes, so too will I.  Happy hunting, and good luck!

Pallava, you pretty much can just buy a brand new one.  That is, if you listen to the advice of Fitbit 

  I purchased a brand new Ionic on eBay.  It was brand new and still sealed in the factory box.  I paid around $120.00 for it.  I refused to purchase a new one from Fitbit with their measly little 25% discount offer.  I found that to be insulting.  It'd be different if I had some how damaged the watch from abuse or negligence, but that simply wasn't the case.  I'm on my last Ionic.  When it manufacturer defects on me, I'm switching to another brand.  Most likely it'll be Samsung.  I am slightly holding out hope that support will get better at Fitbit in the future since they're now owned by Google.  The fact that people are still complaining about the same lack of decent customer service, doesn't give much promise to that hope, however. 

Moderator edit: merged reply

[Rene0031]

Thank you so match for your honnest reply ,good luck !

[SniffNY]

A lot of good info SunsetRunner.  I had many of the same problems everybody else had.  I ended up doing a factory reset.  I also had to unpair some of my other unrelated devices (e.g. my cyclometer) in order for my Ionic to successfully download and install the latest software release.  I left it with the default clock face and it is now much more responsive.  I am slowly adding back apps and settings to make sure nothing is affecting responsiveness.  I'll try adding back my favorite clock face but I suspect it is a big culprit.

[JRW661]

I couldn't agree more.  Totally unacceptable.

[Ol1v1er]

I think you are right, mine started to show problem after going in the sea. It had been trouble free for 2.5 years. I suspect the gaskets have started to dry a bit: I was in the sun for some time, so the ionic got warm and probably the air inside expanded and "leaked" out, when I went in the sea, the watch cooled down creating underpressure and sucking in water. After that the touchscreen became less and less responsive and the ionic lost charge much quicker than usual, and sometimes the LEDs in the back stayed on even off my wrist. After reading your comment I put it in a plastic bag with uncooked rice in the sun, and after a day, there was condensation in the bag. I took the ionic out, charged it, and it has been working as normal again. I did a switch off/on procedure as recommended, and it felt a bit snappier after that too (touchscreen recalibration?). This has only been a week so I am still cautious about declaring it fully restored, salt water and electronics don't mix well, so it might still fail eventually, but for now it works.

[LiliyaFitbit]

Welcome to the Fitbit Community, @Ol1v1er.

I appreciate your participation in the Forums and sharing your experience and solution as this information may help other members in the same situation. Thank you for your troubleshooting efforts. I am glad to hear that your watch is working, I hope you continue enjoying the Fitbit experience and working on your goals. 

In case you have some spare time, I would like to invite you to visit our Discussions board where you can make new friends and create new topics.

Have a good weekend.

[Ol1v1er]

...And it's dead. So it did not take long, following last post I tried to dry the watch further, putting it on a gentle heat source, which made condensation appear on the señor windows (so it was still full of water). I tried to dry it even more, alternating between hot air from a fan and ambient temp, however the condensation never disappeared. The ionic finally gave up within 24h, erratic sensor readings, and yesterday black screen, not charging, not turning on. I liked the ionic as long I had it working. The performance is slightly outdated compared to other smartwatches of 2021, so I might go for something else, but I will miss the very distinctive design and possibly great battery life.

[LiliyaFitbit]

Thank you for the update, @Ol1v1er.

I am sorry to hear you are going through this situation. I understand how you are feeling and appreciate your feedback. The best way to get help for this problem is to chat with our Support team online or give them a call. They will evaluate your device's behavior and help you with this matter. Click here to get connected. 

See you around.

[intermilan]

what? the poster said "touch screen did not work", yet you solution is to "turn off the device"? How can you do that w/o touch screen?

[LiliyaFitbit]

It’s good to see you in the community, @intermilan.

Thank you for joining the thread and sharing your feedback as it helps us to keep improving. I was able to see that you have already contacted our Support team and that they were able to assist you. Thank you for your time and efforts.

Have a good day.

[sickofthis2]

You told someone who's screen touch is not working to restart his Ionic. To do that you have to go to settings on the watch. How can you go to settings if the screen touch is not working?

A bit of a conundrum!!