Music stops playing when Ionic loses Bluetooth

[Shaunfuller1982]

I always wear my Ionic.  When I play music from my phone to an external Bluetooth speaker, if I move to far from my phone where my Ionic may lose connection to my phone, it pauses the on my external speaker, very annoying as the music pauses everytime I leave the room! 

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[MarreFitbit]

Welcome to the Fitbit Community @Shaunfuller1982, hope you're doing great today! As the title of your topic says, it sounds possibly like a Bluetooth conflict. I'm assuming you’ve got your headphones paired with your phone as well. Try turning off Bluetooth on your phone while listening to music on the Ionic, or any other device the headphones might be paired with.

This just happened to me once. My headphones were paired with my phone as well as my watch. I was running out of the zone for my phone. Not so much an Ionic issue, as the way my headphones handle loosing connection to a device. I've removed the pairing to my phone and now it's all good again. 

If the issue persists, there is a workaround that has helped other users. Please follow these steps:

• Restart your Ionic.
• Unpair the headphones.
• Pair them back again.

Let me know how it goes! 

[Shaunfuller1982]

Just to be clear I am listening to music from my phone the the Bluetooth device, a bose SoundLink, so unpairing that device is not an option.  I do not stream music from my watch...

[MarreFitbit]

Thanks for the clarification @Shaunfuller1982! For more information about connecting Bluetooth audio devices to your watch, see How do I connect Bluetooth audio devices to my Fitbit watch?

If your phone is managing multiple Bluetooth connections simultaneously:

• Your Fitbit device might stop syncing or stop receiving notifications.
• You can experience interruptions with any consistently streaming Bluetooth connection such as headsets, car kits, stereo audio, tethering, and file transfers.

These interruptions are typically caused by operating system and Bluetooth limitations. It's also possible that an app on your phone is causing the issue.

If you have an Android phone, try these steps:

1. Turn off the Always Connected option in the Fitbit app.
2. Disable other Bluetooth connections when not in use.
3. Check to see if your phone has an app compatible with Ford Motor Company's voice control system. If so, disable Bluetooth on the app if possible or uninstall it.

   The API used in these apps makes it difficult for Fitbit to communicate reliably with your phone. Ford provides a list of apps but note that other companies may use the API as well.

Hope this helps! 

[Rich_Laue]

@MarreFitbit if I'm reading @Shaunfuller1982 correctly 

Music is playing correctly from the phone to the external bluetooth speaker. 

When the Ionic moves to far away from the phone the music on the phone pauses. 

Sorry @Shaunfuller1982. it would be very helpful to know which type of phone is acting up .

Do you have the ionic music controls paired to the phone? IE: ionic Classic of the phone is not IOS? 

[Shaunfuller1982]

It's a pixel 2 XL -. Seems to only be happening when playing the siriusXm App.  When I uninstalled the Fitbit app, everything works perfectly.  

[Rich_Laue]

Do you have the ionic Classic paired to your phone? 

[Shaunfuller1982]

It isn't on if that is what you are asking.

[MarreFitbit]

Thanks for giving me a hand on this @Rich_Laue!  

The Google Pixel 2 XL is not included in the list of supported devices. Which means that our Android team has not yet tested them for compatibility and added them to the list what means that we don't have a estimated date on when they will be added. If the device supports BLE (AKA Bluetooth 4.0), that would be an explanation of why you could be able to setup and sync your Ionic with the Pixel 2 XL. 

However, I'd like to mention, that when a device is not supported we cannot guarantee its functionality with the Fitbit app. It might work at a certain time and then it can stop working out of nowhere after an update. This is because the app is not optimized to that device and any change could impact the performance. 

So, just to check what my friend @Rich_Laue said in regards to the Bluetooth on your Ionic. Open the Settings app on your watch > Bluetooth > Pair/On/Off and make sure it's off. Once you've made sure about this try listing to your music and let us know if the issue persists. 

Catch you later! 

[Shaunfuller1982]

Very interesting that one of the newest and best Android devices wouldn't be on the list...

I have the Bluetooth off on my watch as you instructed, still same result.  Very frustrating.

[Rich_Laue]

I'm not sure what is all required in the cerrafacation of a phone. but I Iknow it takes time to run the tests. So yes it is not uncommon for a new phone not to be on the list.