Not Able to Sync Ionic

[tppt]

I have had my ionic for a week tomorrow. Still have not been able to sync it properly and use it. I have talked  to the customer service team multiple times and spent hours trying to trouble shoot with them.

It takes about 2 hours to get it set up. It syncs for about 5 minutes and then disconnects. It then goes back and forth from looking and syncing but never connects.

How long do we need to wait before this gets fixed or they can give some update. I have tried all the trouble shooting including factory reset, etc. Very frustraing.

Moderator Edit: Updated Subject for Clarity

[ScottKilbo]

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I agree they should own up to the issues.  but the big question is when the heck are they going to fix it.

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They're super-unlikely to admit there's an  issue, because as soon as they do, there's a "fault problem".

What if they gave everyone Bluetooth dongles, and a special-rate Pandora deal (pure speculation), and say most aren't happy with that, as a "solution".

If it's in s/w or "fixable f/w" (things like chipsets aren't easily fixable), they'll probably patch things up, eventually, and then move on, from whatever marginal component(s) are the biggest part of the problem, for the next devices.  If it's not, well...

I really liked my Ionic, but I returned it, because when the Bluetooth issues were present, they were bad, early 2000's bad, IMO.  I don't think my Charge2 has failed to sync even once, since I put it back on.

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I have one of the Bluetooth dongles from my Fitbit one. Perhaps the tech in it is a bit old, but it doesn't do any better than my phone. This thing does not want to sync. 

I have a ton ton of experience with Fitbit, as I have been using their products since the first one. They've gone from a small company that cares about its customers to what they are today. My first Fitbit broke after a couple of years and I contacted them to ask if they had any suggestions. They sent me a new one without my asking. By the time the surge came out, different company. That watch had a number of problems, including the non user replaceable strap peeling from the body after only a few months. It is a widely known flaw that they never admitted to. That thing should have been recalled. They replaced them until the one year warranty was done. Then they offered 50 bucks off of another Fitbit product. My wife had three replacements. In the interest of full disclosure, the third replacement was just after her year was up, but I had to work at it. I speculate that somewhere around the time that they agreed to replace it, they'd decided to completely discontinue it in favor of the Ionic. 

I expect that that they will never admit to the Ionic's problems and will keep happily collecting money and leave us with barely functioning devices. I suppose that trusting them yet again makes me a bit dense. 

[SantiR]

Hello everyone! I hope you're all doing well! Thanks for your continued comments and feedback on this thread.

Yesterday, the new Fitbit Ionic firmware update begun to roll out! I recommend updating it as soon as you get the update! Please check this post for more details about the new OS version for Ionic. This should definitely help you out with this. 

Thanks for your patience. Keep me posted!

[johntoon]

The new firmware makes bugger all difference to the syncing issues. I got the Ionic on Friday and it synced for about 2 hours and then quit. I then spent most of the weekend trying all the troubleshooting - which makes no real difference, other than I did manage to sync once!

Upgraded to the new firmware this morning and still nothing on the sync/notifications to my phone.

My first experience of Fitbit after friends have raved about them and probably going to return 😞

HTC 10 - Android 8.0

[DIKKE]

In the fixed ''issues'' i see nothing about the not working ''notification '' part? not even a ''known issues'' section.

Since that is the most crucial and basic function of a smart watch? I seriously do not understand why this problem does not get solved *first*, or that FB does not give some sort of explanation about this issue?

Will it ever be solved with the current hardware?

[PeteG-1]

Yeah, @DIKKE I had the same thinking, newer LE API sets, probably only tested on a handful of client devices, if that, tough to get a good "cross section".

My 5.0 chipset was a disaster with the Ionic, I could maybe get it to sync 10% of the time, if that.  My phone was better (4.1), but not by much, maybe 30-40%, certainly not "reliable", in my book.

It's 2018, anything less than 95% is crazy; I was just looking back through my events, and I've had one stack error, syncing my Charge2, in the past 2 weeks.

I sort of think there will be an Ionic2 as well, but I'm wondering how they're going to "frame" things, exactly.  It has to be done in such a way as it's seen as an actual feature-set change, if you ask me, or it just looks like a "fix", which I'm sure they want to avoid.

[PeteG-1]

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In the fixed ''issues'' i see nothing about the not working ''notification '' part? not even a ''known issues'' section.

Since that is the most crucial and basic function of a smart watch? I seriously do not understand why this problem does not get solved *first*, or that FB does not give some sort of explanation about this issue?

Will it ever be solved with the current hardware?

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It's a qualified "maybe".  

In other words, it comes down to where it's busted, see my earlier post.

Even if it's because they're using new BLE functions, this could be a pretty big architecture change, and would have to sync in both the watch and apps, so not an easy "field fix" (there might be some "brick" potential, if you ask me).

If it's just some coding errors (this is starting to seem pretty unlikely), then it should be fixed sooner, or already really.  

I don't use notifications, never really intended to use them on my Ionic, I more wanted to screen/app functionality, myself.  I wonder how reliable they are, on their other BLE devices, such as my Charge2, Blaze, whatever, do they work well on those?

If so, then the app s/w issue is sort of answered, their logic should be solid there, unless they "re-wrote" it, specifically for the Ionic, for some strange reason (again, could tie to the newer APIs, they do restrict number of packets and such).

At that point, it's anyone's guess, as you can see, because there are several moving (code/logic/firmware) parts here, and FB isn't exactly being transparent about any of it...

[DIKKE]

@Pete_G

"I don't use notifications, never really intended to use them on my Ionic, I more wanted to screen/app functionality, myself.  I wonder how reliable they are, on their other BLE devices, such as my Charge2, Blaze, whatever, do they work well on those?""

I have about 4 smartwatches here, from pepple to some ( no other fitbit ) chinese cheapo stuff, and yes, all notifications work. Remember, the first Smartwatches only had notifications, and some simple command functions. All the rest came later. I also used these on several phones, from starting with Android 4.x.

So when FB came  ( 3 months AFTER release ) with a phone compatible list, i knew this had something to do with the current FB ionic hardware.  After reading your story, i tried to connect the Ionic with a intel Nuc. Same issues. It does connect, but the rest is a drama. It's not the master ( your phone/pc ) it is the slave that is the problem, the ionic.

[PeteG-1]

Yeah, that's the reason I never had a smartwatch, at least until the Ionic, it had the right combination of features that made "sense" for me, before the Ionic (still not my ideal set, but closer).

I worked on some speech design stuff for awhile, and played with some watches then, but I was always more frustrated than anything else, but this was a few years back, the landscape has matured a lot since then.  

I tend to think you're right on the Ionic, it's mostly the client side, although it could be some issues with the master-sync code too, say if it's newly implemented functions and such, it could even be due to some bad stack-driver implementations (you can usually rule these out by rolling back to the standard MS Windows driver, if it works with your master device).

I want a "real smartwatch" eventually, but probably after we move into a newer battery chemistry, so I can have LTE and the whole works, and still get a few days out of it.  The "always charging" thing drives me a bit nuts, and if I have to have my phone nearby to use my watch, I struggle to see the point, but really it's personal perspective. 

[Sunsetrunner154]

My Ionic when I got through the reboot it syncs for maybe 2 weeks and then drops out I have done a Factory Reset but am totally over it. 

[Bos10]

have you gotten anything about fixing the connection issue? I'm dealing with the same thing too with no resolution. The only way I can talk to them is through tweeter, and no help from them. They just keep telling me when it was synced last, and then send me a link to troubleshoot from their website. 

[Sunsetrunner154]

The same response as you get

Sent from Robyn Nast/Hinchcliffe

[pointy101]

I reached out to Fitbit on twitter,despite working fine for 2 months ,they say my sync issues are due to my device not being on the supported list !!.I pointed out iPhones and Samsung's etc are  having same sync issues , surely they are on supported list !!!!!!

Complete cop out from Fitbit ,the update has broken sync .Never again ,4 devices in the house ,all will be change to another brand when replacing ,and ionic going on eBay 

[ScottKilbo]

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@pointy101wrote:

I reached out to Fitbit on twitter,despite working fine for 2 months ,they say my sync issues are due to my device not being on the supported list !!.I pointed out iPhones and Samsung's etc are  having same sync issues , surely they are on supported list !!!!!!

Complete cop out from Fitbit ,the update has broken sync .Never again ,4 devices in the house ,all will be change to another brand when replacing ,and ionic going on eBay 

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Unfortunately, these are the only responses that we will ever get.  I don't know if it's a flawed device or flawed software, but I can only get it to sync about 1% of the time that I try.  Sometimes it'll sync on its own.  I've tried all of the troubleshooting steps and workaround many times and they either don't work, or they work for only a very limited amount of time.  Even if they worked flawlessly for a while, they're not permanent fixes and should not be relied on.  We paid a lot of money for this watch and we deserve a working device.  This is absolutely ridiculous.  I hope that if it is a flawed device, they will admit to it and recall it.  Given past history with their flawed devices, I expect that they won't even admit to the flaw and we'll be left with our barely functional, expensive trackers.  You'd think that I would have learned by now that I shouldn't trust them.  I guess I have a pretty flat learning curve.

It's a shame.  I like the actual device.  The screen is large enough to read, and it seems reasonably accurate for what it is, but this syncing thing is awful.

[SunsetRunner]

this may or may not help people but I was having sync issues and had come here to look for a solution when I found out what my issue was.

Somehow (and I don't remember doing it) the Ionic had paired to both my Surface and my PC (as well as my phone obviously). 

Those other devices always seemed to be more important to it than the phone. If my Surface was on or even just charging, the app on the phone would never sync. I turned off Bluetooth on the Surface and it started syncing. I've now unpaired it from the Surface and it seems to be working fine (although I not sure if it'll pair itself automatically at some point)

[Sunsetrunner154]

Thank you so much for that information which I can understand could be the case but it isn’t. That is one of the questions that Fitbit support asked along with lots of others. I am still jumping through hoops for them. With so many people having problems I do think it must be a software/hardware problem and Fitbit need to take responsibility. I think I will be doing a warranty claim with mine.

Sent from Robyn Nast/Hinchcliffe

[Tonylc]

I just got my Ionic today for my birthday  and it took 6 hours to set up   Now it will not sync up.  I don' want to reinstall since it took  6 hours to get it this far.  I have restarted watch and phone many times   Is it just defective?  This is my third  fitbit, but first onic.  I had to send another one back with issues last year.  Thoughs? 

[Joes1962]

Updated to the latest firmware about a week ago and still having the same sync issues. 😞

iPhone 6, running the latest Fitbit app. 90% of the time it goes back and forth between connected and not connected. Notifications are not 100%. Syncing data works but only if I turn on Bluetooth search on the Ionic. 

I really like the Ionic itself but this syncing stuff has been a huge hassle since I got it back at Christmas. I really wish Fitbit would get this sorted out, I’m running out of patience and the Apple Watch is looking better every day. 

[ScottKilbo]

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@Joes1962wrote:

Updated to the latest firmware about a week ago and still having the same sync issues. 😞

iPhone 6, running the latest Fitbit app. 90% of the time it goes back and forth between connected and not connected. Notifications are not 100%. Syncing data works but only if I turn on Bluetooth search on the Ionic. 

I really like the Ionic itself but this syncing stuff has been a huge hassle since I got it back at Christmas. I really wish Fitbit would get this sorted out, I’m running out of patience and the Apple Watch is looking better every day. 

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I too updated the firmware.  I'm not sure what it was supposed to fix, but it didn't fix the syncing issues.  It is functioning exactly the same as it did before the update.

They're fine with you going to an Apple watch.  They already have your money for the Fitbit that you have.  If you move on to an Apple watch, you'll be one less person complaining to them about a barely functioning $250 watch.

[Sunsetrunner154]

Yes agree. They have just told me how to restart the watch and then all my troubles would be over. Told Fitbit Support I know if I restart the watch all would be ok for about two weeks until it stops syncing again.

Told them I would like it to stay synced for a year or more. In Australia I paid $450 for it and I want it to do what it is advertised to do. It seems a lot of people are dissatisfied.

Sent from Robyn Nast/Hinchcliffe

[ScottKilbo]

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@Sunsetrunner154wrote:
Yes agree. They have just told me how to restart the watch and then all my troubles would be over. Told Fitbit Support I know if I restart the watch all would be ok for about two weeks until it stops syncing again.

Told them I would like it to stay synced for a year or more. In Australia I paid $450 for it and I want it to do what it is advertised to do. It seems a lot of people are dissatisfied.

Sent from Robyn Nast/Hinchcliffe

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Yea.  Every day, it's a challenge to even get it to sync once.  I'm very dissatisfied with it.  If they'd fix the syncing, I'd love it.  These sync issues really kill my enthusiasm for it.