Read this for BT sync / notifications issues

[GTPune]

I have had Ionic for approximately 3 weeks now and TBH I am not a happy customer. I have had many issues BUT for BT connectivity to phone (sync and notification), I have an interesting observation to share.

I use Ionic with Soundpeats QY7 headphones while running and I have had great experience. BT connectivity to these headphones is rock solid, even better than their performance with my phone. I have another set (Samsung Level U) that I primarily use with my phone at work and honestly I am afraid to pair them with Ionic. I am worried that it may break my QY7 experience.

But this is not the interesting part. Interesting part starts now. I have Ionic paired with my phone for synching and notifications and so far I have had ok experience. Sync had been largely stable, notifications were being delivered but yesterday things went haywire. Sync started failing and notifications were either arriving late to watch or not arriving at all. As per normal Ionic troubleshooting practice, restarted the phone a couple of times and watch couple of times but no luck. My first suspicion was the Android app upgrade that was released last week. I was sure it had messed up the BT link. Then a light bulb went on in my head. See, so far while I was using watch with my phone, I also had my Samsung Level U connected to my phone but yesterday I forgot headphones at home. I know it sounds absurd that watch connection had anything to headphones connection but long before I bought Ionic, I had noticed another quirk with my phone. When I connect my phone to my car’s BT just as phone, the connection breaks in 5-10 min but if my phone is connected to car as both phone and audio device, connection remains stable. I always thought it was a problem with my car's BT, not the phone but yesterday I started wondering if it was my phone, not the watch and car. So I went to my car (as I did not have my headphones with me), connected phone to car and voila, my watch connection to phone became stable! Both sync and notifications started working fine. Today I have my headphones with me and everything is normal.

I know it's absurd but it looks like my phone (Moto G5+, Android 7), needs an active audio BT connection to maintain other types of BT connections in a stable way. So if you are having sync/notifications issue, see if  connecting a headphone or speaker improves the situation for you. It may be your phone not the watch.

Disclaimer: Like everything else I posted on this site in last three weeks, these are just observations/experiences. No guarantee these will work for you.

[SantiR]

@GTPune I hope you're doing well! Thank you so much for sharing your experience with Ionic Bluetooth connection with headphones here on the Community.

Interesting workaround, I'm glad this worked for you. Thank you for taking the time to identify what was going on and then sharing it here. I'm sure other users will also find this very interesting and could also try.

Keen to hear if any other users have experienced something similar?

Thank you again. Keep me posted! 

[ruriimasu]

@SantiR I am not going to sound nice here because I am truely pissed off with this junk of a product. Why is fitbit blowing trumpets and praises only when you see positive feedback? Why are honest feedback deemed negative ignored or deleted? Don't deny, mine and a couple others can vouch for ourselves.

If this finding were true, it only showed your ionic's bluetooth somehow stopped or slept and only a consistent connection such as playing music can keep it awake. But it can't be because others have reported that their headphones had connectivity issues with ionic and your team even went as far as to get users to disconnect all other bluetooth devices from phone whenever such problems were reported.

The frustrating part is you guys knew there are real problems through your actions of deleting posts. You have never for once admitted any of this sync/notification/bluetooth issues. This is my first fitbit product. Your product and company never earned my respect, and never will. In my book, you get a F grade in accountability and integrity and this is what I (and many other unhappy users) tell to everyone who will ask me about fitbit products.

[GTPune]

@ruriimasu100% with you. As I said at the beginning of the post, I am not a happy camper either and I have got atleaset 3 of my posts deleted in last 3 weeks. Only thing that has worked so far good for me is the watch to headphone connectivity but that too, only after I spent days to get some music on my watch. As far as phone to watch connectivity is concerned, its not that its working 100% flawless. Even with this work-around, there have been missed notifications every now and then.