Transferring Personal Music to Ionic

[ErickFitbit]

Update 10/6/17 -- Thanks for sharing your experiences with attempting to transfer your playlists onto Ionic. After reading through the discussions in this thread, I noticed some users where successful and others not so much.

Users are running into various blockers that are preventing a successful transfer. I've compiled the complications into the following categories:

• Stuck on "Looking for Ionic" message on Fitbit connect even though Ionic/Fitbit App/Computer on same Network) 

Cannot connect unless a force manual IP address for Ionic is done(entering IP address manually)

• Frozen at "Determining Transfer Time" (check out @xTommyG's workaround here)
• Stuck on "Transfer in progress" (try restarting your Ionic and then reestablish Wi-Fi connection on Ionic)
• Ionic won't connect to Wi-Fi (see Why won't my Fitbit watch connect to Wi-Fi? for tips)

I've created a guide to help anyone that's having issues with this. So, without further ado, let's start transferring some music!  

Requirements

• Windows 10 (PC) or Mac computer 
• Wi-Fi capable computer: Must be able to connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi (direct ethernet connections will not work)
• Must connect to a 2.4GHz frequency network (5 GHz frequency is not supported)
• Fitbit Connect Software (Win10/Mac) must be installed
• Ionic battery life must be above 40% to transfer music (Keeping Ionic charging during this process is recommended)
• Create at least 1 playlist of songs or podcasts in iTunes or Windows Media Player to download to your watch. You can also create playlists in the Fitbit Music app using the drag-and-drop feature to add individual tracks. 
• To download music files, they must fall under one of the following audio file types: 
  • Windows 10
    • MP3 files
    • MP4 files with AAC audio
    • WMA files
  • Mac
    • MP3 files
    • AIFF
    • MP4 files with AAC audio

• If you use iTunes, make sure you approve the app to share playlists with your watch: Open iTunes on your computer > Edit > Preferences > Advanced > Share iTunes Library XML with other applications > OK.

 

• For best results, perform this process as close to your router as possible to reduce any interference 

Transfer Music Checklist

1. Restart computer
2. Make sure your computer is connected to a strong Wi-Fi network (note: personal or work network that requires a password to connect is recommended - 2.4 GHz) 
3. Restart phone
4. Restart Ionic
5. In the Fitbit app go to Account/Media/Manage Wi-fi Networks and remove all saved networks
6. Connect back to your Wi-Fi network 
7. Plug-in your watch to charge
8. On your Ionic, tap Music app and then Transfer Music: 
9. Ionic will show this screen when connection is established: 
10. Open Fitbit Connect and click on Manage My Music 
11. When prompted, follow the on-screen instructions on your Mac/PC to choose the playlists you want to download to your watch. After you choose a playlist, the download starts automatically. Download/transfer times vary based on how large your playlist is (was able to download 1 hours worth of music in about 6-8 minutes).

Note: For faster download times, you might want to avoid large playlists. The more songs you transfer under one playlist the longer download times you will experience. Should you run into an issue please let us know where in the process you get stuck.

Thanks everyone for your continued insight and feedback in this thread. I hope all of you Ionic users get transferred, drop your phones on your dressers and start working out to the music you most enjoy, phone free!

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Update 9/28/17 -- The latest version of Fitbit Connect for Mac is now live! The update can now be found on the setup page. Please update if you haven't already so you can start transferring your favorite tunes to your Ionic!

• Download Fitbit Connect for Mac: www.fitbit.com/setup

• Download Fitbit Connect for PC: http://cache.fitbit.com/FitbitConnect/FitbitConnect-v2.0.2.6954-2017-09-28.exe 

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Everyone -- To transfer music with Fitbit Connect, please click the applicable link below to download and install the Fitbit Connect software:

• Download Fitbit Connect for Mac: www.fitbit.com/setup

• Download Fitbit Connect for PC: http://cache.fitbit.com/FitbitConnect/FitbitConnect-v2.0.2.6954-2017-09-28.exe

With the Music app on Fitbit Ionic, you can store and play several hours worth of your favorite songs and podcasts right on your wrist. After you download playlists to your watch, connect Bluetooth headphones or another audio device to listen to your tracks.

You need a Windows 10 PC or a Mac connected to Wi-Fi to download music and podcasts to your watch. Keep in mind you can only transfer files that you own or don’t require a license. 

If you live in the United States, you can also use the Pandora app to download stations to your watch. 

For full instructions, I recommend checking out "How do I listen to music and podcasts on my Fitbit watch?"

[Misterbit]

Agreed, I have to go into settings and forget and delete my blue tooth
earbuds each time I use the Ionic. This is a process that really shouldn't
have to happen each time you work out. I have seen posts from others that
say they don't have this problem, so in all fairness it could be my buds?


*"life is good"*

[GTPune]

I wish I had seen this thread before buying ionic.  Received it today, spent 3 hrs trying to get music transfered from a win10 laptop but no luck. I guess I have to return it.

[Misterbit]

Please don't give up yet. It can be done. See Carlos' post and the steps in
his attachment. You can get this done, but it could take many hours.


*"life is good"*

[GTPune]

Found a post by Carlos which is about general data sync, not music download specifically. My iconic is able to sync otner data with laptop, just music download is the issue and I have tried everything described on this thread. If there is any specific article about music issue, can you please give me the link.

Issue seems to be going on for an year! Shame on FB for not providing a proper fix  yet. If ii won't be able to sort it out today, this will be my  first and last Fitbit, thanks to the lazy and incompetent programers of FB. The tracker looos stunning though. What a shame I won't be using it.

[GTPune]

And just in case anyone for Fitbit Dev community is watching this thread, it's a day old device running firmware 27.32.4.19. And coincidentally my Win10 laptop is just a week old, pristine, practically out of the box. Ionic was able to connect to my home network  at the initial startup and download updates etc so my home network is "compatible". I downloaded you new Fitbit app from Windows app store. I was hopping on my right leg and rubbing the belly of my Buddha statue while trying to download music on Ionic. And for good measure I had "Hanuman Chalisa" playing on my 20 year old music system that does not have WiFi and Bluetooth. If you don't know what Hanuman Chalisa is, Google it.

[mitwess]

while music transfer on ionic/versa needs to be improved (simplified, sped up), the above post isn't accurate about it not working. drop outs are far more likely about the headphones you use having a weak bluetooth connection which can be improved by wearing the watch on the same side as wherever the receiver is on the bluetooth headphones. out of curiousity, what brand/model headphones are you using? 

[Francy2k]

I also bought Ionic FB recently I feel very bad about the product that can't transfer my personal music to my FB device. I got FB because of avoid to hold mobile phone during my walking/Jogging. If you find any solution then pls do let me know. 

[GTPune]

We need to make our voice heard at the highest level in Fitbit. See my previous post and act please.

[smbeach1107]

Connect your fitbit to the computer and read my post.

Moderator edit: removed personal information.

[GTPune]

Ma'am thanks for your message but you probably did not understand the problem. Before I can move any music, the Fitbit app has to find and connect to my watch. That's not happening. I may not be as experienced as you are but I also belong to the era when FORTRAN used to be "advanced" programming language; BASIC being the basic one 🙂 

[smbeach1107]

I'm 60... Didn't realize it was not connecting to the app. My mistake...

Moderator edit: removed personal information.

[GTPune]

Fitbit support is hopeless. They kept giving me cookie cutter answers but I managed to make it work ONCE myself but no guarantee it will work for you because it worked only ONCE for me and I transferred about 90 min worth of music. Now when I try transferring it again, it gets stuck on "looking for your device" message again.

1. Uninstall Fitbit app from you laptop

2. unpair Ionic from your laptop

3. restart your laptop

4. unpair ionic from your phone. While doing so make sure your phone is online so that your online profile is made aware of the fact that you have unpaired your watch from your phone.

5. turn off your phone's bluetooth

6. reinstall fitbit app on your laptop

7. log in with your fitbit id/pwd

8. connect/pair your watch again

9. let it sync the data first

10. Go to music tab, hop on right leg, scratch your dog's belly (if you are a cat person, you are out of luck) and if you are lucky, it will connect after a few minutes.

My gut feel, nothing is wrong with watch or watch software. It has nothing to do with "Watch not having enough charge" or "it being far away from router" etc (the suggestions given by fitbit support guys :), its the fitbit app that is problem. Perhaps a B team of fitbit is responsible for the app development who don't know what they are doing. I was logged on to my router's admin page while I was doing all this and I could see that as soon as I clicked "transfer music" on the watch, Iconic showed up in the devices list on router's DHCP client list. But somehow the app is not able to find it on network. The troubleshooting message that says turn off bluetooth on your computer is also bull***. Music transfer has nothing to do with BT since it happens on Wifi. I do not know what's the trigger that causes the app to find the watch once in blue moon. I even tried reserving a static ip for watch on router and did manual ip setting in the app for it to go to that IP directly on network to look for watch but no luck. I will keep looking and get back to this forum if I find anything else.

[SunsetRunner]

Agreed. I think it is the App is the problem.

[Steve69]

---

@Francy2k wrote:

I also bought Ionic FB recently I feel very bad about the product that can't transfer my personal music to my FB device. I got FB because of avoid to hold mobile phone during my walking/Jogging. If you find any solution then pls do let me know. 

---

Best solution is to put the mobile phone in your pocket. Hope this helps.

[PeteG-1]

Agreed, I mentioned this waaay back in this thread (or another similar one), that the app is rebuilding indexes every time, and who knows what else.

Personally, I think someone had a "pet project" at FB for the Ionic music manager, and instead of using a library that was proven, decided they would design an even better model, for the Ionic.

If you have VERY small playlists, a small number of playlists, and short tracks (not my podcasts, at 50'), syncing does work, barely, IME.

It does take an inordinate amount of time though, even with all these met.  If you have a handful of 50 minute poodcasts, and a few music albums, good luck, I was waiting at least an hour, every time I went to adjust anything, just for it to do some background rebuilding. 

It's a music database, and it's been done, in umpteen ways, incredibly efficient ways, I don't understand why FB went this route. I could be wrong, they could have a problem with packet transfers or similar, too, that part is hard to fully discern, without more extensive debugging.

Bottom line is that this only works, marginally, if you have a small subset of audio to sync, and even then it's VERY slow and problematic.

[MatthewFitbit]

@GTPune Sorry to hear that you've had a difficult time using this feature. A representative from our team will reach out to you via email - I'm confident that they will be able to assist with finding a resolution that works for you.

[maggyt2]

I've done everything the support has said and my music transferred once then was gone next time I synched and it would never go back on there.  Despite them having to replace my Ionic and trying again.  For hours.  And on more than one occasion.  Turn off all the blue tooth.  Only one home.  Nothing else going on.  Doesn't matter.  Not a thing works and I work out using my phone still.  Most expensive watch I've ever purchased is this Ionic. Good luck @GTPune!

[JALuciani50]

Actually, that is another fun aspect of this device I have been dealing with.  At one time it would just connect to my earbuds but now I have to connect them manually every single time.  Then I get on the elliptical to start my workout.  About two minutes in the thing restarts itself, I have to stop, wait for it to start again, reconnect the earbuds and then start over.  This is a fairly new development and is really frustrating.

[GTPune]

Update 1: @JALuciani50, after first music download, i have tried listening to it on my SoundPeat QY7 for a few minutes and it played. Not sure how it will behave when I actually take it out for a run. See that's the frustration. Ideally after getting this little beautiful piece in my hand, I should have been out running within an hour but here I am.. spent two evenings perfect for outdoor running trying to make it work. I must admit it looks great even in that not so fancy silver/blue grey color, I can only imagine how cool orange would have looked.

Update 2: After reserving a static ip for ionic on my router and forcing Win10 app to use manually configured IP, I was able to get the app to connect to watch two more times and I went "Eureka" but now reading @PeteG-1's post above, I am going "uh-ohh". It makes sense. Although the message on app says "looking for your watch", it may not be about not able to find watch at all. The app probably is doing more stuff behind the scene after finding the watch and this should be easy to confirm by some moderator on this forum who has a contact of App dev team. I do have a large amount of music on my laptop (several GBs) and many playlists. If the app is doing funky unnecessary stuff every time on my library, it may get stuck. I am going to do another experiment. I saw somewhere in the settings that I can configure the app to look for music in certain folders only so I am going to remove my main music folder from that list and add a smaller folder with a few hundred songs in it. Lets see if it goes faster but it will have to wait until I have tried the watch on few runs with music on. If it can not play the music smoothly, what's the point figuring out how to load the music. 

Update 3: today morning, I paired the watch with my phone without un-pairing it with my laptop and it was able to connect and sync, except on glitch that it stopped pushing my sms and call notifications to the watch so I had to disable/enable notifications again to make it work. I am starting to feel that this whole multiple BT pairing interfering with music download is a probably incorrect. It simply is about either (a) app not being able to find watch on wifi network (less likely) (b) app doing unnecessary funky things with library and getting stuck somewhere (more likely). Any further experiments I do, I will do them without un-pairing the watch from my phone first. I will just turn off the BT on my phone and for good measures, i will keep it 10 meters away from my watch :). Lets see how it goes.

[PeteG-1]

Yeah, @GTPune, I used a semi-empirical method in my determination.

I don't have my Ionic anymore (for more details), but at the time, I suspected the Music DB was being largely rebuilt, so I dug around the FB appdata folders.  

I found a file (pretty sure it was singular), and noticed the activity, when re-starting a sync, so I used Resource Monitor to track the I/O (both quantity and frequency).

Both were significant, but the individual I/O references were pretty big, so it all sort of lined up.

Probably the other thing I could've done was to try and read the (assumed) DB, see if it was using standard constructs or similar, but I figured I had enough "info", for my use. 

I'd call that largely indicative of "looking for watch", which would sometimes take on the order of 10's of minutes (really, to find the watch my router was seeing send packets to/from?), to be actually a music re-reference of some sort.

I just don't understand why, when there are so many great libraries (pre-built "chunks" of code, that are proven out, speed-wise, mostly free of issues, and otherwise stable) out there for this, it appears to have been re-invented, I'd really like to be a fly-on-the-wall for that one (both at design, and at the post-release meetings ;-])...