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?"

[Purnendu]

Doing it from an imac. Its still looking for the watch for last 30 minutes. Is there a time before you should give up? I think 30 minutes should be enough

[Osmar]

It is ridiculous!

I am furious!

I want to kill someone right now!

After several attempts, the fitbit recognizes two playlists, but after 2 hours, I came home to this. 78/85 fail.I have created the playlist! several of them!The fitbit connect does not recognize the playlists.

[Osmar]

The Fitbit Connect software does not find anything!

[neald]

this is EXTREMEMLY poor on every level. until fitbit realizes you should be able to plug the watch into any computer and it show up as a hard drive to simply drag and drop this device will be left in the dust. not to mention having to have all the planets align, restart 5 times, have a f**king DONGLE in, both be on the same wifi, force the wifi, turn off your bluetooth, bury your phone and sacrifice a chicken...the sad part is I only made up the chicken bit, the rest is true and thats if you even get the 2 devices to synch and i am no novice. back to the drawing board fitbit i completely regret my purchase. btw thanks for making pandora a pay only option.

[SLovell]

Had hoped the firmware update this week would have addressed our music file transfer concerns, but based on recent messages it seems that is not the case...

[PNLDesign]

Be patient. It will all work out in time. Ionic is young, and growing.

[AtlTvlGuy]

Honestly since I originally posted I have left what I had in place. I did notice that the Pandora playlists don’t update. I use 3 of the running ones. Same ole which gets a bit tiring.
I even reboot the phone before charging. You may want to let them know.

Thanks
Chip Herold
(404) 483 1331

[SunsetRunner]

@Osmar

I have been waiting for the new firmware to try this, and I can assure you that it is working for me.

First, I used VLC to create the playlist - as long as it is m3u format, it works. I did not use the Fitbit app to create any playlist.

Next, I made sure the computer and the Ionic are on the same Wi-Fi, and that the bluetooth is on for both. This should always be the case, but sometimes things happen.

Then, I had to manually add the playlist and music directories in the Fitbit app, by selecting the gear icon and navigating to both locations. I saved the playlist to the computer, and the music is on an external hard drive.

And then it took about 8 minutes to transfer.

Please see if this helps, and please do not kill anyone. 

[RezaET]

Music transfer not work even with new firmware. Just stay in "looking for your ionic"  state

@Fitbit why don't fix music transfer issues??? 

[Purnendu]

Its travel hell to transfer music

[jaybird5619]

Just got my Ionic today. Trying to transfer music from iTunes. I have both .aiff and .mp3 files (mostly .aiff). The mp3 files transfer just fine, but the .aiff files do not. Your instructions say that .aiff files should transfer. Any thoughts?

[RezaET]

no answer from @Fitbit

[SunsetRunner]

@neald - you said - "btw thanks for making pandora a pay only option."

That decision was Pandora's. In the transfer process, you are actually downloading music to your Ionic, not streaming. On streaming devices you can listen to Pandora music for free if you are willing to listen to commercials. But if you want to download a playlist or listen to music commercial free, you have to be a subscriber. Someone has to pay the royalty fees to the artists.  

[SunsetRunner]

If I do not have a computer but only iPad and iPhone, I cannot download music and use this feature?  Please help.

[Allboyz]

I think the feature of adding additional songs to a playlist already loaded on the Ionic is only for Windows 10, not 7/8. 😞 But on a good note, I had no problems adding music to my Ionic. 

[driver111]

Since they dont have Spotify I used Sidify DRM Audio Converter to convert my Spotify playlists to MP3's.

Drag mp3 files from a folder in to a fitbit playlist - 5hrs of music took approx 20min to copy.

Worked ok.

[WilliamCart]

I have downloaded the tool from www.musconv.com Which worked fantastically It saved my time and I have easily converted my personal music in ionic

[Ph03n1x_ZA]

The process is quite insane really. I followed all the steps above and it didn't really work. The fact one has to restart to make sure of a connection is ridiculous. I eventually managed to connect, by hook or by crook, without following the above-mentioned steps, although it did give me some insight into the process of connecting. Incredibly frustrating. Would have preferred being able to transfer music directly from my phone to the device, for which a connection is easily established. Connecting to the PC is a huge issue and inconvenience.

[SLovell]

So you were able to select the Ionic as a device to transfer to?  Could you transfer a Spotify play list to the Ionic with musconv.com  ?

[SLovell]

So you were able to select the Ionic as a device to transfer to?  Could you transfer a Spotify play list to the Ionic with musconv.  ?