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?"

[Beamish]

Matt, this is a start but I'm still flummoxed.

For getting through the "blockers," how/where do you do a force manual IP address? What if you don't have Windows 10? How do you know if you have a 2.4 GHZ frequency network (huh?)?

Your transfer Music Checklist has ELEVEN steps! Really?

For those of us who are technophobes, how do you Restart your phone? How do you remove all saved networks? How do you connect back to your Wi-Fi network? And, again, what if you don't have Windows 10?

I really like my Ionic. And somehow I was able to get some songs loaded (don't ask me how). But this just gets more and more tedious. Why hasn't FitBit addressed the downloading issue?

[Nanettef]

I was having problems connecting, too and then saw that I needed to disconnect from other devices.  I turned off the Bluetooth from my iPad and iPhone while transferring to my Mac and then I was able to connect.  

It took 2 hours for 165 songs. 

[Maaginen]

I have Windows 7. The app shows my playlists but doesn’t pick up any songs. Am I completely screwed? I have access to 10 but don’t want to have to load my music on another computer. 

[SteffenBerlin]

I really have to say the music support is a joke. 

Why can't I just mark music / podcasts in the fitbit app on my android phone and just transfer over? 

[Crazy-Fritter]

---

@SteffenBerlin wrote:

I really have to say the music support is a joke. 

Why can't I just mark music / podcasts in the fitbit app on my android phone and just transfer over? 

---

Because that would be WAY too easy..... you won't appreciate the victory unless you have to scratch and claw for every inch 😨

[cstephen]

@SteffenBerlin  ok, I'll have a go at answering this...

1. Where is the music on your android phone actually stored? (locally on your phone or streamed from an online service?). So, you're asking Fitbit to update the android app to fetch music from an increasing array of sources?

2. Assuming the app can be updated to fetch the actual music files, how to propose those files get transferred to your ionic? Via Bluetooth would be the logical answer but the transfer speed is much slower than WiFi. So, again, do you think Fitbit could update the android app to somehow tell the ionic to fetch music files from a vast array of sources (local, online, lan, or streamed), connect to a WiFi network (that may not be in range if you're using your phone to initiate this process) and transfer files? Remember also, the current process has a sort of sync capability do that you can add to the playlist (or take away from it) without having to reload all the music files from the whole playlist. So you're asking Fitbit to also update the android app to also manage syncing of the playlists...

 Who knows, maybe they could do it... (and then do the same thing for iOS, Windows 10, and mac, and linux(?) )

[Dens36er]

Having had a crack for an hour last night and being constantly transferred between apps I can only conclude this is a lot of effort for an ipod shuffle.   Pandora would be good but alas only in the US.  Pretty average tech

[JoeP13]

Did you transfer your music from ITunes using a Mac or PC Windows machine?

[Chrisjames]

Tired of getting emails in this thread. The website on my browser won’t even let me unsubscribe from this bull**ahem**. 

At least deleting emails is faster than this **ahem** watch music transfer.

[Exzetta]

 Hello I have done all the steps that you have outlined. I’ve deleted software, added back on, software checked the Wi-Fi settings, reset my ionic.  Uninstalled and reinstalled the software from my desktop application I’m using Windows 7 and I did go and look for the correct download. And still:  The error message that I keep getting from the FitBit connect software “sorry this feature is only available when you have an ionic pair to your fit bit account to pair please use the fit bit mobile app “. My ionic is paired. I eve used the dongle to sync. I’m at witts end here! Any further suggestions?

[Ravensmere]

Try turning your Router off, wait 10 second then back on again. I had similar frustrations and this was the last thing I thought to try. It worked.

[Lex5]

I have same issue when I click on playlist is has a ! On it and says DRM-encrypted file can’t transfer. But it’s my one songs off iTunes 

[Lex5]

I’m using windows 7 and iTunes  when I go to playlist detail it has a warning ! On it and says DRM-encrypted file can’t transfer. But it’s my one songs off iTunes what should I do need help ASAP !!!’ Should I switch for Apple Watch? 

[Allboyz]

Lex5 try using windows media player instead. That worked for me on windows 7 with iTunes songs 

[SunsetRunner]

I just thought I'd chime in with my experience in transferring music to my Ionic.  Here's my setup:

Windows 7

iTunes

multiple SSID's on my in-home network

I did the following as part of a successful transfer of music

1) reboot home router

2) reboot ionic

3) ensure PC with iTunes and Ionic were attached to the same wireless SSID

4) installed the Fitbit Connect App

5) Corrected the default location of where to find my iTunes database

6) Waited, and waited and waited.  This was painful.  At first I thought that it wasn't working at all as only 3 playlists showed up.  Problem is I have around 60 playlists.  It took several hours before the Fitbit Connect app identified all of the playlists. I was very impatient for the first hour and tried rebooting and rejigging things but finally realized waiting was what it needed.

7) Put the Ionic in download mode as per the instructions

😎 Selected the playlists I wanted transferred

9) Waited, and waited, and waited. Wow, this was slow, really slow, but this time I just walked away and let it run

10)  Successfully uploaded 7 playlists

I'm glad it worked, but I feel like somewhere in this process there are lots of opportunities to make it easier and faster.

[Exzetta]

Sent from my iPad

[JoeP13]

Can you provide instructions on step #5 Corrected the default location of where to find my iTunes database.

Sent from my iPad

[SunsetRunner]

In my case, the folder it found was

D:\Music

but below that was an iTunes folder and an iTunes media folder below that. 

I removed D:\Music and added:

D:\Music\iTunes

in hindsight, maybe this was me just being impatient as this was an early adjustment I made. 

[Metsfan65]

New to Ionic, but not to Fitbit. Same problems as everybody else transferring music.  I didn't want to believe it would be true - all the problems I've read.  Given that iTunes and Amazon Music are two of the largest (if not the largest) music services available, how could Fitbit have released this product without having perfected the transfer of music to the Ionic without all of these alleged "fixes" and steps being necessary?  Whatever happened to drag and drop?  I'm in the 45 day return period since my purchase.  I do not want to buy an Apple watch, but i'm tired of walking/running with my iPhone 6 plus and want music in my smartwatch and i'd like to be able to easily and quickly transfer new music to it and delete old music from it.  Fitbit, if you are listening, you must fix this quickly or you are going to be a non-player in the smartwatch world.  Forget about expanding the apps available to the Ionic and fix the music player - it's essential to the Ionic's viability!  There's so much to love about the Ionic, but the lack of a functional music player is a deal breaker.

[TonyJukes]

Got my Ionic a week ago, the music side was more involved than I expected and frustrating at one point but my Ionic is now full of Doom Metal and working with JVC Marshmallow ear buds.

Occasionally stuttering with GPS tracking running for the walk about excersise but settles down after around fifteen minutes.

Other kit is an old laptop running Windows 7 Samsung Note 10.1 tablet and a Samsung galaxy 2 phone.