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?"

[TheQueen18]

In a perfect world, your steps do work.  But for whatever reason, it's just buffering with no message,  I don't know what the x means, no x, and/or the check mark that does not work.

[TheQueen18]

I'm having the same issue.  I already loaded music.  But it is like hit or miss.

[Robleee]

Bought a fitbit ionic last week and am very happy with the product. But music transfer is a nightmare and does not work. Sorry, but if this is not sorted out in this week or the next, I will switch to a different smart watch (really didn't want to, but left no choice): why on earth do I have to use a) a desktop software that b) doesn't work properly on both my Macs?

It just shows "Looking for your watch...." for years. No idea what this could be.

Please send help.

ps could it be that my Wifi doesnt allow the range in which the Fitbit is found? Really running out of explanations here.

[Misterbit]

Please check out Carlos' post from several months ago. It lists step by
step instructions for transfer. The ionic is very finicky, but most people
on this site eventually get it to work. Once working, it is amazing and the
fidelity is outstanding.

Please don't give up. For me, the issues were

1)making sure I was on 2.4gz wifi
2)making sure every blue tooth device was turned off within a mile range.
3)Making sure it was connected to the charger while transferring.

Last, make sure your music is not copy protected, it confuses the watch. A
lot of techy people in this community believe the watch has an under
powered wifi antennae and would require a full remake of the watch to
correct the problem.

Hope this helps...


*"life is good"*

[dermbrian]

The idea of turning off every bluetooth device is unworkable for me. From
my living room couch, I count 11 within sight. More in the other rooms
and outside.

I put music on my phone once. I have not attempted a second time. I will
when it's announced, by fitbit, that the process has been fixed, improved,
or changed entirely. That kind of announcement is long past due.

[randijaa]

Question (sorry if interferring) - I have used Fitbit equipment for many years, Charge2 lately, but I think I am going for Ionic now, and wonder can I transfer one of my audibooks to the Ionic? (in case I do not bring my iPhone with books and music), and do I have to buy a set of wireless earplugs then? (Will any brand do?)

[c_purnz]

As long as you own the audio book you should be able to. Yes you will need a set of wireless ear buds but any brand will do. Amazon has a bunch of good quality wireless headphones for a decent price.

-Courtney

[GTPune]

---

@Misterbit wrote:
Please check out Carlos' post from several months ago. It lists step by
step instructions for transfer. The ionic is very finicky, but most people
on this site eventually get it to work. Once working, it is amazing and the
fidelity is outstanding.

Please don't give up. For me, the issues were

1)making sure I was on 2.4gz wifi
2)making sure every blue tooth device was turned off within a mile range.
3)Making sure it was connected to the charger while transferring.

Last, make sure your music is not copy protected, it confuses the watch. A
lot of techy people in this community believe the watch has an under
powered wifi antennae and would require a full remake of the watch to
correct the problem.

Hope this helps...


*"life is good"*

---

Or they can do a firmware/windows app update to allow music transfer via BT. I have a feeling it will work much better than WiFi. WiFi antenna in watch is crap but BT is fine. My headphones stay connected up to 20 ft across the walls, even longer if I keep watch in clear sight of headphones, irrespective of how many BT devices are on around it.

[randijaa]

Thank you. I understand - it will function as on the iPhone then, transferring via iTunes.

[randijaa]

Yes, thank you - a good instruction.

[Ludeeda]

I dont see an answer. can you download your playlist from your iphone directly into the ionic? 

[anim8t]

It would be too easy and logical, so I guess not 🙂

[GySgt_Seidell]

Hello @Ludeeda and Welcome. Unfortunately, you cannot load music to your Ionic from your iPhone, you’ll need to use the Fitbit App on your computer for this function.

Hope this helped and Keep on STEPPING. 

[lostinwebspace]

I've never been impressed with the music transfer for Fitbit. It's not even hit or miss. It's more that it won't work about 90 percent of the time. My playlist isn't that huge--93 songs, 6 hours--but it never transfers. It's been stuck on "Preparing to transfer" for about half an hour now. I've tried and retried several times now. And my Fitbit defaults back to the watch face after a few minutes of inactivity.

I had a Fitbit Blaze for my previous smart watch and then bought an Ionic, but my opinion of Fitbit has dropped drastically since this more expensive, "better" watch. (The music transfer isn't the only thing that goes wrong with this watch.)

Guys, we can put a man on the moon.....

[lostinwebspace]

Found a quick solution, and it's not the best. Do your playlist in bits and pieces. I transferred 10 songs at a time. Now, this won't do me any good as my Fitbit has refused to pair with anything now: laptop, phone, headphones. But for any of you who's still willing to stay with this Fitbit sinking ship, this might help.

[gcoupe]

Last night, I had my Ionic on charge, and when I disconnected it, I saw a message saying something like "the Pandora update has been paused". I have no idea what that was all about - I don't live in the US, but in Europe..

This morning I discovered that I can no longer transfer music to the Ionic. The Fitbit app on my PC is constantly looking for the watch, but never finds it. And, yes, I have initiated Transfer on the watch, and switched off Bluetooth devices. I'm all out of fresh chicken entrails, though. Really, this system is not good...

[GySgt_Seidell]

Hello @gcoupe!  Sorry to hear your having issues, but here are some suggestions:

1). Remember, when you’re transferring “Music”, it is being done via Wi-Fi and not Bluetooth. So make sure you have no other Wi-Fi activities running in the background on your computer. 

2). Perform a RESET on your Ionic (Holding down the LEFT and BOTTOM RIGHT buttons simultaneously and continue holding them down until the Fitbit Icon appears, than release).

3).  Perform a Reboot on your computer and ensure your Wi-Fi is on and not being used by other programs. 

4).  After completing steps 1-3, open the Fitbit App on your computer and select the Music icon in the top right area.  Make your playlist selection and when prompted, open the Music App on your Ionic and initiate the transfer. 

Hope this helped and please review my other suggestions in this thread. Thanks and Keep on STEPPING!

[HLBinTX]

I am SO GLAD someone posted better instructions on how to do this! Not intuitive at all. But I got my music downloaded (iTunes playlists). Took a while the first time -  

Observations: 

1. You can't copy DRM-protected content to the Ionic. Annoying but not a deal breaker.  

2. I updated iTunes settings, and re-started the computer. I didn't reset my Ionic and it seemed to work OK.

3. The FitBit PC app is NOT intuitive. But I finally figured out when I was removing the playlist, and when I had to wait for it to be updated. 

4. First sync takes a while - downloaded about 1.5GB of music and it took almost 30 minutes - using a Netgear Orbi with 200+ mbps connection. But the app gives you info on the total time and progress. 

5. When all else fails - exit out of FitBit app, exit out of Transfer Music on Ionic, and start over. 

[jenny03]

Thank you for your suggestion , i will bring to use this next time.

Moderator edit: Word choice 

[LostInThe208]

So now it has been months and months since the original post and I see that not a **ahem** thing has changed. Even though it is plainly an .mp3 file, it is somehow reading into the metadata and STILL being picky about what codec was used to encode the .mp3. Even though it works on every other known player I can find, it is still not acceptable to this terrible software.