Sync fails on Fitbit One

[Klara]

I've had my Fitbit One for a couple of years (it's my third one) and in the last month or two it has been performing poorly in syncing and battery. All day sync doesn't seem to be working. The One won't sync at all until I force it to by restarting the device (using the charging cord) or restarting my phone. The computer dongle doesn't seem to do anything as Fitbit Connect always fails. The app-driven sync doesn't work either when I press Sync Now. I don't want to keep restarting the One nor my phone as this cannot be good for either.

I should say that I also have the Surge watch and I don't have any problems with all day sync or on-demand sync on that device. It's pretty reliable but I don't wear it all day long so I need the data from the One.

I don't know if it's related but the One will also not hold charge for as long as it used to. In the past I only needed to charge it every 10-14 days, now it runs out of power in 3 days or less.

I have an Android phone, Samsung Galaxy S5, running OS 6.0.1 Marshmallow. Location services are enabled on the phone and the Fitbit app as well my OS are up to date.

I have come to the conclusion the One needs to be replaced but I thought I'd see first if there is anything I missed. Any ideas, I will be grateful.

[SteveH]

That's a very clear explanation of the symptoms and the steps you have taken so far.

Sadly, I agree with your conclusion: that the One has perhaps reached end of life.

The normal suggestion when issues such as these arise is to do multiple restarts but given you have tried this then I'm not sure there is anything else left to try.

Even though you will be out of warranty I think it's still worth contacting customer support to see if they can see anything from the server side or offer any other help:

contact.fitbit.com

[Klara]

Thank you Steve. I have contacted Fitbit support as suggested. Fingers crossed.

[SolangeE]

Hey, @Klara! I'm sorry to hear about your situation, but hopefully this will be solve for you soon. What did Support say?

Let us know! 🙂

[Klara]

I received a strange reply that was only concerned with the battery draining fast. The rest of my email regarding the syncing issues was completely ignored by Fitbit support. I don't know if this was an oversight or if they're ignoring the topic on purpose because they don't have a solution. I even submitted the request under the category One - Syncing - Android, which the Fitbit support person used in the subject line of the responding email, yet made no mention of any syncing issues in his reply. Odd.

I have replied to the email from Fitbit support reiterating my syncing problems. I will update this post once when/if I receive a response from them.

[SolangeE]

@Klara, hmmm... looks like they missed it. Reply to them letting them know that you main issue is that your tracker is not syncing, and that you specified that in your previous email. They should get back to you within 2-3 days. If they don't please let me know and I'll try to get in touch with them and evaluate your situation.

I'll be around. 

[Klara]

I have received another reply from Fitbit Support regarding the sync failure. This one was quite detailed.

For the Android app, they recommend the following steps:

1. Close the Fitbit app and open it again. A sync should occur whenever the app is opened.

2. Turn off Bluetooth, turn it back on, and then open the Fitbit app.

3. Reboot your mobile device and then open the Fitbit app again.

4. Restart your tracker. For more information, see  How do I restart my tracker?

5. Uninstall and reinstall the Fitbit app.

6. Consider using the All-Day Sync setting. This prompts your tracker to periodically sync with the Fitbit app but may cause increased battery drain on your mobile device or tracker.

I turned off All-Day Sync and Always Connected settings in the app because of the battery problems. Since I've done that, syncing has worked a lot better, except yesterday morning when I couldn't get it to sync for several hours, although to be honest, I only tried steps 1 and 2 above.

I cannot believe that Fitbit advise you to reinstall the app and restart the tracker and phone every time the sync doesn't respond. This could be several times a day. Seems like drastic action to me, there should be an alternative solution.

For the web syncing (Windows desktop), they recommend the following steps:

If you are still having trouble syncing your tracker, please reinstall Fitbit Connect by doing the following:
1. Uninstall Fitbit Connect
- On a PC: Open Control Panel > Programs and Features > Select Fitbit Connect > Uninstall
2. Download the newest software version from www.fitbit.com/setup and follow the prompts.
3. After reinstalling the software, please try to manually sync your tracker.

I haven't tried this yet but will do so over the next week or so.

In any case, I'm happier with my One device now. The battery performance has also improved since I turned off all day sync so I will monitor it and see if remains stable.