Charge 3 stopped producing map after walking

[gkuwas]

Since the latest firmware update my charge 3 does not produce a map after I use the exercise for walking. Gps is on, location is on, and it gives me the mileage and heart rate results for the walk but no map!

Please fix or please advise me what to do to fix this.

Thanks

[JuanJoFitbit]

Hi @gkuwas, it's great to see you in our Fitbit Community. I'm sorry to hear that your Charge 3 is not recording a map of your walking activities. By the way, thank you for trying to get this issue resolved before contacting our forums.

Please restart your Versa as described in this help article. After this, check out this help page, which explains how the GPS feature works on your Fitbit device. It also contains some troubleshooting steps for you to try. 

Finally, monitor your exercises and see if your Charge 3 provides the maps properly.

Keep me posted on the outcome.

[gkuwas]

Hi

Thanks for your suggestions. I've tried all that but the charge 3 Fitbit
does not establish a GPS connection. There is a little arrow that keeps
moving around as it seeks connection but it is never established. I still
can click the Play icon and it will record distance and heart rate but
still no map.

I do believe it has to do with the latest firmware update. (28.20001.88.11)

Please advise. Thanks.
Guido

[gkuwas · Accepted solution]

Test,,............

[GDSchulz]

gkuwas, have you found a solution?  Mine stopped working too, for no obvious reason.  Last mapped properly on 31Oct2020 but not on 03Nov2020 or since.  I did *not* apply a firmware update to my Charge 3 during that interval or for many months prior.  My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S9 and there *may* have been an update to Android (25?) around that time.  I subsequently applied the Charge 3 firmware update (with great difficulty because the connection between my Charge 3 and my Galaxy 9 kept dropping.)  Two subsequent updates to Android 26 did not fix it.  The problem seems to be keeping the Charge 3 connected to the GPS feature of the phone.  I found that if I open the Fitbit app on the phone and check my Fitbit account there, the Charge 3 arrow will finally connect.  But a few seconds after I start walking it drops again.  When I finish, I either get only a few feet of mapping or no map at all.  I *do* get distance, heart rate, and steps as you describe, but no map.  As in your case, "location" is enabled on my phone.

Since this problem started without a Charge 3 firmware update, I am suspecting the problem is either with Android system or the Fitbit app Version 3.341 (20243542) that is running on my phone.  That app might have been updated in the background without my knowledge.  Sure would like a fix for this problem because I miss the mapping feature.  Thanks

[gkuwas]

Hi,
The solution that worked for me was to give all permissions to Fitbit

Settings/apps and notifications/(select Fitbit app)/app info/Permissions

I gave all permissions to Fitbit and then it started working again. The
maps working fine again.

Hope this helps!

[GDSchulz]

Thank you!  That fixed it!  

I can be even more specific.  On my Samsung Galaxy S9, permissions for the Fitbit app (Location Permission) was set to "Allow only while using the app."  Now I changed it to "Allow all the time."  This matched the symptoms I was seeing exactly, so I took a quick 20-minute walk to confirm.  Voilá -- Mapping worked perfectly."

That permission change must have happened when I upgraded my S9's Android (Verizon) software the beginning of November (2020).  If that option -- to give Location Permission "only while using the app" -- if that option was there before, I had never noticed it.  And I certainly didn't set it that way myself.  Perhaps it's new.

Problem solved.  Thank you again.  Appreciate your quick response.