Charge 4 will not update software

[gsmithy1983]

Hi there,

My app shows that there is a software update for the Charge 4 however it just says Update Failed after 10 minutes of trying to update even though it is paired with my android device, is fully charged and are right beside each other. 🤔

[wtksk8r]

@gsmithy1983 The update download can fail if the phone's wifi connection gets wonky or if it is trying to download during a high download time. Suggest trying again. I have sometimes had to try a couple of times to get mine to finally complete updates.

[CoreyMac · Accepted solution]

You might want to read some of the other comments here for the month of August. The current 200001.100.76 update is crashing quite a few Charge 4 devices.  They have no fix and ultimately just tell you you need to replace the device.

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Charge-4/Charge-4-Yesterday-s-update-is-draining-my-battery/td-p/520...

[gsmithy1983]

Thanks so much for the heads up!

[Ogihal]

I do not get an error when updating. Yesterday I let it update for 3 hours with a dedicated iPhone, not running anything but the app doing the update on a solid WiFi connection. The progress bar on the Charge 4 gets to the 1/3 point and just hangs.  Just attempted the update again today on another WiFi network, progress bar started at the 1/3 position and did not move at all.  Charge 4 was charged to 100%, iPhone was charged to 100% and plugged in and set to never turn off the display.

[Ogihal]

If I get told to replace the device which works perfectly and still holds a charge for a couple of days, I can guarantee it will not be with another FitBit.  

[CoreyMac]

The latest update is apparently bricking Charge4, Charge5, Versa2 and Versa3 and one other model (I am not sure which)...

You can check the forums.  There is one report a couple of hours ago on a Charge4 that uninstalling and reinstalling the SpO2 app from the phone fixes the battery drain, but not the folks who have black displays or bricked units that will not boot.  I have not seen that fix confirmed yet by anyone and at least two showed no difference.

[Aroyal]

they will boot and show the smiley face....they will not show you that device is charging but if you haven't unpaired the device from your phone then you can see the charging status and all other stats there and they still collect the data.....the screen of the charge 4 will remain black and the button on the side doesn't wake the device any longer.....so basically their update messed up all the devices and they want you to buy a new on with a discount they offer....maybe they should take ownership of their mess up to save their customers that have been loyal to them....

[Ogihal]

I wonder that since the update was supposed to make more use of the GPS, if those with failures (bricked?) devices had been using the GPS function and had it in a mode that was altered by the software update?  While my update took 3 sessions of 2 hours each to finally finish. I did use it after each of the failed installs and made sure my settings were the same as before the installs.  I also have been using a complex display that shows time, steps, heartbeat, calories and distance on the face.  So far battery life is about the same.  I also believe the new owners have been very lax in supporting the loyal customers so this Charge 4 will most likely be my last FitBit device.  Having been a software engineer for 50 years, 40 of them in aerospace where testing and verification are more important than the design, I have seen a lot of bad code usually developed by recent graduates who have never been exposed to the actual instruction set used by the device and rely upon the compiler to produce good code and then do a poor job of testing before shipping it out the door. So many shortcuts taken for the quick dollar.

[Aroyal]

You are probably right on the money on this situation...

Maybe they'll have their coders revamp the phone software so that's it can control more aspects of the tracker functionality 

[CoreyMac]

Google didn't buy FitBit for the device sales.  Their hardware platforms are primarily to support their data collection activities.  I do not think it really matters how many folks leave the platform due to poor quality support and service.  They are after the data and they do not need everyone as they are apparently not trying to "win" the fitness market share or customer satisfaction surveys.  They seem more interested in the fitness data from some percentage of the population.

I do not see anything on the support side that contradicts this.

[Aroyal]

I thought gathering data was illegal? I guess not?

[Crazygamer53]

Hi @Ogihal, BINGO!  I’m thinking that their testing showed that only a small percentage of customers would be affected and didn’t care, it wasn’t going to cost them anything, the replacements that they send out are refurbished pebbles that customers returned to them as faulty and I’m sure that the 50% & 35% offers are still above their cost. They don’t recall devices unless there is a health or safety issue. Why else would they continue pushing out updates when they had the same problems with earlier updates on other devices, if they cared, they would have stopped them and investigated and found a solution to the problems before submitting anymore of their customers to this aggravation and unnecessary expense. In addition to the Charge 4, it seems from comments on the Forums that the Inspire 2, Versa 3, Luxe & Charge 5 were also affected with Black screen or draining batteries after their updates. 😩

[Aroyal]

Ya it's some twisted stuff...

[CoreyMac]

Nope.  It varies somewhat by country, but those VERY long terms and conditions clauses that everyone has to click on but do not read just in order to be able to use products are carefully designed to remove as many rights as they can from you and your data.  They also give them as many rights to you and your data as they can get away with.  Similar things happen with many physical contracts as well in the fine print.

Some areas like the EU have pushed back a little bit, but most allow you to click all your rights away.  If you choose not to accept their terms, then... No click=no working product.

Pretty much every company with a cloud-based service tied to your mobile equipment knows as much about you as they want to.  What they do not get directly from you, they can learn by coordinating what they do have from you with what the giant data warehousing

Axicom and Core Logic are the most famous but there are many.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2017/09/07/where-can-you-buy-big-data-here-are-the-biggest-...

They stay off most consumers radar, but rest assured you are on theirs.  Not conspiracy, just their business model.  When you don't pay a lot for a product, then YOU are the product.  Often you are a side bonus to many agreements anyway and you will likely never know.

Last time I download and examined the contract from a local phone/internet provider, it was only a single page I signed, but in the fine print were a few Internet links to additional sections.  More than 75 pages in total and also included the right for them to change any part of the agreement (including raising any "fees") without needing my approval, it gave up my right to any dispute resolution except binding arbitration of their choosing, etc...  All they had to do was change the document contents and I pre-agreed to whatever it said.

[Aroyal]

They're all Slime ... There's should be a one page maximum for us to read over...

[CoreyMac]

I saw in one of the FitBit support responses they responded with them taking care of a customer "within the limits of the current policies and procedures".  Another way of saying they were not going to actually do anything to resolve the issues we are having.  Those "policies and procedures" are the problem...

Slime...

Yes they are.  I only know of two exceptions locally and man are they rare in many areas.

We have one local provider who is a group of folks that used to work for one of the large ISP/TelCom companies and left as a group to start their own company up again.  They were standalone, got bought out by the larger company and got fed up with the shenanigans.  These folks are great.  Fair prices, good service and great folks to work with.  Simple and to the point.  😀

There is another one who is a Co-Op branched off from a rural electric company and they are awesome as well! 😀

That is it.  The big ones are pretty awful across the board to work with.  The people who work for them are usually very nice, but the companies themselves have "policies and procedures" that cause all kinds of grief and anguish to their customers in a way designed to maximally extra money from their semi-willing victims.  You would think that providing good service and customer care, for a fair and reasonable price would be enough, but no... 

More games and shenanigans...

[Aroyal]

You're absolutely right.... Once a company gets big that's it... So unfortunate....I enjoy a good mom and pop business... Service means more to me that a product which is a gimme grab for your hard learned earned cashola....

I feel bad for the customer service reps that need to stay true to the script...I know they're not enjoying their job sometimes.... They get it from both sides...

[CoreyMac]

Completely true.  I try my best to be a pleasant and easy to work with customer.  I still need to meet my needs and solve my problems when I call, but I try to give them as much leeway as I can in helping me get what I need to make things work.  They are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I have even had them coach me into using specific words or phrases so that they could trigger the next level of support steps in the script.  One young lady was not allowed to provide the information I was requesting, but also was prohibited from telling me that even though she had access to it.  During a support call we ended up playing a form of "20 questions".  She was not allowed to voluntarily offer any of the information I needed, by the company policy, but she was not supposed to lie either. 

She carefully crafted her answers in a way to let me know that her supervisor would be able to do what I needed, but I had to use some magic key phrases before she was allowed to transfer the call and request that specific help.  Once I had used the correct phrases in the correct context, she said "Thank very much!" and got the Supervisor and I then had the problem solved in 15 minutes.

Crazy, but kind of funny now.  😀

Ridiculously crappy way to run a company tech support department though...

[Aroyal]

That is cute and funny all the same....