Charge 4 won't pair to my Android phone anymore

[Peterm1000]

Until 2 days ago my Fitbit Charge 4 (an Xmas present now only 6 months old) was syncing normally (and usually very quickly) with my Samsung Android phone (also new- only 1 month old). Then it stopped syncing at all.
No changes had been made to the phone, the apps setting or the tracker preceding the problem occurring.
At first the Charge 4 was visible in the app (but not syncing with it)  but then when I tried uninstalling and reinstalling it, I found I was unable to reinstall it - the Fitbit app now behaves as if it cannot even see the tracker as a nearby Bluetooth device. In summary, I have tried everything I can think of:-
- I checked to make sure I had the most recent version of the app and my phone's firmware.
-I deleted the tracker from the app and tried to set it up as a new device but this does not work - the app behaves as if it cannot even see the device when I go through the set up routine, even though the device is nearby (on its charger no more than a meter away).
- I tried rebooting the tracker (multiple times).
- I tried rebooting the phone (multiple times)

- I tried uninstalling the app and reinstalling it - twice
- I tried checking to make sure Blue tooth was still on and able to view (other) nearby Bluetooth devices
- I tried turning Bluetooth off and on multiple times
- I tried checking to make sure appropriate permissions had been granted the app (location services, nearby devices)
NOTHING WORKS and going through the "set up new device" in the app just results in it searching constantly for a nearby Charge 4 without result then asking me to "Try again" Over , and over , and over again. 
After 2 days of trying I am fed up and need help.
Please though, do not just give me a stock answer cut and pasted from another query which sometimes happens with these help forums. Please read what I have said above about what I have tried before responding as I think I have tried everything suggested to prior members of this forums with similar problems. Thank you. 

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[Julia_G]

Hi, @Peterm1000 , the only thing I could add to what you have already tried is to ask about your old phone or other tablet or device that you use to sync your Fitbit.  Like most (or all?) Bluetooth devices, your Fitbit can only connect to one device at a time, so if your old phone (or any other device that runs the Fitbit app) is turned on, within Bluetooth range, they will likely interfere with each other and neither will sync.  The solution is to have Bluetooth turned on on only one syncing device at a time.  

Other than that possibility, it sounds like you have tried all the usual troubleshooting steps and it is time to get in touch with Fitbit Customer Support on contact.Fitbit.com.  Be sure to tell them the troubleshooting steps you have already tried, as that will save time.  

Good luck, let us know how it goes, and welcome to the Community!

[Peterm1000]

Julia thanks. I was alert to this possibility (though I did not mention it above)  and realizing that I was near my P.C. which has Bluetooth, I tried to isolate whether this was the issue by taking the phone and tracker  to the back of the house well away from it. It made no difference unfortunately when I attempted to sync there. This did not wholly surprise me as in any event I have in the past often synced the Fitbit app on the phone with the tracker in the study where the PC is located and it has done so without problem. Also though I log into my Fitbit account via the web on my PC the PC itself is not paired with the tracker - this is done via the phone as I have the phone with me when exercising so I can check my progress during the exercise (the tracker's screen is dreadful in that it is virtually impossible to read in sunlight making a paired phone essential).  Also my old phone is not the issue as the battery is now dead it now being unused.

[Julia_G]

Hi, @Peterm1000 , thanks for clarifying.  I think that the PC will not be an issue at all, so it won’t be that.  It sounds like you know what you are doing.

I would say that it sounds like you have tried pretty much everything.  My experience is that sync problems are pretty common and often simply resolve themselves.   Happily, yours is still under warranty.  If it doesn’t spontaneously sync in the next day or so after trying another restart, I would get in touch with Fitbit Customer Support on contact.Fitbit.com and let them know the issue you are having but also, very important, the troubleshooting steps you have already tried.  

If it does spontaneously sync in the next day or two, then carry on using it, but keep an eye to make sure that it continues to sync as expected.  If you do need to make a claim you want to make sure not to wait until it has run out of warranty.

[Peterm1000]

OK Thank you Julia. I hope it does fix itself since as I mentioned I find it essential to have my phone with me to check progress while exercising outside. The screen on the Fitbit Charge 4 is no good at all for viewing in natural sunlight. Which means I need to sync as I go so I can view it on the phone. Also When I am exercising with a goal in mind, I do not find the Fitbit site (or app) terribly useful to track progress over the longer term. Hence I have set up an Excel worksheet to track all the vital stats over the duration of the exercise program (which can run for several weeks or even months). I extract the key stats daily  (distance, steps, calories burned, calorie intake etc and put them into the spreadsheet and let Excel calculate the trend and cumulative totals etc. over the longer term. This helps keep me motivated and on track. But it does make frequent, or at least daily syncs essential as the tracker itself only provides the current information with no history.

[Rich_Laue]

First thought, removing a non syncing tracker from your fitbit account will only add more problems. We now have to add a tracker that we know the app is not communicating with. 

I'm not sure if your tracker is now syncing or if it is setup @Peterm1000.  

If not, try these steps

So let's restart the tracker, hold in the button for 10 seconds. 

On the phone. Stop the fitbit app 

Hold your finger on the fitbit icon, tap info tap stop app. 

Now go to storage and clear cache. If you also clear data, you will need to log back into your fitbit app

Now let's power down the phone, don't just do a restart. 

As for your PC, tge Fitbit app will be needed if you want to sync this way, without the pc version of the fitbit app, there will be no way to pair to the PC. 

When it comes to your spreadsheet, if it is a Google Sheet, you may want to use IFTTT to automate the transfer of the daily data. 

[Peterm1000]

OK thanks.. I will give this a try (though I think I have tried this before - (I have tried so many things I am losing track). Right now though, and  for the next several hours, I am in the middle of some other urgent work which must be finished. When I have finished it later in the day I will try your suggested process and provide an update here. regards   Peter

PS I forgot to mention. Yesterday the Charge 4 was not even showing up in the app on the phone as being paired to it. I have noticed just now  though that it now is showing up. But still not syncing. I either immediately get a message "Cannot sync your Charge 4" or alternatively it gives the following messages " Gathering data",  then "Syncing your Charge 4" then "Sync is taking a while. Sit tight" Before sync fails again and I get the message "Couldn't sync your Charge 4". 
One more thing...............I have now  installed the app on a tablet computer (Android) in our household (not my tablet but I have access to it) and set up the tablet to sync with it using Bluetooth. So I can at least sync through that means. But of course as I do not carry it with me when exercising I am still keen to get the phone syncing again too as that is my normal and most functional method of using Fitbit.

[Peterm1000]

Rich I just checked the phone/app and noted that it had auto synced.
I am not clear if this is because something has changed with the app on the phone and that is now syncing directly or whether the syncing from tracker is actually between the tablet and the tracker (see my note below about having installed the app there now) with the synced info then being passed to the phone via internet (which is how I expect the sync cycle works when there are multiple components).
But also when I tried to manually sync the phone by swiping the phone screen, at first (one time)  it seemed to work OK but then some minutes later when I manually tried syncing the phone to the tracker once more it failed immediately with the same message "Couldn't sync your Charge 4". So something is going on (something weird by all appearances) but whatever it is it has not fixed the problem completely. If OK by you I may therefore wait till tomorrow morning (Its about 5.30pm here in Aust) before trying the routine you suggested. I do not want to do anything that might cause further issues 

[Julia_G]

Hi, @Peterm1000 if you have the Fitbit app installed on your tablet as well as your phone, that is the answer.  Your Fitbit can only be paired and connected to one device at a time.  When two different devices are trying to sync your Fitbit they can interfere with each other.

The solution is to only have Bluetooth turned on on one device.  So if you want to sync via your phone, turn off Bluetooth on your tablet, and vice versa or else make sure that only one of them is in Bluetooth range.

[Peterm1000]

Julia, hi thank you. I do not think this is the issue, with respect. The problem predates me pairing the tracker on the tablet in addition to the phone. Also the problem asserts itself when the tracker and phone are well out of the tablet's Bluetooth range (i.e. outside of the house and sometimes kilometres away when I am exercising).

[Peterm1000]

Rich. Further to my message last evening although there were one or two occasions when the tracker and phone seemed to sync with other spontaneously when I opened the app, apart from perhaps one time it refused to sync by me swiping the app. Upon checking this morning its seems not to be syncing at all again - neither spontaneously when the app is newly opened not upon demand. 
I was going to try the routine you recommended this morning but life has intervened and again I have been dragged off to do some work for a few hours so it will need to wait till this afternoon. I should take the opportunity though to ask one question. It has to do with clearing the data on the app as you have suggested. One video I saw on youtube seemed to suggest that doing so would unlink the tracker and require adding it once more to the account. I am not sure if this is so or not but I noticed your opening sentence in your first correspondence in which you said "removing a non syncing tracker from your fitbit account will only add more problems" if it then became impossible to add the tracker as the app cannot communicate with it. I thought it best to ask you about this possibility (if indeed deleting data does remove the tracker). Could you advise on this please before I rush headlong into doing something I may regret. regards Peter

So, it is now later in the day and I continue to get some idiosyncratic behavior with the app on the phone. A couple of hours ago the phone seemed to be syncing on demand whenever I swiped the app screen. Then just as suddenly stopped for a time. Then it started again. Unless anyone has any better ideas perhaps I might be well advised to close this thread, leave it for a few more days to see what transpires. Though I still find the whole thing puzzling as to why the problem might suddenly start then cease without any obvious changes to my system, phone, app etc. At the moment it is still able to sync (touch wood).
There was one especially puzzling thing..................... during this whole period in which I have had difficulties, the Charge 4 was NOT showing up as one of the paired items in the phone's Bluetooth app. Upon checking (i.e. after the problem stopped occurring and the device and app began communicating again) it once again had appeared in the phone's Bluetooth list of paired items. As pairing of the tracker and the phone can ONLY be achieved through the Fitbit app (not directly through the Bluetooth app as with other paired devices) this suggests to me this problem is something to do with the Fitbit app and how it interacts with Bluetooth.  But it seems distinctly odd to me! Also, as I mentioned in another post the Charge 4 was for a time also not showing up in the Fitbit app as being the tracker linked to this account. Then just as suddenly it was once again showing up there (and has been since perhaps some time yesterday). Again - very puzzling behavior. My gut feeling is that the two behaviors are related - loss of the record of the Charge 4 in the Fitbit app may have somehow compromised its ability to use Bluetooth. Just a guess though/
Thank you everyone for your time and suggestions. I will keep my fingers crossed. 

Moderator edit: updated post. 

[Julia_G]

@Peterm1000 , with respect, that is exactly what is going on, and if you continue to try to sync with Bluetooth turned on on two different devices which are both competing to sync your Fitbit, you will continue to have intermittent sync issues.  Now that you have updated your message to reveal that you simultaneously have two devices running the Fitbit app with Bluetooth turned on, I am quite sure that @Rich_Laue will agree with me that this can create significant issues.  

The solution, as I said, is to have BT turned off on one of the two devices when you try to sync. 

The fact that you noted your Fitbit was no longer connected to your phone’s Bluetooth settings is further evidence of this.  As I mentioned above, your Fitbit can only connect to one device at a time - and therefore can be “captured” by another competing device.

Your sync issues when out and about may very well be from a different cause - for example the quality of your internet.  You cannot sync without internet - Bluetooth alone is not sufficient.  Sync issues are common and can be from multiple causes - and often they simply correct themselves, although folks are then convinced that whatever they did “fixed” it.  Sometimes it did fix it!  But often it was just a coincidence. 

However, trying to sync with two different devices within Bluetooth range of each other, both with Bluetooth turned on, is known to be problematic.  Your sync will be simpler when at home if you turn Bluetooth off on one of your two devices.

[Peterm1000]

Julia, thank you for this. It is appreciated. 
Unfortunately what throws your theory out it seems to me is:
(1) the problem started when I definitely had only one Bluetooth operating and
(2) this afternoon  I have turned off Bluetooth on all except the phone with the app that I am trying to sync to  and just now as I check the problem has reasserted itself.
Also (3) when I previously tried syncing the tablet to the Charge 4 (with the phone also in the immediate proximity of both) the tablet had no problem at all repeatedly syncing to it - though the phone resolutely refused to sync.
As of right now the Fitbit charge is no longer syncing to the phone (though it temporarily was previously earlier in the day) and also when I checked I confirmed that the Charge 4 is no longer showing up as a paired device in the Fitbit app on that phone. For some reason the app on that phone seems to keep losing the Charge 4 as a paired device. Could this instead be the source of the problem?