New 2020 firmware update for fitbit charge 3 (version 1.84.5)

[Oleg1975]

There is a new firmware version 1.84.5 in the list of updates for charge 3. However, I'm still at 1.63.5 and when I try to update the app says it is up to date

[Carfan]

Mine loses charge to 98 after two minutes at about 6 o’clock it will die and I used to be able to go a week.

Sent from my iPhone

[cds333]

They constantly sweep older models under the rug so their engineers can get started on the next model. The 4 just got a firmware update that lets you keep the screen on longer, among other things. Considering this "feature" would take an engineer literally less than 5 minutes to code from scratch, and given how similar the two models are, it would take no more than another 5 minutes to copy that code over to the repository for the Charge 3 and push an update... so I have to ask- where the **** is this feature on the Charge 3?!? Nowhere in sight! 

Clearly their customers are not even worth 10 minutes of their time after spending over $100 on the Charge 3, and waiting months and months for the MOST BASIC features. 

If we were smart we would just go grab a Charge 4, put our Charge 3 in the box, and return it. That's about the only way to get your money's worth out of a fitbit product.

[sebastianer]

My Charge 3 will be my last Fitbit. 

I bought this clock end of 2019. And I still have the following 2 issues:

Issue 1 (major issue): Sync barely works. Every 3-4 days I turn on Bluetooth, then my phone (Google Pixel 4) quickly connects to Charge 3), I open Fitbit app, press "Sync now". And then I need to close/open fitbit app like 2-5 times until the app finally syncs my device. This takes a lot of time and it's frustrating. 

It should take just a few seconds and work straight away. 

I just use this watch to control my heart rate when running, track how much time I run and track my sleep. 

But it's painful to sync this device with the phone every few days. 

Issue 2: the watch sometimes gets stuck (watch doesn't respond to normal input). To fix this I just open Fitbit app, I change the "Clock Face" to another one. And this seems to unstuck it. 

I also feel like this watch could do much more and it's just abandoned. For example, watch should be smart enough to disable the screen wake function at night and enable it during the day.

 But no, you need to manually turn this off and on. (And I can't do this now, because just noticed that "Issue 2" just happened). 

[Auggiejack]

I'm thinking about dumping fitbit altogether.

[N2C]

@KylaSmyla Had the same issue and to resolve it they sent a replacement. It was only afterwards did i realise the black screen is a major issue.

[Pbaillie]

I haven't gotten update notifications for a longtime.

[tomtcom]

Maybe this is for United healthcare too.

https://m.gsmarena.com/fitbit_charge_3_receives_an_update_with_charge_4_features-amp-44439.php

[Fitrunner2019]

What's the expected general release date for this?

i'm having sooooo many issues with my current watch, it's drives me crazy!

[SteveH]

The new firmware (1.88.11) is rolling out now and should reach everyone within a week or two. There is a separate thread discussing it at https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Charge-3/Charge-3-Firmware-Release-1-88-11/td-p/4371744

[SunsetRunner]

Maybe I'm an idiot, but my firmware version says 28.20001.63.5

[SunsetRunner]

The sync issue is because you are not syncing it every day.  I had a similar issue as you.  I would only sync it every few days.  One time I didn't sync it for a week, then it just froze.  Had to reset and the reason is that there is too much "data" trying to sync.  Bluetooth data transfer is slower than usb 1.0. (Or at least feels that way).  I just leave my location and bluetooth on all the time now and it will sync whenever it feels like it and I haven't had a problem since.

[SteveH]

@SunsetRunner wrote:

Maybe I'm an idiot, but my firmware version says 28.20001.63.5

---

Certainly not an idiot, but you do seem to be a bit behind with your firmware. According to the help files at https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1372.htm after 1.63.5 there are 1.84.5 and then 1.88.11. Don't know why you are not being updated.

[Corr]

@SteveH , @SunsetRunner 

Sorry, but this is not the case.

Firmware version 1.84.5 was only released to a small group of people in a certain health program.

Version 1.88.11 is rolled out now, but in a very very slow pace. This means that for most people 1.63.5 still is the most recent version.

[SteveH]

Thanks @Corr I'd forgotten about that health program exception (I wish they'd document it in that help file)

[Corr]

Hi @SteveH . I totally agree, the help files haven't been updated for a while, that's quite confusing from time to time and especially now the Charge 3 users are waiting for their firmeware update.

[KylaSmyla]

Right, you're on 1.63.5, which is the current version, and you might not get the update for another week or two. It's a phased rollout. You should have it within 2 weeks or so. 

[Carfan]

I haven’t gotten that update yet either

Sent from my iPhone

[Ira12]

This is absolutely what they do!  Bee with Fitbit since the start!  Every time a ‘better’ version is released the old one starts playing up! 

Today husband has a firmware update. It’s not even acknowledging a firmware update for me! 

[NancyNic]

I'm not eager to download this new update. My charge 3 is working fine and I don't want to change it. The last update took away some features I be liked and I don't want that to happen again so I'm not going to update. I've been using this charge 3 for going on 2years now and it was free from my health insurance so I feel like I got a really good deal and it has been a great product.

[MrJohn312]

Thank you for clarifying this! I was going crazy trying to figure out why it wasn't updating to the 1.84.5. LOL I kept taking the Charge 3 off and relinking it to my account.

Thank you again. 🙂