Not showing Sleep Stages - possible reason why

[G45]

Hello,

Edit: I posted this before I updated to the new version of the app (Android) that was released on the same day. Last night, I got a nice sleeping stages view and following with an automatic separation of the 'Nap time' with patterns that happened right after...

I'm hoping this will be delivered to the Fitbit tech team, as I'm (and many other) experiencing issues of sleep tracking does not show the sleep stages only the pattern. Usually, it works fine for a bit, and than suddenly, no more sleep states. 

if you search about this issue, you will find a lot of suggestions to fix this problem from reset your device, the location of the Fitbit on the wrist (constant heart rate) to remove the sleep data and add it again. None of them are the cause of the issue, as for most of us, it worked perfectly until it didn't. 

I think that I found a hint for that the issue might be, and hoping that the Fitbit team will get it and will investigate further. I think the issue is with the backend when processing the data, and I have a proof for it! 

In the past two months of owning the Charge 3, after i suddenly stop seeing the sleep stages, I have noticed that at times when I awake in the middle of the night, I see the stages, and in the morning, they are gone, converted to patterns. I had two theories: 1. Is that as soon as the device sense a nap that follows the night time sleep, it flag the entire sleep duration as a nap and therefore, does not shows the sleep stages, and, 2. I have notices that the heart rate actually sync few min AFTER the sleep is, which, if following the rules, sleep stages needs heart rate measurement, and if the app does not get it, it will not show the stages. 

However, today, I had the perfect opportunity to proof that something is wrong with the backend process, and I would like to share my finding with you all. 

Please see the attach screen shot below and note the time stamp:
at 7:12am I got a nice sleep stages view (left), and at 9:02 it changed to sleep patterns (right). 
immediately, I have noticed something else - the sleep tracking indicates that I was a sleep until 8:11am, while in reality, I was already 11 minutes in my first work meeting of the day. 

now, things are getting interesting... I was thinking: what if I'll delete the data and add it again only until 6:49am, Do I get back the sleep stages?... and I did! , from there, I wanted to find the exact point where the sleep states transformed into sleep patterns, and I found the exact moment: 7:01am to 7:02am. 
See the screenshots below. 

Here, at 7:02am (left), it shows the sleep patterns, and indicates that I slept for 7 hours and 37 min, now, I have deleted the data and added it again, this time ONE MINUTE less, to 7:01am (right), and behold! I have the sleep stages again! and weirdly enough, my sleep duration has changed to 7 hours and 2 min. There is a 35 min difference in the sleep duration between one minute of sleep data (which may be because with the sleep stages I'm getting more accurate count of minutes being awake, and I'm too lazy to actually do the calculation, so, please excuse me for not going all that scientific 🙂 ) 

I'm sure the Fitbit QA team will find this interesting and will proof that something in the back end calculation is wrong... and just to point out: this is not a odd one. I have managed to repeat this in other past occasions. 

Hoping this would help to solve the issue.

[Veryhidden]

Sorry to hear that. I reset mine and cleaned contacts up as advised and so
far it’s working fine. I note they ( Fitbit) need a 3 hour minimum sleep
period before providing detail so when I sleep less than 3 I don’t get
it..... the other advice I have thankfully followed was to wear the band
tight enough that it doesn’t move about on my wrist. Took a bit of getting
used to at first.
I think if you are really unhappy you can invoke statutory rights and
return it? I would check that with trading standards first however before
going down that route. It must be so frustrating for you not getting the
data you require. Stay safe.

[cinders9]

No luck. Last night I 

Cleaned it ( wasn't dirty though)

Reset it on charger

Deleted the cache on the app

Deleted the app

Restarted the phone

Installed the app

Deleted the charge from the app

Re set up the charge 3 in the app

Wore the band properly

I got 8 hrs 17 min simplified sleep

No detailed sleep again! 

This is with premium.

The charge does show sleep time after syncing, but before sync says sleep not tracked. 

[Mommado]

Mine finally worked properly last night after iver a week. I deleted a few nights of details.I turned off inoic. I unregistered devices in app. uninstalled the app. Restarted phone. Restarted inoic. In that order. Don't know why it worked? Fingers crossed. Hopefully it will work for at least awhile. I'm sure something will go wring again soon. Good luckSent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy S® 6.

[fastnet]

Yes mine works for a week or so then stops working for another 2 or3 weeks. Given up on it

Sent from my iPhone

[gzvdnk1]

One last thing that makes sense. Try cleaning off the sensor real good with alcohol (water would probably work if you have no rubbing alcohol). After dry really well.

[gzvdnk1]

You did everything. Sorry none of it worked. I'll probably be in the same boat in the future

[Mommado]

Thank you,  I have done that many times. They are always cleaned. Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy S® 6.

I hope not! At 249.00 price point we should expect a mich better product and app!! This will be my last fitbit.Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy S® 6.

[Lilliehenley]

just for a 🤭! My sister and I are together during the pandemic. We got our InspireHR at the same time. Set them up together—moving to another separate room for blue tooth sync. We’ve had them a month now. She always gets her sleep stages and I’ve gotten mine about 5 times! How do you explain that? LOL 

I wouldn’t recommend buying a premium when the “default” doesn’t work right. 
It is either a marketing ploy to sell premiums or software teams suck. Either way, Fitbit needs To change something, integrity or software engineers‘ capabilities! 

Moderator edit: format

[Happy2B]

I have the same problem and followed the advice but my Fitbit 3 still doesn't record my sleep accurately. I use a CPAP machine and sleep and awake times are recorded accurately. What do I do now? Perhaps bin my Fitbit as it's not fit for purpose. So frustrated!

Same here. I'm asking for a refund. The Fitbit is hopeless and it's frustrating and impossible to speak with a human being via phone.

[Heatha26]

This stock answer is not a good one because my sleep stages work fine for a week and then stop working for a week or more even when all of those things are exactly the same. I am about to throw out this Fitbit because it has been driving me insane for months. 

100% with you. 

[TenTen88]

Hey everyone, 

I have also not been getting my sleep stages, but I also had the problem where my restoration heart rate wasn’t showing either. I saw on the thread for that issue that deleting the app and the reinstalling it from the Apple App Store was fixing the heart rate issue for people starting today. I tried it and both my restoration heart rate and sleep stages have reappeared. I also cleaned the contacts and sensor with rubbing alcohol for good measure. 

I’ve tried this fix for the same problems before today with no luck. If you have too maybe try it now (8/31/2020 or later). 

[MarcBro]

Always the same answer from FitBit. When all the issues start after a firmware upgrade, it's in the code. The issues with my Ionic after the latest updates have me turned off on FitBit products. My next watch will be another Android based product aside from FitBit.

[Katrinschlenzka]

I just had the same problem.  Been working fine for months and months.  Scared to delete the app as I don’t want to lose the historic data.  
I have updated the version both on app and device, wiped contacts, not sure what else to do.  The way I’m wearing it isn’t any different. 

[Nhimai]

I had the same issue but I fixed it. 

G45 used to mention in this thread and I followed his tactics and it seems to work. 

One night I pressed my Begin sleep now at like 12am but not sleeping until like 3am. I sleep for 2 hrs then woke up for an hour and sleep again until like 8am. Of course when I woke up again at 8am no sleep stage or anything. 

Next day the same thing happened. I slept so well the whole night until 8:24am. Then woke up and slept again. Then woke up at 9:30 and no sleep stage.
I did something that fixed both days and have the sleep stages of both days appear again (magically). 

The idea behind this is if you have a short nap after the long sleep- it erased all the data before that and treated your entire night as a nap or nothing. So no sleep stage. But if you can go back and adjust the sleep log time- from the time before you think you start sleeping- to the time you think (or you know) you woke up from that long sleep. Make sure you don’t include the time of your new nap. 

For example, in my first day before, I adjust sleep log from 3am to 6am then it showed all the sleep stages. On the second day I adjust sleep log from 12am (when I start sleeping) until 8:20 (it’s ok to adjust sleep log to the time before you woke up from long sleep- not after as it might be too close to your nap time), then sleep stages show again. 

All the data of your sleep stage was never lost- it was always there. It’s not about your heart rate measurement (only in some case where you wear it too loose). Think about this- if you can check at Anytime your heart rate- why it doesn’t do the job at night while you are having even less movement than during the day? The heart rate sensor is not the issue. And ALL your heart rates data is always there. What you have to do is you need to adjust the time log to fit into your main sleep only- not including the short nap or whatever rest you have after. 

Having said so, the fact that we have to remember our sleep log and adjust this- prove that this device sucks. I bought this with the hope that it can track my sleep itself, and it seems that now I’m the one who track my own sleep. Only thing I can see out of this is my sleep stage detail. 

But not sure if I will have the patience to do this in the long time. 

[Kec31]

This is still a problem for lots of others. And the above comment does not give a simple solution. I just got my fitbit and wanted to use it to track my sleep. It worked one night. 

I do believe the issue is with begin sleep now.

My mother in law gave hers away because it's not user friendly.

Moderator Edit: Merged replies 

[Mommado]

Your app is not allowing location on device. I randomly got a pop up about location and I allowed it and it has been working every night since.Sent from my Galaxy

[WilliamWinner]

I tried the delete log and add it back one minute shorter and it worked for me the first time.  Only had this happen once so we'll see if it keeps working but great suggestion.

[Bldrt]

Same issue here. Bought the charge 4 a week ago for heart rate and sleep tracking. First 5 nights were fine, last 2 nights I got only simplified data.

The suggestions in this thread are not a fix. I hope there will be a fix very soon!

[Nancy618]

I'm having heart issues (irregular heartbeat and low rate). Apparently, at night, my heart rate goes low enough or rhythm is so erratic that the fitbit cannot get a consistent reading. I've been getting no sleep pattern several times a week. 

[Johnathon-W]

This is exactly how mine is giving me issues! It worked perfectly without any issues for 2 consecutive months, and now, every night it shows simplified data.