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.

[Blue_rose123]

I am also having a similar issue. My sleep stages were showing initially, then, edited the bed time and it stopped showing my sleep score and pattern. 😅 Is this a glitch in the system? Please help 🙏

[jhotz]

I have a versa 2 and this is happening to me now ( 2+ years later).  Was there ever a fix?

[fastnet]

No lots of the same resetting advice but nothing that works

Sent from my iPhone

[tupty]

Ok Ive solved it ,   Wife bought a new Fitbit , I got her charge 2 to play with -- showed sleep stages on her phone  didnt on mine .

Installed the software , added the fitbit removed the fitbit , removed the software reinstalled on phone Etc etc  nothing worked .

So I came online ON MY LAPTOP instead  in the Dashboard settings ( Cog top right)  there is your device "Charge2" or whatever device you use , click on it  and in the menu that appears is an option "SLEEP TRACKING"   .. this was set to normal - so I set it to sensitive and hey presto the sleep tracking now works properly .

THIS sleep tracking option and setting isnt on the MOBILE version software so its something you can only access by laptop or PC .

Hopefully this will work for you too!!!  write back if it does.

Love to all ... Tupty

[fastnet]

Put mine on sensitive as well still only worked occasionally so bought an Apple Watch. It’s different is all I can say not sure if it’s better to be honest.

Sent from my iPhone

[Nancy618]

You're going to regret putting it on sensitive. Just sayin.

Make sure you have the latest firmware. After the last update end of April my Charge 3 has been giving me a sleep pattern every night. 

[Kelly23freeman]

I feel the same. I have the Charge 4. I have supported Fitbit from the start, but nothing works and it seems this issue has been going on for awhile. I feel like if you pay for something they should deliver on its promise or at least try to fix the problem. This thread  goes on for years. This will be my last purchase from Fitbit unless they resolve their issues. 

[GodsRaven]

More than 3 years after your post, and more than a year after your edit, I'm having this issue with my new Versa 3.  Fitbit doesn't care.  It's a community for us to complain to each other, but I seriously doubt they look at anything here.  Fitbit doesn't care.

[Heatha26]

Yup. I quit the bit and bought an Oura Ring. Sleep stages are great… you can prob get a used model 2 one on eBay.

Sent from my iPhone

[gzvdnk1]

Hey, I feel for ya man.

I still have my charge 3 and they have updated the software a few times, and it works fine now almost every night -- some nights my sleep stages are broken and don't last the 3 hrs required, so I don't get a reading, but that's my issue, when I sleep through the night it works.

I'm not familiar with how old the Versa 3 is, and not familiar with the product. Try getting on a thread specifically for the Versa 3 -- hope it helps.

[Nikki2009]

Would never buy their product again. My wife and I both own one. Within a year both stopped recording sleep. None if the tricks work. Junk.

[Nancy618]

Make sure you install the updates, both the firmware and app. 

[BDangBill]

Thanks for posting. Worked perfectly for me this morning. 

[MimiBPP]

My Sense is doing the same thing.  It started a couple of weeks ago.  I have tried everything but reset.  I guess I will try that now.  Any other ideas?  It is up to date.

[Govenor]

How many years will this continue to be an issue. I’m a very early Fitbit adopter (before they ever had sleep tracking). I saw the conversion to sleep stages after the first sleep tracking to be a beneficial update. I actually think it could be a hardware problem. My experience…I buy the current Charge tracker, sleep tracking works perfectly for 95% or more of the time, then after a year or so you get into this cycle that it goes to simplified tracking. No matter what I do it doesn’t fix the problem. So for instance I’ve had the Charge 5 for about a year, other than maybe 4 days the sleep stage tracking worked fine over that year. Now for the last 2 weeks I’ve had simplified sleep tracking and no advice you take will kick you out of the cycle. I tend to get frustrated and buy a new tracker. As a result this is the 4th consecutive tracker with a similar experience. I am doing nothing different over the period of time for it to stop working. I keep hoping some other company (looking at you Apple) builds something with comparable battery life that actually works for an extended period of time. For Fitbit/google…fix your products so they work or don’t offer things as a feature!

[esteban_02]

Crazy this issue persist after so long, now that Fitbit is owned by Google I think it will never be fixed.
I had an Inpire 2 and worked well, now I´m using an Inspire 3 and in 10 days it just logged one night, I bought the new version just to track sleep given that is super accurate when it works!

😤

[Oli131313]

I too am having this issue. The battery is fine, the band is worn in a good place. Heart rate data shows a steady recording on the nights in question, but no sleep stages. 

I have tried this workaround and just deleting and re-logging the sleep at the time already logged. 

The app is up to date, with no updates available. 

Still no sleep stages. 

[Mazzid]

My old Fitbit Versa 1 showed all the sleep stages really well. My new one, Versa 2, has never shown them. Very disappointed in this product as I mainly bought it to monitor my sleep patterns, because I don’t sleep very well.

Sent from my iPhone