Fitbit Versa connected GPS issues

[SunsetRunner]

Hi There!

My versa loses connection with my phone (nexus 5x) during bike excercise and thus shows no route on the map. I know I have gps, because Strava app shows it right.

Is this a bug in the software from the Versa?

I tried to start an excercise from fitbit app, but only walk, run or hike does gps. (no bike. why not?!?) so i choose hike.  now i have a hike excercise with hr and ps data. this this excercise shows after sync with strava in strava as hike. in strava i change hike in bike.

now i have bike excercise in strava with hr and gps. after a while just from magic, the ecercise in strava has been changed back into hike again with no hr data anymore.

I know that fitbit versa is not a swiss watch, but at least it should be working as advertised!

connected gps is not not working. People at Fitbit, can you fix this?

Moderator Edit: Updated Subject For Clarity.

[Monomono]

I'm equally peed off. My gps works maybe one out of 7 tries. Just got back from a NYC visit where we walked miles a day, and only have two maps to show from the 8 days, and various times a day, every day, I turned on Versa walking tracker. I expected maps from whole trip!! Oh yeah- super annoying and very weird- one of the maps of a walk during NYC visit showed my home town instead!! Wtf?

using IPhone 7 plus and updated the app on phone and turned off watch, nothing helped

[urmoluts]

i was writing to support team and what i did get... oneplus 6 is not supported phone. so before you buy fitbit versa, look is your phone supported list or not. if not buy phone what is supported and then buy versa. seems to be only solution 😞

or you have versa for walking and when you do some sport have ionic or some garmin.

sad that fitbit build new devices but they not support popular phones like huawei p20, oneplus 6 etc...

[freddybigs10]

I had the same issue with my Versa which started about 2 or 3 updates ago. I use the Pixel XL 2 and I always use Bluetooth headphones when I'm out running. Wether I start it manually or allow the Versa to auto detect the run it will connect at first but will disconnect about 2 minutes later and get stuck on "connecting". This makes the Versa think I've only run 5-6 miles when in fact I've run 8 miles. I have now found a solution, at least for my phone and it's simple. I did install and setup Strava to access my Versa and I don't know if that had anything to do with it it not. What I think actually fixed the Versa "connecting" issue is that I went into my Bluetooth app settings and cleared it's cache and data. After that I went into the Fitbit app and accessed the Versa through there and it was paired to my phone again. I've now gone on 2 runs and I've had no "connecting" issue and it correctly detects my run distance. 

[MikeMarv]

Thank you. I had tried many of the other remedies and they didn't work. I uninstalled and reinstalled the versa from the app and my run app worked correctly for the first time in weeks.

[MidwestMisc]

Awesome. Glad this worked for you! It can be extremely frustrating!

[MarcoGFitbit]

Hello everyone, I hope you're all doing well. 

I appreciate some of you have come back and let me know the troubleshooting steps you've tried so far in order to resolve this issue. I'm very glad. 

If you're still having trouble with Connected GPS, please check @freddybigs10's post above as this has proven to be effecting in this situation. 

Thanks again for your patience and understanding, please keep me updated! 

[freddybigs10]

Anybody that tries this fix (as I explained in a previous post) please reply to the thread so that the community can verify the effectiveness of it. Please add what phone you're using as well to see if it works even on currently unsupported devices. 

[dlefevre]

After the recent release of the Android app upgrade for Fitbit, the reliability of the connected GPS has improved greatly.  I don't know if this is because the code was changed or because the app reinstall cleared out caches and forced a watch reconnect, however.

This is on a Pixel 2, which I think is technically unsupported but should be fairly similar to the supported Pixel. 

Edit: Just a note: it's still not at 100%.  It seems like "Connecting..." happens if the Pixel is trying to sync with the watch, like the two Bluetooth connections are fighting each other.  So it now seems like turning of "Constant Sync" in the controls helps improve the reliability. 

[MarcoGFitbit]

Hello @dlefevre, thanks for joining the Fitbit Community, it's great to have you on board. It's nice to see you too @freddybigs10, thanks for taking the time to reply. 

@dlefevre, I appreciate you have shared your experience with us and for letting us know the GPS connectivity has improved after the latest app update on Android, I'm very glad. Please keep up updated with your findings. 

@freddybigs10, thanks for your participation in the Forums and for being on top of this situation, I'm sure many members will find your troubleshooting steps helpful. Kudos! 

Happy stepping! 

[Delevanti]

Hi RobertoME,

Just bought the Versa this week, so I should have the last Android updates, the GPS doesn't connect at all. I checked the compatible devices and My Samsung S9 is not in there. Is this the reason? Also, the Tennis App doesn't do anything, it just stays at 0. I tried to install & uninstall, went through all the forums, nothing helps. If my phone is the issue, I need to know asap, I have a 7-day window to return it.

Thanks for the help

[SullyTex]

I return it and get your refund. Buy a Garmin w/ GPS. The Versa’s GPS comes from the phone via BT. And your phone is not supported. I have the same phone and went with a Garmin w/ GPS builtin. Best decision I ever made!

-T

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

[pixbuf]

You can't be certain it's your phone. I had a "supported" phone and I had all kinds of connection problems nearly all the time. I then got an "unsupported" phone, and had the same problems. In short, it's probably not the phone.

[Delevanti]

That's not what I wanted to hear 😞 . It's very disappointing, you get so rev up when you get that tech and then nothing! I will work at it for an other week and then go from there! Hopefully it's going to work, if not bye bye Fitbit. Thanks for the reply

[Delevanti]

Thanks for the reply! Trying to isolate the issue is not as easy as I thought! I am giving it a couple more days. I hope I will figure it out! You'd think new watch + new phone would be a perfect match

[Jimbo62]

OK, I was having this issue. I have a iphone 6S. I previously had a Charge 2 and purchased a versa. When I got the versa, I deleted the charge and added in the versa. I was able to see it in the bluetooth list, transfer music to it, all was working, and it connected to gps 1 time smoothly. I then had issues with it. What I did to resolve my issue, was sign out of all logins to fitbit (web, etc), remove the versa, delete the app, reboot the phone, reboot the versa, install the app, then pair the versa. It has worked much better. I also noticed that my iphone was running in out of "Peak Performance Capability". My battery Max Cap. is 85%, and I totally drained it while doing something. This automatically took it out of the "Peak Performance Capability", and I manually put it back. I don't think this fixed the issue, but that the app delete did, but I could be wrong. I will keep an eye on it, I hope this helps others.

[Ezra_D]

I have a versa with a Galaxy S9+. Here's what I did:

first reset the watch by holding down the left and bottom right buttons until the fitbit logo comes up on screen (about 10 seconds) and then releasing it. 

Afterwards, it should connect (I would be sure and turn off wifi on your phone when using connected GPS)

If that does not work...

Well give it a try and let me know 🙂

Fingers crossed.

[Hotlush]

Possible fix on android Oreo has worked for me; https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Versa/Connected-GPS-Android-Oreo-possible-fix/m-p/2907679/highlight/...

[Delevanti]

Thanks for the help.You worked at it hardcore! What happenned to unboxing a device and it actually works as it should right away? I actually was able to make the GPS work this morning by restarting the Versa than deactivating the phone's wifi. The Versa's GPS connected for a run * a bike ride. Hope it sticks! 

[Delevanti]

I did exactly that (resetting the Versa) and disabling the S9's wifi and the GPS connected for a run & a bike session. I hope it's going to stick.

Now if I could get this **ahem** tennis app to work, I will be golden.

Thanks for the help!

[Ezra_D]

Man, I hope so too! Good luck!