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.

[VFRMark]

I really think  that if a user has to disconnect WiFi from his phone to make maps work that this is not a solution and this should not be marked solved.

Disconnecting WiFi is a pretty clever work around but the maps should work without having to switch WiFi off every time you go for a run or a walk.   Please reverse the "solved status as its not solved

[Delevanti]

Is "solved" posted automatically? I definitely don't consider this issue as solved either...... far from it.

[Miata]

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@Hotlush wrote:

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/...

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I use this method and test run for 25 minutes, it never lost connection.

This weekend I will try to run more than 1 hour and see result.

[urmoluts]

did you use in 25 min workouts bluetooth headphones also?

[Delevanti]

I did not

[freddybigs10]

@urmoluts my runs are usually 90+ minutes and I always use Bluetooth headphones. After I applied my fix I haven't had any issues. 

[Shawnzy]

connected GSP with my iphone 7

Connected gsp used to work just fine it would connect and than go to connecting but my workout results would show up on the fitibit app and strava once workout was complete. Now the fitbit exercise app only runs for 2 minutes than it quits and goes to home screen. What is going on?

[Lindy52]

Me too and now I'm not getting emails or alerts from my apps.  Any suggestions?

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

[freddybigs10]

I don't know if it's the same for iOS as Android but on my phone (on Android Pie) my Versa now appears as a connected device in Bluetooth settings. Before it did not appear as a connected device and I had all those "connecting" issues. I haven't had anymore issues since I got it to actually connect. That may be a good way to see if your Versa is not properly connected to your phone. 

[Miata]

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@Miata wrote:

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@Hotlush wrote:

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/...

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I use this method and test run for 25 minutes, it never lost connection.

This weekend I will try to run more than 1 hour and see result.

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Yesterday, run 30 minutes.

Connection lost after start only few minute.

This is not a true solution.

[DanAboutTown]

I have had the same issues; I contacted Fitbit help because my Versa would initially connect, then keep losing GPS connection on a run and say "connecting". It would reconnect for a few hundred metres before disconnecting again. Very frustrating and led to some ridiculous route maps, and I would lose about 1k of a 5k run because of it. 

On Thursday I restarted my phone, unpaired everything that used Bluetooth from my phone, and factory reset my watch. Since then, I've been on a walk and a run and the watch hasn't disconnected once. I made sure that the Fitbit app was open on my phone and that was the only thing running. I'm going to continue testing it, and I want to start using Spotify on my phone and Bluetooth headphones when I'm running, so I'll test it with these things and see if it still stays connected. 

I'm not sure if it's noteworthy, but while playing around with the Fitbit app I clicked to record a run through Fitbit on my phone. Since then, MobileTrack has been present as a device when I go into my Fitbit account (it says it's connected to another device). It wasn't there before; not sure if it would help with the GPS, but something to mention anyway...

[urmoluts]

I use also endomondo or mobiletrack because fitbit versa does not work. i must say after mobiletrack use.. i feel that versa to buy is not worth.. charge hr and charge 2 did get better way to show hr rate.

[HeydyF]

Hello guys! I hope you are doin' great today! I'm sorry to hear that you still having inconveniences with the GPS feature on your Fitbit Versa. If you haven't. I'd like you to make sure that you have the latest version of the Fitbit app on your Android device and on your iOS as well. If so, then I'd like you to take a look at all the troubleshooting steps in this help article: Why isn't GPS working on my Fitbit device? 

Let me know how it goes guys! 

[JLewis11]

Let us know

[coolman78]

I too got frustrated with the my Versa after recent upgrades.  I finally followed a reviewer in Playstore to revert back to an earlier version of the app. I finally caved after so must frustration and useless solution (telling us to follow generic troubleshoot is not the solution when it is the software itself) from fitbit.

I uninstalled my fitbit app on my android S8 (Oreo).  I then installed a previous version (2.74.2 - I believed released in early July) of fitbit..This can be found in bpkmirror (the first letter is actually "a" as fitbit won't let me write the actual word.  Been using this previous version for over a week now.. Did couple bike rides (16km and 23km) and a run (8.5km) and found it connected like before.

Disadvantage of previous version is that you have less modification for quick replies.. Also don't set playstore to auto update apps.  When you "update all" manually make sure you hit "x" (i.e. cancel) on fitbit app update

Regards,

Vince

[dlefevre]

I am jumping ship.  I am tired of the consistent disconnects I have with my walking.  I've tried every suggestion here and those disconnects will not go away.

I have worked with different types of computers my entire adult life and I understand bugs and I have some tolerance with working around them. What upsets me most about this particular issue is how Fitbit is (or, maybe more accurately, is not) handling this situation. If there was some indication that they cared about the problem and were actively trying to find solutions I would stay with them. However I don't see that here.

So I am going to go in another direction. For those of you who did work on this, thank you.

--dcl

Dave

[DanAboutTown]

Me too. My "fix" lasted all of two days before I started experiencing the same issues on a run this morning, when it disconnected six times in the space of a 5k run. I've given up troubleshooting it, as it seems Fitbit did a long time ago. If they were to acknowledge the issue and let us know it would be fixed in a future update, I could use MobileTrack until then. As they seem to have no interest in helping us in this matter, the Samsung Galaxy watch is starting to look very appealing...

[Shawnzy]

I changed to automatic lap settings in the exercise app to 3miles instead of the default 0.5miles and this seemed to work and it didn't quit on me. However you need to set it each time you go for a run. Now if only my apple ipods worked better.

[DanAboutTown]

I've just received an email from Fitbit regarding this; it contained this:

"We would like to share with you that is true that currently, we are working to solve an issue affecting the GPS connection for Android devices with the version 8.0 (Oreo). We are investigating it however we don't have an estimated time for the fix. It should be either through our system or with a new update for the watch or for the app. In the meantime, please let us know if the following is not enough to get you back on track:   

Turn on the notification widget in settings:
- Tap on watch
- Tap Notifications
- Turn on "Notification Widget"

*Turning on the widget prevents Android from shutting off the connection between the phone and tracker/watch"

I've had a look through my watch settings, and can't find the "notification widget". Could someone point me in the right direction?

[pixbuf]

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@coolman78 wrote:

I uninstalled my fitbit app on my android S8 (Oreo).  I then installed a previous version (2.74.2 - I believed released in early July) of fitbit..This can be found in bpkmirror (the first letter is actually "a" as fitbit won't let me write the actual word.  Been using this previous version for over a week now.. Did couple bike rides (16km and 23km) and a run (8.5km) and found it connected like before.

Vince

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I tried this today and I got an accurate distance measurement. This version was released on July 11. I had a whole week of accurate distances following July 11. Then they "updated" the app and it all went to hell again. I'm hoping this version will work. Thanks, @coolman78.