Notification service not running. Versa 2 and OnePlus 7

[wilbot]

My new Versa 2 doesn't seem to have big problems except for one thing: no notifications at all on it. The Fitbit version is 35.68.9.12 and the app is 3.5, so both appear to be up to date. I'm running a OnePlus 7 with 8GB RAM and plenty of unused storage, so I don't think that's a problem. It's running Android 9 and Oxygen OS 9.5.8, also the latest non beta software.

I tried everything on the support page at https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1610/?l=en_US&c=Topics%3ATroubleshooting&p=versa... including making the phone forget the Fitbit, reinstalling the app, restarting the phone and the Fitbit, and all that. But the problem that remains consistent is the message at the top of the notifications page that says "Notification service not running. Versa 2 and OnePlus 7. A phone restart is required to re-enable notifications on your tracker." But nothing gets that to clear, or the notifications to work. I can press the overthrow menu and send a test call notification, which works, but no real notifications do. The Fitbit app also has "special notification access" turned on, so I'm at a loss! Can anyone please help? Thanks.

[Odyssey13]

Hi @wilbot  your phone isn't on the list of compatible devices? click to see

Could that be the problem?

[wilbot]

Ah, this is true. It could be. Thanks. I'll hold out hope that it can be listed as compatible in the future.

[werionae]

It helped me on OnePlus 7 Pro:

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Versa-Smartwatches/Notification-service-not-running/m-p/3588491/high...

[wilbot]

Hey, thanks for that! I didn't reply yet because I wanted to see if it solved everything permanently. Long story short, it didn't.

It certainly did work for a bit and allowed me to see some notifications for a bit (progress!), but then it went back to the old ways of not showing me notifications anymore. It's quite frustrating. Did that solve all the problems on your OnePlus 7 Pro? Is it still working without issue?

[werionae · Accepted solution]

Yes, it's working without issues for me for weeks on Android 9. I am on Android 10 beta currently and no problems as well. Here is everything that I did:

1) Disabled the battery optimization for the Fitbit app

2) Locked Fitbit app in multitasking switcher 

[wilbot]

I think each of the steps may have helped, but yes, locking the app in the multitasking switcher and disabling battery optimisation seem to have been the final steps necessary. It seems to be working now. Hopefully it will continue to work on Android 10 too. Thanks!

[Aithal]

Same problem for me in OnePlus 6 with versa 2

[Huntersgold]

How does someone do these things you've mentioned? I have a versa 3

[wilbot]

Hi Huntersgold. I'm now on Android 11 on OnePlus 7, so the instructions might be different on anything else. But anyway, here's how I do these things now:

• Locking the app in the multitasking switcher: Swipe up from the bottom or press the square if you have the toolbar, to see open apps. Find Fitbit, then tap and hold on the Fitbit window, and choose Lock. This should keep it open if you have many other apps open.
• Disabling battery optimisation: Open Settings, Battery, Battery optimisation, then Fitbit, and choose Don't optimise.