hi all,
although I don't own a Versa, I've fully read all 489 posts in this thread, in an effort to understand what is going on with Fitbit before I make any purchase decision. I suspect many of you may not like what you read below. Some is "tech talk".
But first, my background: retired embedded low level software engineer, with considerable R&D and reverse engineering experience. I also coded the tools that software engineers use. Maintained 10 million lines of assembly language code, personally coded >1M lines, worked with hardware designers for new computer products, and a decent amount of hardware exposure as well.
Please correct me someone if I'm wrong, but the highest step count that anyone has seen on a Versa is 65535. Most of you when you report ghost steps, round off to the nearest hundred or thousand. Don't. It may help when reporting, to provide the exact steps after charging but before actually moving the Versa.
From what I've read, Fitbit created a new OS for their Ionic and Versa models. A good move, but a very bold one.
So what is going on inside the Versa? I believe that the new OS itself is buggy, and is causing data corruption inside both the Ionic and Versa. Data corruption doesn't follow any logic that you'll find documented anywhere, nor will it necessarily make any sense at all. The fact that you notice patterns doesn't mean it won't suddenly break from that pattern, temporarily or permanently. In fact when the cause of data corruption is removed/fixed in software, most developers don't even bother to fully trace through the chain of events that lead to the various, often spurious problems. The "ghost steps" are not logged because the code that was written specifically to log steps was not the same code that changed the unsigned word (16 bit variable) that holds the step count. The broken code (which I believe is in the OS) is writing directly to this variable, and probably also variables associated with GPS connection, and more (in the Versa).
Data corruption can be a very difficult problem to solve, and when it's happening in any embedded system (which all fitness bands are), it's exponentially more difficult to find. Like trying to drive blindfolded, but able to listen. If the fault was code running on the O/S and not the O/S itself, even that would be easier to fix. What makes this even more difficult is that depending on what is required to fix the data corruption problem, it may require changing the interface to higher level software systems, and perhaps even external software, such as the device apps. And so, getting the entire solution to owners may be a major problem in itself.
If I'm correct, don't bother thinking that "only some people are affected" or that it's a hardware issue, or that it matters which charger you use etc etc. Also, forget about any fix of the type "if fitbit is charging then disable step counting". Data corruption just stomps over anything it likes, and doesn't care about working in with the logic in any other part of the software system.
The ONLY acceptable fix is one that fully addresses all causes of data corruption. It would be nice if that was the end of it and everything suddenly worked well. But then you need to carefully examine what the effect is, of making those changes. Why? Because data corruption typically does two things. It messes with variables in ways that are noticed, and unwanted. But it also messes with variables in ways that are noticed, and wanted. And then of course, all the things that aren't immediately noticed. For example, a bug may be causing a variable to be cleared during boot-up. Such an operation is quite often helpful and even required during initialisation of code. But what if the programmer forgot to write the code to specifically clear that variable? Once the data corruption problem is fixed, other bugs are free to come out of the woodwork. The entire software system needs re-testing from the ground up, ALL functions, because usually, data corruption doesn't just keep to itself very well. Unless the problem is extremely small in its scope AND the software engineer is very good at his job, it's highly likely that such a fix will bring about more problems than it appears to fix, at least initially. But again, this is the only way that you can end up with a reliable, bug-free system.
Given that the share price of Fitbit has decreased so much over the years, one could be forgiven for thinking that they don't have a ton of cash to throw at something like hiring some very expensive, very experienced software engineers. It's more likely that they will attempt to fix problems with what they've got. And that may be enough, if they were not under pressure to complete the software systems by a date that suited the marketing people, rather than a date that is determined by WHEN ITS READY.
My suggestions to owners? If so inclined, take note of the steps after charging and before moving your Versa. You may notice a pattern, such as exact same number multiple times, not necessarily every time. Never more than 65535, with 65535 being many times more likely than say 65103. Zero is another popular number to corrupt variables with. So that would look like your steps disappeared. 2nd suggestion: forget about trying to work out a fix either by yourself or in combination with other owners. It will only frustrate. If I'm correct, nothing you do short of getting a refund and looking at other brands will get a satisfactory fitness band on your wrist. A replacement Versa will not do anything but eat up your time and cost you more money and frustration. If Fitbit somehow does get around to fixing these issues fully, I'd suggest that you first troll these forums as well as youtube reviews and googles, to make sure that the entire system really does work properly, before shelling out any more cash.
You still want to explore this issue yourself? When your Versa is less than half charged (quarter even better) and as soon as possible after midnight, place your Versa next to a fan or other vibrating device, until it's registered over 60000 steps, but not much more. Take note of the EXACT step count. Put the Versa on charge, and I'm betting that steps will suddenly decrease (instantly rather than progressively) to something much less than the original count on commencing charge. Note that this doesn't happen every time, so whether you want to keep retrying is up to you. If this is a hardware problem and the hardware is really saying that steps are being taken, then you'll instead always see steps increase. It doesn't have to be >60000 steps initially, but try for at least 32768 (2^15). Again, take note of EXACT step count before moving, and report both counts here. Something else you could try is to check step count DURING charging, and if it has changed, move it enough to change the step count, then put it back on charge. It just may go back to what it was before you shook it.
My best to all (owners).
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