Volume won't go up or down on Versa itself

[kkeogh84]

 I have loaded my music onto the versa!  However I am unable to turn up or down the volume.  It appears as if there are the + - buttons on the right hand side.  When I pressed those buttons, nothing happened.  Should I try restarting my fitbit?  Ultimately I would like to control the volume of the music from the fitbit versa when using my earbuds.

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity 

[HeydyF]

Hope you are doin' great @ChandlerD! So are you able to up and down the volume with your Airpods, without any inconvenience? The only inconvenience happens with your Versa and a speaker, right? If so, I would suggest the same, to restart your Versa and then try to pair it with the Bluetooth speaker. 

Let me know how it goes! 

[ChandlerD]

Actually it's the other way around. I have an inconvenience with my Airpods and my speaker volume works fine. Sorry for the confusion. I've restarted multiple times with no luck. Thank you

Chandler D

[HeydyF]

Thanks for the clarification @ChandlerD! Oh! Well, as I've mentioned, this is an issue that our team is aware of and is already working towards a solution. Leave your vote on the idea that I previously posted. 

Let me know if you have further questions! 

[LauraRoos]

My volume wasn't working.  I did shutdown, disconnected the earbuds, and restart it and reconnected the buds.  It's totally working now.    

[HeydyF]

Hey @LauraRoos, I hope you are doin' fine! Thanks for sharing those tips, sounds great that you can go up and down the volume on your earbuds with your Versa. 😉 

If you have further questions or comments, let me know! 

[ChandlerD]

I did that. Nothing seems to work

Chandler D

[HeydyF]

How are you @ChandlerD? The Fitbit device can't control the volume on Apple Airpods and we as moderators don't know when the Versa will work as with other headphones.  

Have a nice day!

[ChandlerD]

Okay, thank you. Have a great day!

Chandler D

[HeydyF]

You are more than welcome @ChandlerD! If you have further questions or comments, let me know! 

I'll be around! 

[SunsetRunner]

Hi, I wonder if any progress has been made towards solving this issue in the past eight months?

[HeydyF]

Hi @SunsetRunner, let me give you a warm welcome to the Community! There are no updates yet about this my friend. But I suggest you to review this idea and leave your vote on it, so our team can review it. 

Let me know if you have further questions or comments! 

[SunsetRunner]

It's not really "an idea", is it? The volume buttons already exist on the Versa, they just don't work with Airpods. It would be more accurately described as a bug, not a feature request.

Either way, the issue has been evident for many months without any sign of a fix so I think it's reasonable to assume at this point that FitBit are unlikely to offer a solution - perhaps there's a commercial reason for not supporting Apple products?

I think the best solution is for FitBit users to look at alternative products and to highlight this reluctance to support the community to as many potential buyers as possible. That's what I'll be doing, my friend.

[SunsetRunner]

I've been thinking more about the fact that the volume buttons don't work on the Versa when controlling Apple Airpods. I tried to listen to music from my Versa again today but was quickly reminded that music at 100% volume can be really uncomfortable.

This is really quite dangerous and the possibility that listening to music on the Versa could permanently damage a user's hearing is very real.

I genuinely think there ought to be some sort of warning on the Versa for Airpods users. And I wonder how long it will be before somebody brings a legal claim against FitBit for failing to provide a working volume control and/or any sort of warning that the Versa does not work as expected?

I'm sure that FitBit must have a legal responsibility to ensure that the usual and expected use of their products won't harm customers and although I'm certainly not an expert on legal matters, this seems like a clear case of a product's failings resulting in potential harm.

If I learn any more about the legal implications of this product failure, I'll post them to this thread.

[ChandlerD]

Yes, I agree. There should be some kind of disclaimer on the packaging, in the Fitbit app, or on the Versa itself stating that the volume controls may not work properly with some Bluetooth devices. That way if something legal against Fitbit came up, they could say that there was a warning to users. Or they need to figure out a solution to the Apple Airpods volume controls all together.

Chandler D

[KLM123]

Fitbit clearly does not care to fix this problem!

disappointed

[SunsetRunner]

I think it's clear from the lack of progress and absence of replies that this bug isn't likely to be fixed.

It is disappointing but I guess that, realistically, FitBit aren't going to give a high priority to supporting competitors' products, even if it leaves FitBit customers wishing they'd bought an Apple Watch instead.

[ChandlerD]

This is true. Business is business. Doesn't always benefit the customer

Chandler D

[SunsetRunner]

I'm told that FitBit are expecting to release an update which will solve this issue and that Versa owners will soon be able to control music volume on Apple Airpods.

This update is expected to be released before the end of this month, March, 2019.

Perhaps somebody at FitBit could confirm that this is the case?

[SunsetRunner]

I tested my Versa with my Airpods again today and the volume control buttons worked! Briefly.

The buttons only worked for a few moments and then stopped working.

It was almost as if the Versa had the functionality to control the Airpods volume (as it does with all other wireless headphone models) but that it was purposely being prevented from controlling Apple Airpods once it recognised them.

I'm sure that somebody from FitBit will bring us more information on this soon 🙂

[Chelsea.Sierra]

@SunsetRunner 

I encountered the same experience myself. Still patiently waiting on some results. 😞 I’d really like to use both of the products that I purchased together for a great workout experience.