Sense 2 Firmware Update 194.86

[LizzyFitbit]

11/29 Update: This update should now be available to all customers! If you have any difficulty updating, make sure you are following the directions in How do I update my Fitbit device? If you choose to post about your issue, provide as many specific details as possible in your post so that we can assist you.

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We’re excited to announce that a firmware update version 194.86 for Sense 2 will be available soon! Some of you might already have this update available. If you installed it, let us know what you think!

We release updates to customers in phases. If you don’t see it, check the Fitbit app in a few days, and you’ll see a message when you can install the update. We appreciate your patience while we get this update to all of our customers.

*Firmware releases are not distributed based on region or location and can reach anyone no matter where you reside. We do not recommend performing a factory reset to force the update to your device as your data will be lost and you may not get the update. Please be patient and wait until you see the update banner inside of the Fitbit app to begin the firmware download.

WHAT’S NEW AND FIXED

• View menstrual health tracking on your watch. For more information, see How do I use the Fitbit app to track my period?
• Swap between saved clock faces directly on your watch. For more information, see How do I change the clock face on my Fitbit device?
• View your daily readiness score on your watch (Premium feature only). For more information, see What’s my daily readiness score in the Fitbit app?
• Your watch now supports dynamic GPS. For more information, see How do I use GPS on my Fitbit device?
• Support for global characters and right-to-left text notifications:
  Arabic
  Hebrew
  Thai
  Hindi
  Vietnamese
• This release includes bug fixes and improvements.

Full release notes can be found here.

HOW DO I UPDATE?
See How do I update my Fitbit device? for step by step instructions for updating your Sense 2. If you run into difficulty updating, review these Why can't I update my Fitbit device?

We’re interested in hearing your feedback on this update! Let us know what you like! If you encounter unexpected behavior during or after your update, please post the details below.

[JanieH1969]

Why have you taken off the swim lap counter??? I bought the sense 2 for swimming and now this product is NOT doing what I bought it to do.  I want a refund but no one will contact me to discuss this.  You can’t charge for a product and then take away the functions it was bought for, poor, poor poor customer care.

[asiayeah]

Fingers crossed if Fitbit will issue a new firmware quickly.

[lovefit71]

I got the same issue and its very annoying. How could Fitbit let this big problem exist on a premium smart tracker. Fitbit please fix it!!! @LizzyFitbit 

[Nicola_grec]

I have charge 6 and now switch over to sense 2 , my firmware version is 18452 , when wil the update be available for me , or maybe its not for Europeans , 

[Krocket]

It may not be available to most Americans based on my experience. I simply can’t fathom why Fitbit requires weeks (months?) to roll out a firmware update to all users. Of course, while I would hope it fixes some of the big flaws. I rear it may make my Sense2 even more dysfunctional.

[infinidim]

Not got in the UK yet. Hopefully it doesn't brick our Sense 2 's. 

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Fitbit need to keep things updated. 

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Totally agree with that comment. I don't want my Sense 2 bricked 

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How has it been going? 

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That is a real bummer. 

I have the same issue. From what I have seen it is partly related to the link to the Fitbit servers. The watch, the app and the servers get out of sync and the only real way of fixing it is turning off bluetooth or restarting the phone. 

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After any firmware update I tend to shut down the device and re-power it, just to make sure that the buffers etc are clear. Most supplies don't get this part right. 

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Always a good idea to do the shut down and restart no matter what. 

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I'm not going to hold my breath about quick delivery or bug free🤔

[Davdampa]

Latest app update looks awful. Design by crayola. Ugly and boring. 

[Sab87]

just received the update on my sense 2, everything is working great! I noticed the system is snappier than before as well. Also can confirm notifications in Arabic is now working. 

 

 

[Mike40]

I too confirm that  after an excruciatingly long wait all is fine.

Indeed more responsive and with a subtle touch of more stylized fonts among other improvements.

Hope Google have awaken  to the reality that fitbit sense 2 is a unique piece of engineering worth promoting and, who knows, unleashing to its full hardware capabilities with future upgrades.

[Sab87]

I hope this is the case and that Google actually wants to keep Fitbit devices alive, but from the looks of it, these devices are being stripped features away, to make a room for the pixel watch. I think ultimately Google will keep the Fitbit brand as an app/health features and rebrand the Fitbit trackers (trackers as of not smart like the pixel watch) to being Google trackers and ditch the Fitbit device lineup. I hope I’m wrong but time will tell. 

[AZ-TX]

My Sense 2 updated yesterday. The update went smooth. I have to say, navigating the Sense 2 is much smoother now. As of yet, I have not had any issues. This has gone much better than the update that was pulled.

[shone_david]

This update was a nightmare for me. The screen was stuck on the update screen with the progress bar stuck around 25% for an hour. I tried to restart the tracker and got the dreaded big red 'X' mark. My device won't work after that. Finally, I found a user (@Slipstream-Ngin) in this community who had the same issue and followed his steps to hard reset the device to bring it back from the dead. I will surely think twice before updating the device again. Here is the solution below if anyone has any issue during update. 

App: Check if by any chance your phone's Bluetooth shows the Sense as a connected device. If so, please unpair/remove it. Remove the Sense from your Fitbit account and your phone's Bluetooth settings. Force quit the Fitbit app.

FitBit Sense 2 Device: Hold the side button until the logo reappears then after you see the FitBit Logo with a Circle around it release (it takes more like 20 seconds), a further 35-second pause until the logo goes out when your "Sense" should be back to normal.

[infinidim]

I got the update today after I had chatted with Fitbit support because I had issues with the app. 

The update went perfectly, took about 15 / 20 minutes because of the speed of the broadband where I am.

Seems to be working well and not found any issues yet. 

[Neverhere]

Are there any plans to add the music playback controls? 

[JDH97006]

Got the update installed this morning.  The Reminders to Move function still doesn't work.  Such a simple function that worked great on the original Sense. The function has never worked on 184.52 and not on 194.86.  At least The Reminders to Move will stay "On" but no notification pops up.  It still doesn't say the steps remaining for the hour until 10 minutes before the hour.😠  Has anyone gotten the Reminders to work on the Sense 2?

[infinidim]

My reminder to move has work reasonably well on 184.52 and I hope it works well with the upgrade. 

[Timmo67]

Ever since I updated the firmware my device does not detect sleep as well. I've used it two nights since the update. The first night my 5-hour sleep was reported as slightly over 1 hour. Last night no sleep registered and I slept nearly 5 hours. Sleep issues were the primary reason I went with this specific device so I am not happy with the update.

In addition, since the firmware update I have received no Sp02 data. 

[kclemmer13]

Hello Fitbit Community, I'm just wondering what/have you all been experiencing after you updated your Fitbit to the newest firmware<THIS FIRMWARE UPDATE •194.86•> 

• I would also like to share my last experience with updated my Firmware to version •194.64• I believe it was the one before this, a couple months ago... I had saw the notification on the Fitbit app, so naturally I go ahead and update or install same difference, after it successfully restarted I began to see problems/errors as in, 
• Heart Rate Graph Glitches Constantly 
• Sensors Not Functioning Properly 
• Menstrual Tile Never Functioned
• Etc

I was told to restart my sense 2 manually, as instructed I did, it went to the blue screen with Fitbit Icon, and IMMEDIATELY went to a BLACK screen with a huge RED X... I later found out that was the "Kiss of Death" for your Fitbit device.. Luckily I received my Fitbit Sense 2 from UnitedHealthCare and received a replacement Sense 2 for no cost...

Long story short the (last firmware update) exact same firmware update destroyed my Sense 2!!! Completely lost respect and trust for Fitbit.

Google took over Fitbit recently, and I thought Google was well respectable, and better quality, and customer satisfactory service?!

Moderator Edit: Formatting

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi everyone, and a warm welcome to our new members!

Thanks for your comments and every step that you've tried prior to posting, I'm glad you got to try the new firmware update. I wanted to let you know that this update should now be available to all our users, so please make sure to have your Sense 2 syncing in order to get the banner on the Fitbit app.

@MYOHMY As you may know, with Dynamic GPS your watch will use your phone's GPS sensors to capture this data instead of the built-GPS sensors on your watch. This switch will be done automatically whenever your watch isn't connecting to its built-in GPS sensor.

That being said, may I know if your watch has had syncing issues? Have you left the Fitbit app running in the background and the Bluetooth enabled? Please try restarting your watch and try starting a new exercise to see if the GPS connection improves?

@SunsetRunner Just to double check, do you mean this started after updating your watch? While you tried other suggestions, could you confirm if you also tried the steps described in this help article? Please note that when using more than one mobile device, it's recommended to turn off the Bluetooth from one of them as having multiple Bluetooth connections may interfere with the connection between your watch and the Fitbit app.

@Walker1610 I understand how frustrating this can be and thanks for bringing this to my attention. While it seems that your watch is tracking your heart rate correctly, let's try wearing your watch on your other wrist making sure it's about 2-3 finger widths above your wrist bone. Try this for one night, sync once you're awake and check your details on the Fitbit app.

@Weegmeister I'm glad the update is working well for you. While your Sense 2 should continue syncing flawlessly, make sure the internet connection is stable on your phone. You can also try removing your watch from the Bluetooth connections, opening the Fitbit app and setting up your watch one more time to reconnect it to your account.

@JanieH1969 I'm sorry for this inconvenience, and thanks for sharing your feedback as it'll help us to keep working on our products. If you're referring to the swim lap counter on the Fitbit app, I'd encourage you to vote for this idea so our development team can take it into consideration for future improvements.

@lovefit71 I understand how you're feeling and so we can look into this, may I know what issues you're having? Also, what troubleshooting steps have you tried so far? Please reply with this information so we can work on this together.

@Neverhere Currently we don't have more information about this; however, you can always add your vote to this idea already posted in the Product Feedback board. To learn more about this board, check our FAQs.

@JDH97006 While this is odd, may I know if you're receiving the rest of your notifications (alerts, phone calls, etc)? In case you haven't done so, let's try turning off the reminders to move, restart your watch, turn on the reminders to move and make sure your watch isn't in Sleep or DND mode.

@Timmo67 Let me explain that you need at least 3 hours of quality sleep in order to estimate your SpO2. Given that your watch isn't tracking your sleep correctly, could you confirm if anything has changed in your routine? Have you made sure to fully charge your watch before going to sleep?

If you haven't done so, try restarting your watch and wearing it about 2-3 finger widths above your wrist bone. Then, check if the Fitbit app is updated and sync as soon as you're awake to see your details. Keep in mind that it may take around an hour to get SpO2 data after syncing.

@kclemmer13 Thanks for the detailed information, and I'm sorry for the difficulties you've had with your watch. While I understand your concern, could you try updating your replacement to the 194.86 version? Fitbit updates usually bring bug fixes and for this reason it's recommended in order to evaluate its behavior and investigate this situation.

[infinidim]

@LizzyFitbit thanks for this update. It seems generally to be very stable so far - I got it a few days ago.