Announcing Sense Update OS 5.3 (44.128.6.12)

[FitbitCommunity]

This update should now be available to all customers! If you have any difficulty updating, make sure you are following the directions in this article, and then provide as many specific details as possible in your post so that we can assist.

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Update 11/7

We are continuing to roll out this firmware for the Fitbit Sense, and expect more users will see it as available. This is a progressive rollout, and all customers can expect to have it within a few weeks. We roll out releases in phases as a cautionary measure so that we can monitor performance closely and make adjustments if needed. If you don't see the option to update, don't worry - you'll have it soon!

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Update 10/27

We’re excited to announce that a firmware update for Sense will be available soon!  Some of you may already have this update available - if you installed it, let us know what you think!

If you don’t see the update yet, that’s expected. Check the Fitbit app in a few days, and you’ll see a message when you can install the update. We expect everyone to receive the update in the coming weeks. We appreciate your patience while we get this update to all of our customers. 

Did you know that we gradually release our updates? We do this to make sure everything is working just right for you. Sometimes we find an issue and it might take a little longer than expected for everyone to get the update. While you might see suggestions on how to “force” an update, we ask that you don’t try any of these workarounds. Most of the time the update won’t be available and you can lose data or encounter other difficulties. The best way to get the update is to be patient and wait for the update banner to appear in the Fitbit app.  

WHAT’S NEW AND FIXED

You can find release notes here.

HOW DO I UPDATE?

You can find step-by-step instructions for updating your Sense here. 

We recommend updating your Sense over a home Wi-Fi network as this can greatly reduce the time it can take to get set up. For more information on connecting your Sense to Wi-Fi, check out this article. 

If you run into difficulty updating please review these troubleshooting tips. 

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.

[fattorelli]

After update to firware version 44.128.6.12, I cant access the "Readiness" tab and the "Daily Readiness Score", "Stress Management Score" and "Mindful Sessions" tabs doesn't appear for me in my Premium tab.

[RobertBN]

My sense also lost the ability to count floors right after the last update. I did six flights of stairs not long after the update and not a single one was logged. even now it refuses to see stairs.

I have tried the multiple restarts (about five of them) and still nothing. The stair counting feature seems to just be broken in the last update.

[slbert]

I updated my Sense the other day, after a couple of hiccups with it not wanting to do so. Unfortunately, now my floor count does not work at all. Yesterday, it recorded one floor and today zero (although I live in a house with three floors and am up and down them all day). I've rebooted my iPhone and the Sense but no change.

[SunsetRunner]

My Floors count, on the other hand, remains the same as before this update: if I stay at home the whole day (no stairs) it can count about 20 floors by the end of the day. On a normal day, if I divide my Sense Floors number by 20, maybe I'll be not far from the altitude changes corresponding to floors (3 meters each) while walking along the day, stairs or no stairs. Just maybe. Still totally useless since the Summer updates.

[Rge]

I haven’t recorded a breathing rate since the update. And only one HRV and one SPO2.

disappointing -

[SunsetRunner]

@Rge you are lucky. I had probably only 50 BRs recorded in almost one year. 

[Irish57]

What are they saying about that?

[Rge]

@SunsetRunner It’s always been sporadic but I was getting data at least a couple of days a week but none since the update.

sleep has been a little better but doesn’t seem to make a difference in the data.

[RD747]

The battery icon on the top left corner of the default always on display for my Fitbit Sense is distorted and looks significantly larger than it's supposed to be (image available here).

Has anyone experienced this glitch or know how to fix it?

[Big_G_]

I noticed this on my Sense after the latest firmware update. I have not found a fix yet. It only shows like this when the battery is less than 100%.

[slbert]

I've been in contact with support via Twitter asking about the problem I am having with the floor count. So far, all they've done is to give me a link to read about how the floor count is calculated, and to tell me how the floor count is calculated. As I am wearing my Ionic on another wrist and getting an accurate floor count versus a wrong one on the Sense, that tells me that there's definitely something screwed up since the update. If only you could convince support to at least check it out...

[Irish57]

Agree on some counts but not all. Sadly, many of the updates prove as
problematic as the supposed errors they are fixing!

[Bruce_S]

I think the white dot on clock face means “Do not disturb” is turned in. Go to Settings and select Quiet modes. Then turn off do not disturb. That should get rid of the white dot. 

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I think I figured out the white dot on clock face. I think it means “Do not disturb” is turned on. I turned it off and now white dot no longer appears when I activate clock face. I am not 100% sure but I think the firmware update I installed over weekend turned on Do not disturb. 

[psmv69]

Weather hasn't been singing in my versa 2 

[JohnnyRow]

Mine hasn't been singing either.  Should it?

P.S.

Oops, sorry.  Just figured out you probably mean syncing.

[SunsetRunner]

@m-umar , like @Irish57  I agree with part of what you say but not all of it, particularly not with last (paragraph) sentence. Certainly agree with you on the ECG feature.

More than a year after the release of Sense, it's just not acceptable that some features are now worse than they were before. Floors is the perfect example of that.

Sense was a big step from previous models, tech wise and price wise, but too many things went wrong. Important and basic features, like heart rate. And then came more and more complaints about other features, like sleep features, SpO2, BR, badly refurbished replacements, etc. and, on top of that, a Customer Support unable to provide solutions to many users.

Adding all this to the fact that Fitbit was taken by Google on January, I can't avoid thinking that most of the senior tech staff was apparently taken away from working on improving Sense, which was left to some tech rookies who are probably doing their best, but far from enough. The last three OS/firmware updates seem to prove that.

Christmas is coming and I wouldn't be surprised if in the coming weeks a new Google/Fitbit watch is released to replace Sense. Some long time Fitbit users have made it clear that Fitbit used to be better than this. Sadly, it looks like we are now dealing with a different company, with other immediate goals other than keeping Sense users satisfied. As I wrote before, for the past months I often felt like a guinea pig trying new features, not properly tested by Fitbit as you said @m-umar , providing good feedback to Fitbit and, on top of that, even paying a lot for that. Didn't like it and, quite frankly, right now the ECG is the only one feature that keeps me attached to Sense, because it works well enough, I need it and I am still not willing to pay some more hundreds of euros or dollars for another device. But there will come the day...

[Lorcasaur]

Oh, come on: for two days in a row, the fitness app hasn't started automatically on my run. Get it together, Fitbit!!!

[Craigkat]

Since installing the latest update, the weather app is no longer working. When I follow the steps to correct that, the weather app is absent in the app list.

[Clove6060]

Mine is functioning. May want to download the app again if it is missing.

[lablover55]

Have you looked at the permissions? Is your city still there? Check that as well..