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.

[RobertBN]

Thank you for the confirmation @SunsetRunner . Changing units was going to be my last try to see if my sense would start calculating floors again.  I was hoping that maybe it was just an imperial formula issue but I didn't want to chance losing any historical info trying it.

Have a great day!

[SunsetRunner]

Just a wild idea, @RobertBN :

According to Fitbit, Floors are counted based on barometric changes. That probably requires a small hole somewhere on the watch to allow the related sensor to read atmosph. changes, probably on one of the sides.

Have you checked if there is no small hole blocked by dirt or whatever (if you have young kids, they are great at doing such things 🙂) somewhere on the watch surface?

Anyway, if you manage to get Floors but its values are as bad as mine, will it be worth to bother?

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Update: if you are like me, it is always worth trying.

[RobertBN]

@SunsetRunnerI did double check to see if any of the sensor holes were blocked and they all seem to be completely clear and free of any debris. Thanks for the tip though.

My sense was counting floors normally right up to when I did the last update, 10 floors counted before the update mid morning and after it not a single one that day and occasionally I'll get one floor per day if I'm lucky.

I do make sure that I have more than my 10 floors per day, usually I'm around 30 flights unless I'm working on more or hiking hills.  I'd just like it recorded as opposed to showing nothing at all.

[SunsetRunner]

@RobertBN , I wish Floor counting soon works fine again in your Sense.

In an afterthought after my previous posts, I wonder if it still makes sense we, users, keep trying to help each other on tech stuff in this forum. I sincerelly hope I didn't give you bad advice based on my experience with my Sense.

Comparing your experience with mine on Floors (completely different), together with all users experiences shared in this forum about several Sense features, I can't avoid thinking of that part of the beautiful text of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America: "... all men are created equal...". Sometimes (too many times?) it looks like in Fitbitland NOT all Sense watches are created equal.

It's normal some factory flaws here and there, but so many? A software update works for some but not for others? In the case of Floors, now we are both without that feature, I get nonsense numbers, you get none.

I still wonder why so many differences so often. It looks like some of us have Sense watches that work quite differently from other Sense watches on some of their features. Are there already different Sense generations (or different production batches) that work differently?

[Irish57]

Such a good question. Wonder if Fitbit/Google has a thought?

[Tgisele]

@SunsetRunner My son and I both have the Sense, he has no issues with his at all. He purchased it shortly after it was introduced. I bought mine in September and the main issue I have is with the heartrate, but that affects so many other things, i.e. calorie burn, and since I pay for premium, it also affects the health metrics, the new readiness score. I don't think my floor account is correct, but not really sure how to test that. I think you have a point, that the different generations are different. I have said this in other posts, but am very disappointed with Fitbit, that after a year there is still no fix for the heartrate. As a long time Fitbit user, I am not sure how much longer I will be one. 

[Kidsangel]

Since I did the update my sense keeps showing the no phone symbol and won't sync unless I restart my phone. I decided to follow the instructions on the what to do to fix the problem of it not syncing given by Fitbit, I did the force stop of the app and it corrected the problem of the watch syncing, however now I have a watch that does nothing but count steps, hr, sleep, and the time. It will not let me swipe to the other  apps or anything else that I could do before and it keeps making me put in my lock code and having the Fitbit teal diamond dot start up screen comes on.  This is so aggravating!!!

[Allekat1980]

Ever since my fitbit sense did this update now my text message notification has stopped working again which has been an ongoing problem with this thing I have to uninstall it and reinstall my watch every time you do changes. It is really a nightmare I am starting to think about buying a different kind of watch. Fitbit is more trouble than it is worth.

[RobertBN]

@SunsetRunner  Your advice was most appreciated.  I think there probably are slight differences in the manufacturing even though it's the same model.

Just as a test I set my Sense on exercise mode - walk and did a bit of walking and stairs. Five flights of stairs both up and down in the house should have given me about 45 feet of elevation changes. It logged 24 feet of elevation change and no floors. Although it did have issues connecting to the GPS it still logged the change in elevation but could not equate that to the number of floors.

I'm at almost 12 miles today with a lot of elevation changes in my walk, ie hills, and over 20 flights of stairs in total. My Sense says 1 floor. So this leads me to believe it's more of a programming error as opposed to a hardware issue. As I mentioned before my Sense was calculating stairs normally, showing ten before the update at lunch and nothing really since then.

[RobertBN]

@Allekat1980  I'm not sure if this applies to you but I had a similar issue with the clock face and as soon as I set my home network as a trusted network in my VPN software it stopped losing my clock face.  Are you using a VPN software on your phone? If so have you tried turning it off momentarily, restarting the watch and seeing if message notifications start again?

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi everyone.

@bookluvr4u, @fattorelli and @Lorcasaur I'm glad you sorted this out and thanks for sharing the steps that worked for you. Your post will help other members experiencing similar issues.

@Johnny29 Thanks for letting me know that and just to confirm, is your Sense syncing correctly? If not, that might be the reason why the Weather app isn't syncing as well. If you haven't done so, make sure the permissions for the Weather app are turned on and give a try to the troubleshooting steps described in this help article.

@Lanxkim It's good to see you here in the forums. To better assist you, may I know more details about the issue you're experiencing, as well as the troubleshooting steps already tried?

@RobertBN Thanks for your feedback and efforts while working on this situation. I'm sorry your Sense is still not tracking your floors correctly. Given this situation, I'd suggest reconnecting your watch to the Fitbit app. To do this, remove your Sense from the Bluetooth settings, force quit the Fitbit app, restart your watch one more time, open the Fitbit app, tap your profile picture > Set up a Device > Sense > Replace Device. Follow the on-screen instructions and monitor your watch's behavior.

@Kidsangel I understand how you're feeling about your Sense not responding correctly, and thanks for the steps tried on your own. I believe you've also tried restarting your watch. If that's correct, try getting in touch with our Support team so they can evaluate your options and see what can be done to bring you back on track. They're available via chat and phone, just click here to get connected with them. 

@Allekat1980 I appreciate the time taken while troubleshooting your Sense. I see where you're coming from and I'm sorry you're going through this experience. Please know every feedback shared in this thread is provided to our team, and yours won't be the exception. Just to confirm, is the issue just with the text notifications? Also, what is the model of your phone? In addition to the steps suggested above, make sure the Sleep Mode and DND are turned off, as well as enabling "Preview Message" for Android, or "Show Previews" for iOS.

See you around.

[SunsetRunner]

@SunsetRunner 

Interesting comment on the different generations (or different production) batches. My Sense's activation date is on 2020-11-10 and so far, the watch has performed as it should with the exception of floor counts. HR still matches my arm band HR monitor within +/- 1-3 BPM during exercise, and also matches my pulse oximeter HR readings. My sense is also manufactured in Taiwan as found in the Regulatory Info portion. Even with the most recent firmware update, no issues so far with the exception of floor count, which I removed it showing on the app and the watch. 

[SunsetRunner]

Thanks for sharing it, @SunsetRunner .

My watch was also made in Taiwan, but I guess that info alone will not help much on identifying the "good" and the "bad" generations. There is also another info I would like to know, just for curiosity: which percentage of Sense watches are working well, or not, particularly on HR, like yours. Only Fitbit knows that and probably there is no justification for them to release that info, which is understandable, from the marketing point of view.

As for my Sense HR, I am now at a point as stated before by @t.parker : sometimes it works well, other times it is a disaster, even though I didn't change anything, as far as I could notice. A very temperamental watch, concerning HR. And I keep thinking it also changes from user to user, like each one's different wrist shapes, sizes, etc.

Definitely, the always accurate and reliable HR devices are chest or arm bands, at least the best of them. It's a pity for everyone (Fitbit included) that Fitbit keeps not considering using those bands paired with watches like Sense.

[cipri_matasaru]

Hello! 

Few day ago I received the banner that announce an available software update for my Sense. I start updating but after few minutes Sense enter into an restart loop and cannot connect with my iPhone. Sense it’s still connected to charger and Fitbit logo on screen. I try restart but Sense return to the same logo. Please help to solve this issue. 

[SunsetRunner]

Hi @cipri_matasaru 

It's possible to check out the Fitbit article: Why can't I update my Fitbit device?

Hope this helps

[cipri_matasaru]

Yes, I tried to do all those steps. Unfortunately, Sense cannot connect with iPhone or other devices because not booting up. Remains all the time on Fitbit logo. If I push manual restart, Sense restart himself several times, every 30 seconds. I'm afraid that my Sense turns into an nice brick.

If you have any idea about what can be done, please help.

[SunsetRunner]

Awesome troubleshooting, unfortunately since the issue remains, believe best to contact the Fitbit Support Team. Feel free sharing the steps you've already taken to try solving the issue.

Best Wishes

[MarkMM]

@SunsetRunner Interesting that your heart rate performance is acceptable. I, as well as others who have posted, were denied a warranty replacement for our heart rate issues. Support says a replacement would not fix the issue. Apparently Fitbit isn't under the impression certain batches don't have the heart rate issue. Or maybe they don't have control over what's sent out. 

[henleyu]

h like i feel the same on here too, like i am gonna gotta plugging it right now?

[RobertBN]

@LizzyFitbit  I will try your suggestion but I’m unsure how that will help. When I scroll through the stats on my Sense there are no floors recorded. 

Shouldn’t the sense record floors regardless of whether or not the phone app is paired with it on my phone?