Screen Wake on Sense not working

[Cris11]

I have had a Fitbit for many years with no problem. Today I took delivery of my Fitbit sense. The screen will not wake up when I move my arm like all the other fit it’s. I have been on and altered to wake up automatically but it will not I am really disappointed 

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[LizzyFitbit · Accepted solution]

Hi @Cris11. It's great to see you here in the Community Forums.

Thanks for sharing that you got the Sense and I'm sorry that the screen isn't responding when moving your arm. Let me give you a hand with this! Before anything else, have you verified if this function is turned on? If not, swipe right from the clock face on your watch to access the quick settings and set the Screen Wake to Automatic. Make sure the Sleep Mode isn't turned on as this will turn off the screen wake and set the screen brightness to dim.

I'll look forward to your reply.

[ScotOz]

I have the same problem with my Sense. I have checked all the settings are correct but it only switches on when I tap the face or with the button.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @ScotOz. Welcome on board.

Thanks for sharing that your Sense is having the same behavior, as well for your efforts while trying to get it working correctly. Because you've checked the Screen Wake and Sleep Mode settings, let me recommend to perform a restart so we can refresh its settings.

Keep me posted.

[Dawnmp76]

I’m having the same problem. Settings are correct and I restarted it and still it’s not waking unless I push the button. 

[Clevergal30]

My new sense screen will not come on unless i plug it up and it is changed.  

[NellyG]

Hi @Clevergal30 Try restarting your Sense several times. If the screen issue co tinues then return the device to the store you bought it or contact Customer Support.

Restart your tracker  

Fitbit Support   

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Dawnmp76 and @Clevergal30. Welcome to the Community Forums. @NellyG, thanks for stopping by to help our members. You're awesome!

@Dawnmp76, thanks for checking the settings and trying the restart process. Because your Sense screen is still not working correctly, I've requested a case on your behalf so our Support team can take a look into this. Please note that due to recent events affecting our operations there might be a delay in their reply, but they'll get in touch with you soon.

@Clevergal30, thanks for letting me know about your Sense's behavior. Because your post didn't mention, please give a try to the suggestions posted by @NellyG and let me know how it goes. By the way, I've moved your post to this thread so we can keep our forums organized.

[Scrappy309]

why am I seeing this cuz I deleted the whole fitbit app

[bobby2478]

There are issues with the screen wake functionality, specifically the Tap to wake. If you have screen wake set to manual and try to tap the screen to wake it hardly ever responds, most of the time i have to tap constantly and quite firmly and if i'm lucky after 5 taps or so it finally wakes up. I turn off the automatic lift to wake as it was always waking up the screen and eating away at battery life.

There is another thread about problems with tap the screen to wake not responding and many reviewers noted this issue as well. Hopefully Fitbit can rectify this with a future firmware update.

[repo2142]

I have this issue too with the multiple tapping, especially when I when I turn on sleep mode and want to check the time in the middle of the night. I do like the automatic wake mode but I have to do an exaggerated wrist turn sometimes to get it to turn on. It's honestly my biggest pet peeve about this device and needs fixed. Also seems like it's a little slow when selecting one of your daily stats and "Today" pops up and you wait for 10+ seconds to see the info. I thought it'd be much faster. I know these are completely first world problems but I'd really like this to work and not be stuck with it past the return date if things aren't working out.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Scrappy309 and @repo2142, welcome to the Community Forums. @bobby2478, it's good to see you here in the forums.

@Scrappy309, even though you've deleted the Fitbit app, you may continue receiving emails if you subscribe to this or any other Community thread. If you'd no longer like to follow a board, thread, or post, you can delete your subscriptions by following these steps:

1. Navigate to your Community Settings, and click Subscriptions & Notifications.
2. Click "My Subscriptions" to view a list of posts, threads, and boards that you are subscribed to.
3. To delete a subscription, check-mark the box next to each respective subscription. Then, click "Email Subscription Options" to the top right, then Delete Selected Subscriptions.

@bobby2478 and @repo2142, thanks for sharing your thoughts about the tap function on your Sense, as well for checking the Screen Wake and Sleep Mode settings. I understand where you're coming from and I'm sorry if this caused you an inconvenience while using your watch. Our team constantly reviews the feedback shared in the forums to work on our watches, and yours won't be the exception as we want you to have a good experience with the Sense. If there's anything else I can do for you, please keep me posted!

[SunsetRunner]

Hello,

i have exactly the same issue.

The screen wake doesn’t seem to be very responsive and only works intermittently.
I switched the settings to ‘activate screen - automatic’ which works most of the time (flipping wrist) however also seems to be irresponsive after the watch has been on standby for a little while.
This has quite a big impact on the use of the watch, and you don’t want to be tap the watch 10 times before it switches on.

I read on other threads that more people experience this issue, is this going to be resolved with a firmware update (and can it?) or do I need to replace my Sense for a new model as it could be a bug/fault to my specific Sense? Or last, do i need to live with this issue? In case of the latter, i’m going to return the product as i don’t think a 330 euro watch should have a faulty UI...

[SunsetRunner]

I also encountered a lot of other issues overnight, not the best experience with fitbit, so i’m returning the watch tomorrow, highly anticipated but big disappointment.

- screen tap activation - manual and automatic, very poor performance (a key ui feature)

- lag in responsiveness when swiping

- when doing a 2 minute EDA stress test (with watch on my wrist, on the skin) i placed my hand palm on front screen, after 2 minute a vibration indicated the scan was done, then it gave some stress indicators on the screen, however said it couldn’t measure my heart rate and that i had to put the watch on my wrist?!?
also to further to obtain details of the stress test i had to click a button and the data be transferred to the FB app on my phone, so I did, and the watch couldn’t find my phone (even though it had just synced before and it was lying right next to the watch (with strong wifi and bluetooth connection). All and all too many issues in the first 14 hours of having this watch, you’d expect things to work....

The sense could have been a big jump for fitbit to compete with other smartwatches, but bc of very disappointing faulty interaction design, this really isn’t it for me. 

[SunsetRunner]

I reset to factory settings to send back, and now i can’t turn it off manually 😂 you press the button on the side and it keeps rebooting... anyway... difficult!

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @SunsetRunner. Welcome on board.

Thanks for sharing detailed information about your Sense behavior and the steps tried prior to posting. I understand where you're coming from about your watch not working to the fullest and I'm sorry that you've gone through this experience. Please know that every feedback shared in the forums never goes unnoticed as it helps us to work on our products, services and overall environment, and enhance the Fitbit experience. To turn off your watch, swipe to the left and open the Settings app, scroll down and tap Shut down.

If by any chance you'd like to give your Sense another chance and troubleshoot the issues experienced, please let me know so I can continue helping you. You're always welcome back to the Fitbit family.

[Tahitia]

Lizzy, I'm having the same issue. I've restarted my Sense 3x with no success of fixing the problem. I also notice that when I go to my display settings, it's deemed out, unable to access the features to changes the settings. Any more suggestions you can provide?

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Tahitia. Welcome to the Community Forums.

Thanks for letting me know about your Sense behavior and the steps tried prior to posting. Just to confirm, have you made sure the Sleep Mode is turned off on your watch? I'm asking this as when this setting is turned on the screen's brightness will set automatically to dim and the screen will stay dark when you turn your wrist. To check this setting, on the Sense clock face swipe to the right and make sure to moon icon is grayed out.

[Tr0y]

M facing the exact same issue. 

[bobby2478]

I'd be curious if this behavior and screen responsiveness as a whole is improved at all as part of the new OS 5.1 upgrade gradually rolling out to Sense starting today. After I get the update installed I'll see whether there are any improvements.