Sense Firmware Update OS 5.1.1 (44.128.4.17)

[FitbitCommunity]

Update 12/11/2020: An update OS 5.1.1 (44.128.4.17) is now available to all customers.

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Update 12/8/2020: An update OS 5.1.1 (44.128.4.17) is currently in progress. Full release notes can be found here.

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Update 11/25/2020: OS 5.1 (44.128.4.15) is 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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Announcing the release of Fitbit OS Firmware Update 5.1 (44.128.4.15)!

We release firmware updates to all customers in phases. The update will be available to everyone soon, and a banner will appear in the app when you can install the update. If you don’t see the banner yet, check the app again later.

Important Note: You will need to be on the latest app: iOS 3.34 or Android 3.34.1 in order to view the latest features. Please update your app.

*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 your device’s activation date, which is the day your device’s warranty begins. The activation date is the day you set up your device.

• Use Google Assistant on Fitbit Sense and Fitbit Versa 3. For more information, see How do I use a voice assistant on my Fitbit smartwatch?

• Use the built-in speaker and microphone in Fitbit Sense and Fitbit Versa 3 to take calls from your wrist. For more information, see How do I take on-wrist phone calls with my Fitbit smartwatch?

• This release includes bug fixes and improvements.

Full release notes can be found here.

HOW DO I UPDATE?

Step by step instructions for updating your Sense can be found here.

I 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 any trouble updating, review these troubleshooting tips. 

We look forward to hearing your thoughts! 

[Deechte]

After impatiently checking the app for days, the update came to me out of itself this morning. I'm in the Netherlands.

I like the call on wrist function. The volume is great, you just need to turn it up on your phone once while in a call.  It's a shame you can't make calls yet, but maybe it'll come later when Google Assistant reaches its full functionality. Right now there is no GA for me here, as was said in the release notes. In fact the Sense just acts as an ordinary BT headset: when you start a call on your phone, the sound comes from the Sense too.

I'll be doing some fiddling with Tasker and AutoNotification to see if I'm able to make calls from the Sense that way.

One thing I'm still thinking about is an easy way to toggle the connection with Sense Controls on and off. I do not want to take calls from my wrist all the time.

[Shax88]

Can you tell me how to call? I activated Google then when I said call ***, then it gives me what number. When I said the number, the screen will ask again what is the number.

Plus text, how u write text? U mean WhatsApp?

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How to deal a call; it seems didn't work on my end 

[Ripez]

@Shax88 simply you CAN'T make calls... Just answer them... Could seem a joke, but that's it. 

[Shax88]

Thanks mate.. I was too overwhelm when I saw this. 

[BigSweets]

I should have known, that a new Fitbit wouldn't change the fact that these products last a year or less. My new $400 watch will not update, and the battery always shows us 80% full. It shows that the last time I synced the watch was October 27th almost a month ago.

[DaveS3]

The prompt Google Assistant gives when making a call is asking which number
to use, meaning the first one stored, second one etc. Try responding "first
one" when Google asks that.

[Linus41]

Ive got the update minutes ago.. when I go to voice assistent it says not available in your region.. I live in belgium

[SunsetRunner]

I'm not unhappy with the Sense. Just because I think the Active Watch 2 is
a better watch doesn't mean I'm unhappy with the Sense. I did end up
keeping it over the Active Watch 2 after all. I just don't think it's worth
the asking price. Speaker should be louder for over $300. I got discounts
on mine which is a big reason why I ended up keeping it. That and it's more
comfortable to wear than the Active Watch 2. And I like the more square
shape. The Active Watch 2 was a little big for my smaller wrists or I
probably would've kept it honestly. Butt I'm not unhappy with the Sense.
I'm just unhappy with a few things about it. Like the speaker volume, not
being able to take calls, download my own music to it and it not updating
time zone changes properly. Other than that I'm completely fine with it.
Most of those things I mentioned are things that could be fixed in future
software updates as well, if Fitbit so chooses to do so.

[MenaceDennis]

Does anyone know if they have improved the PurePulse 2.0 algorithm to fix the wildly inaccurate heart rate readings?

They did acknowledge there was a problem in an email to me so I would hope this was a priority for OS 5.1.

[Beezy1978]

So I woke up with the update banner this morning. I popped my watch on the charger, initiated the update, first time it failed after less than a minute, second time SUCCESS! 😺 Altogether took about 8 minutes.

So... I’m tickled about Alexa speaking to me now. I like her.
I even called my husband at work and had him make a phone call to me so I could test out my new talking-into-my-watch capabilities! Now I feel like a secret agent. 😎

So, yes- it’s a bit quiet. You can adjust the volume, but the top volume is pretty low. Still! Exciting! Plus, I’m sure FitBit will increase the volume next update around, and? I am more than willing to wait. I’m 42 years old and when I was a child I wanted to be an inventor. I wanted to invent a television watch. So, here I am 42 years old, I went to college to be a health fitness technician and studied exercise science, so to me the Fitbit sense is my childhood dream come true of a television watch only focused on fitness and stress relief which is awesome!

Oh! One more thing. After update? Alexa said it was set up and active, but I had to log out and log back in for it to be recognized and start responding to me. I hope everyone out there gets the update soon, plus remember that Google is buying us and our info so things will likely get wayyy better. 😺

As for me and my wrist? We will sport FitBit. 😇

[lennyz116]

Finally received banner this morning. Failed first time loading.second time took 2 hours 10 minutes to complete. Not sure why so long. Seems to have updated without any errors or issues as of this point. All upgraded features seem to be working. 

[DramaQueenDiva]

Mine updated last night, no issues in less than 15 min!

[RPFarrah]

Bought my Sense yesterday. Received update today.  Interesting note: I had my language set to English - UK, because I like hearing the accent from Google Assistant.  So when I tried to activate Google Assistant on the watch, it said that it wasn't available in my region.  Having read on this forum about that being the case in the UK, I changed the language back to English - US and it loaded u and worked just fine.

[SunsetRunner]

I asked Google assistant to call my wife & it did, But I had to talk to her on my phone , not on my Sense! But can receive calls & talk on my sense when receiving calls! Seems to me if it will place a call why can't I use it to also talk on the Call!

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You can have Google assistant make a call for you but you have to talk on your phone once the person answers!

[DonRW]

Does your Google Assistant answer your questions by voice or only text?

Moderator edit: personal info removed

[SunsetRunner]

My google Assistant never says a word.

[SunsetRunner]

That is my question & Fitbit Techs don't seem to know either! iaw the Help
page they send you to it implies that you should get a audible reply-
https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/2009.htm?Highlight=google%20assistant
Step 2. states- Say your request. Your voice assistant responds with text
on-screen and through the watch’s speaker with Sense or Versa 3 (Alexa
only).

- To adjust the speaker volume, tap the speaker icon > - icon or +
icon.

I have Chatted with a tech & messaged them & the not sure & send you to
that help page! One even told me my Samsung S20 isn't fully compatible with
Fitbit software so some features may not work! I think that's because they
don't Know!

[DonRW]

Exactly. I read that too but no way I can get voice responses with Google Assistant from my Sense. Definitely some bad info from Fitbit.

[MrGlenn]

Re Google Assistant: What are you saying? That page literally says audible replies through the speaker only works for Alexa (right now at least)... Google only shows text, they might add audible replies later on.

On another note I just experienced my first device crash on the Sense during a phone call, it just stopped working and I had to do a hard reset. Not too enthusiastic about the voice call quality and reliability so far. 

[SunsetRunner]

Me either. Voice calls are terrible sounding. Could the volume even be any
lower? Just so disappointing really.