Sense battery draining after iOS app update

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi there,

Our team has released the new Fitbit iOS App 3.43 version and it should be available for all of you. Please make sure to download it from the App store as this will resolve the battery short life issues experienced on your Sense. Take in mind that this and future Fitbit app versions will require iOS 13.4+.

---

Hi everyone. Thanks for your continued reports.

Our team is aware of the Sense not holding charge when syncing with iOS devices and they're working to bring a fix as soon as possible. In the meantime, we recommend force quitting the Fitbit app on your iOS devices to prevent the battery from draining when syncing.

I've moved your posts to this thread so we can keep our team informed of this situation. Your patience is truly appreciated and please know your feedback hasn't gone unnoticed.

See you around.

[Mark150259]

Fitbit sent me a replacement obviously before they were aware of the IOS issue. What a waste as advised by CS I disposed of what was thought to be a faulty sense. I trust the tech people are going all out to get a fix as this is extremely frustrating!!

[Musubi]

Mark150259 and all who are experiencing this.  Make sure you update your FitBit app to 3.43.1 ASAP.  That seems to have made the difference.  So far my drain has stabilized

[CRMcDaniel]

I am having this issue according to Fitbit support.  I just read most recent posts, and have updated my app.  Now will fully charge my watch and see how it goes from there ... mostly replying here so that I get notices about the issue (hopefully).

[Musubi]

After disconnecting my sense from the iPhone and seeing a HUGE improvement in battery life, im convinced it is something about how the app interacts with the Sense.  The notes in the app doesn't explain what it fixed.  If simply updating the app works and it stays this way, I will take it!!  

[TomatoLady]

Down loaded the Fitbit app and replaced app. Battery drain stopped!

[Mark150259]

Just updated the app to 3.43.1 and charging sense for the third time today. I will reply to this thread if the update works and stops the drain.

[Musubi]

One thing that I noticed, I believe the new app revision works with the best with the latest software update on the Sense, 44.128.5.38.  When I was playing with this, I just factory reset my Sense, updated it with the latest firmware and the bleeding stopped.  I think it is a combination of a few things.  I just wish the FitBit team would chime in.

-Gaven

[Richiemcc]

Updated App to to 3.43.1 on Monday morning. Had watch fully charged at 11am and 37hrs later it is still at 74%.

My problem seems to have been sorted so hopefully everyone else’s will be fixed too in the near future.

[Musubi]

Im happy to report that I am 24hrs with ver 44.128.5.38 on my sense and ver 3.43.1 on my phone.  I have all my apps and are using the SPO2 watch face as well as syncing with my phone with bluetooth controls and have lost only 16% so far.  We will see if it stays this way for the next month or so.  So far so good on my end too.  Going to work out today and make sure it doesn't tip this over again.

[LizzyFitbit · Accepted solution]

Hi everyone. Thanks for participating in this thread, as well as sharing your feedback after updating the Fitbit app.

Before anything else, let me clarify that the battery short life issues experienced on the Sense is caused by the Fitbit app after syncing with iOS device. If you have an Android device or a different issue, I invite you to start a new topic on the community or find a related topic.

As mentioned before, our team released the new Fitbit iOS App 3.43 version which should now be available to all our users. This version should allow your Sense to hold the charge correctly under normal conditions (Note that certain features such as GPS or SpO2 tracking impact the battery life as described here). If you've not done so, go to the App store and update your Fitbit app. Please take in mind that this and future Fitbit app versions will require iOS 13.4+.

Your patience is truly appreciated and your feedback hasn't gone unnoticed. If by any chance you continue having issues after having this update, let me know so I can forward your posts to the proper team for further investigation.

See you around.

[Musubi]

LizzyFitBit,

   A recommendation.  The FitBit app in the App Store is void of any explanation of what you said above.  This is for all versions going back to 3.25.1. I would highly recommend more disclosure in what is being fixed to help inform people who have placed a good amount of expense into purchasing your product.  This would help many with transparency and also being informed of what your team is addressing.  This has been a frustrating experience to not understand what was going on.  I value my purchase and use the Sense constantly.  Please help be improving overall communications on technical matters with your product.  Thank you

[Teecher]

Hi,

For those people still having issues with the iOS app a possible solution may be to delete it totally from your phone and to install the Fitbit connect app on a Windows computer to sync with. To do this will require a Fitbit dongle so hopefully you still have one from previous Fitbit trackers. This will allow you to sync and keep your data updated until the issue is totally resolved. 

As mentioned numerous times in this thread the latest app version (3.43.1) and updated Sense firmware (44.128.5.38) should work for you. The computer solution is only a temporary fix that I have set up for myself and I am continuing to use it whilst the issue continues. At present my Sense is working as advertised but there are issues with some of the functionality still. Using the computer app allows all data to sync without battery drain.

I have faith that the Fitbit techs will prevail in time.

Allan

[DavidSha]

Yes I agree 100%. Fitbit should be much more proactively informing us of
the solutions for the issues we are facing. I bought 2 units of Sense for
my wife and I.

Regards
--
Moderator Edit: Personal info removed

[Uncle_Paul]

Since installing the pushed firmware update 44.128.5.38 my sense has become useless as it drains 10% battery per hour compared to 1% per hour previously using the same settings.

I have contacted Support and they have instructed me to turn off various features to save the battery - this has slowed battery use but it is still more than prior to the update with all the features turned on.

I bought the Sense as I wanted those features and it was fine until this update. Please provide a fix to get back to pre latest update, or give me a full refund and I’ll buy an Apple Watch (I didn’t do this before because of the Sense’s former better battery life and this is my 4th Fitbit).

Uncle_Paul.

[y8tesy]

Exactly this! I feel the same way, very disappointed with it all. I have done what support suggested too but what’s the point of having the sense of you can’t use the features it has! 

[TT001]

When will this be fixed? Sense was fine before the update bow the battery won’t even last a day. How long do we have to wait for a fix?

Thanks

[primortal]

---

@Uncle_Paul wrote:

Since installing the pushed firmware update 44.128.5.38 my sense has become useless as it drains 10% battery per hour compared to 1% per hour previously using the same settings.

I have contacted Support and they have instructed me to turn off various features to save the battery - this has slowed battery use but it is still more than prior to the update with all the features turned on.

Uncle_Paul.

---

I had a similar problem with battery drain, not as much as yours but enough to required charging more frequently.  After I did a factory reset on my Sense the power drain has gotten much better.  About 20% per day so far and that's with a morning alarm, reminders to walk, notifications and vibration set to strong.

[Uncle_Paul]

Having monitored further the battery drain with all the Sense features switched off is still around 10% / hour.

I've contacted Support again and after moaning at me for my charging regime -

I use all the features of the Fitbit so I use it as my primary timekeeper etc.  Therefore I wear it all day and all night and plug it in for 10 minutes whilst I shower. this normally boosts from 75% to 100% and allows continuous use.

I've been told that I should let it run down to (nearly) empty and only charge it then. Of course that means that at some non defined time I would have to stop wearing it for probably 2 hours which seems to me to defeat the purpose of the device. -

Anyway Ive been asked to force fit the app which seems to have slowed the rate of discharge and that I will be contacted again as they are working on an update to fix the problem.

Uncle_Paul.

[Th3cyb3rhulk]

Hey, I want to share the observation I conducted for my Sense today and to share the outcome after Fitbit app in IOS was updated to 3.43.1 yesterday and Sense in version of 44.128.5.38. The battery did show an improvement thatvis close to normal prior in updating my Sense firmware. Last night's battery leaving at 65% before putting into sleep mode. Waking it early morning at 830am and did sync, activating all notifications in Sense. It does did a great job and it does have 45% remaining battery. therefore, I can conclude that Sense performance is back to normal and serving me well again! I can close my case now! Hahaha! 😁

So I do hope for others out here! Cheers!

[OlateeB]

Well said!