Sense regularly losing connection to Pixel 6

[chris-mn]

Hello - I have a Fitbit Sense and a Google Pixel 6 (Android 12) and my Sense will stop syncing with my Pixel on a regular basis (about once per week or every other week).  I have tried all of the suggested trouble shooting steps

• Turn on / off bluetooth
• Force close the Fitbit App
• Validate that Fitbit App is up to date
• Validate that Fitibit firmware is up to date
• Restart phone
• Restart Fitbit
• Etc.

The only thing I have found to be truly effective is to:

1. Forget Sense on Fitbit app
2. Restart Sense
3. Restart phone
4. Repair Sense with phone via Fitbit app

Any insight / help about what I can do to keep my Sense more reliably connected to my Pixel.  It's got me strongly considering moving to Apple's ecosystem (which I'm very hesitant to do, but if things "just work", I'm tempted). 

Thank you!

[eezeepee]

Welcome to the Fitbit community.

I have a Pixel 6 Pro and have been using my Sense since December 29, 2021. The connection has been working fine pretty much the whole time. What you say "...will stop syncing...once a week or every other week" what exactly stops syncing? Do you get an error that says unable to sync? 

The most common sync issue for me was documenting my water log. From my Sense, it wouldn't show up on my phone, and vice versa. Recently it's been fine actually. My go to troubleshoot was the same thing of removing the Sense and adding it again. The worst it's been was it said it was unable to sync and the battery percentage didn't change in the app. That was only one time. I think that was on my part and might've been an Internet and/or VPN issue.

Also, do you notice if the connection issues happens with you doing something in particular? Maybe power save mode gets turned on?

Personally, I wouldn't leave the Pixel because of a Fitbit issue. I would rather much try another Android compatible fitness tracker than switching to an iPhone.

[eezeepee]

@chris-mn of course, just after typing out my first reply I get the syncing issue. Said it had been 2 hours since it last sync and it was "taking longer than expected" or something similar. So this would be the second time it happened for me. Same fix still works the best though, removing the Sense and adding it again. Restarting the phone and Sense don't fix it. 

[chris-mn]

Hey Eezeepee - Thanks for the welcome!  And it figures that you'd start experiencing the same issue after commenting.  

What you say "...will stop syncing...once a week or every other week" what exactly stops syncing? Do you get an error that says unable to sync? 

Data is not syncing from my Sense to my phone, even when trying to manually sync, and it seems to be all data (battery percent to work out information).  I get an error that says "Unable to sync" with a link that takes me to some troubleshooting steps (that do not work in my case).  

I have not noticed a particular pattern or action that causes the Sense to stop syncing, but I'll start to take a note to see if I can find a pattern.  

Typically after I remove the Sense, I need to restart my phone and Sense to re-pair my Sense with my phone (which is maybe another issue).  If I simply remove and try to repair my Sense, the process gets stuck on the "Pairing Sense screen" and eventually errors out.  

[eezeepee]

@chris-mn Yeah after I delete the Sense in the app, I'm able to add it immediately after without a restart of either device. Hopefully it's not a frequent thing for you but unfortunately, connection and syncing issues aren't exactly uncommon. For the most part though, my experience has been very good. I get all my notifications, I can answer or deny calls just fine, Google Assistant works very well with a long press, and the voice to text replies is very accurate.

[Franjelica]

I have had the Pixel 6 Pro for months. The Fitbit Sense had no issues with the Samsung 20S but has intermittent Bluetooth connection issues to the Pixel 6 Pro. After repeatedly uninstalling and reinstalling the Fitbit app I have given up. I reboot my phone and it works until it doesn't then I reboot the Pixel 6 Pro again.

Friends with Apple or other Android phones do not have the issue. Ironic or **ahem**ic.

[eezeepee]

@Franjelica That's interesting. Connection is fine for me on my 6 Pro. If I walk too far from my phone, probably 40ish+ feet, it'll disconnect but once I'mm close it reconnects automatically. Syncing can be an issue but since my March 1 post of deleting and adding my Sense, I haven't had to do that again.

[SamHs88]

I have the same issue. My connection was working perfectly until someday it decided not. Deleting and adding my Sense back turns out to be a pain, but once miraculously you get it paired, it works very well for some time until it all starts again. 

It is an issue that I did not have with my iPhone, but it happens over and over again with my Pixel3, and now with my Pixel6 Pro.

No issues at all with any other BT device. Just the Sense. 

[Miahdog]

I believe it is Pixel 6 Pro issue. Started after last phone update. I thought about exchanging my Sense, but it appears from here that probably won't make a difference. I have to exchange my phone for another issue, so I guess we'll see if its the phone. 🤷🏾‍:male_sign:

[Alex2117]

I was having the same issues and the Fitbit turning off Bluetooth and turning on and forcing the app stuff wasn't working. 

I'm pretty sure it's a problem with the app because the watch is still connected to the phone just fine. I just tried clearing the storage and the app and watches working fine now. No need to forget it and reconnect it.

[KB9WNS]

Yep.  I have the same problem.  P6 Pro, Sense, Quad9 DNS, Pi-hole on network. Fix:  Turn off Bluetooth, Force stop app, clear cache, turn on Bluetooth and re-sync.  It gets goofy when using a VPN or forced DNS.  Network adblocking is known to cause issues also.

[chris-mn]

Following up: It's been a bit since I posted, and probably a month or so after I posted this, the issue has stopped happening.  I have not done anything special or particular to address the issue (other than making sure my operating system is up to date).  Unfortunately I didn't notice a specific update that may have made this fix (whether it was a Fitbit app update, Fitbit firmware update, Android OS update, or something else).  If someone from Fitbit/Google sees this, it would be helpful to close out with an update that it has been fixed.  

[KB9WNS]

What phone/Android version?  Seems that the April Pixel 6 Android 12 update fixed a number of connectivity bugs with the P6P. 

[Franjelica]

Thanks for the feedback.

Android 12 May 5, 2022
Google Play System April 1, 2022

It had my sleep hours just now but when I tried to sync it wouldn't.

Bluetooth says Sense was connected.

Rebooted phone. Sync worked.

Annoying

Thanks again.

[Franjelica]

Interesting.

Maybe it's something in The Force.

[Olusiia]

I have this same issue and its driving me INSANE. Its been going on for over a month and im honestly ready to throw this watch out. It always auto synced and then out of the blue this started happening.   Has anyone been able to find a permanent fix??

[JoeyCastaldo]

I'm having the same issue with my Versa 3 and my Pixel 6. It worked fine with my pixel 4. I loved that phone. The Pixel 6 is garbage. So mad about all of the issues.

[KB9WNS]

If you have multiple devices with the FitBit paired to it will not sync. Turn off the Bluetooth on your P4 if you still have it.  Also, on your P6, update the "carrier services" app.

Another issue that can affect syncing are DNS services.  The P6/Android 12 are factory set to private DNS (encrypted, which is good). I changed mine to Quad9, also private and encrypted, with excellent results

[sanman202]

Just wait until you get Android 13. Still big time Bluetooth and sync issues. i doubt they will fix it being i'm running the 4th version of Android beta 13 with just a few weeks away from the public release of Android 13 for Pixel devices. I've been on Android 13 beta for weeks now and there doesn't go a day that i don't restart the watch and phone, stand on one ear,  and then hope it connects. I have no other issues with any other apps and bluetooth issues with any device aside from the Fitbit Sense. What's really irks is that the Pixel 6 Pro is the current flagship device for Google and Google owns Fitbit, and they can't get this right. This is the last Fitbit i buy after many devices from them. I'm over and out. 

[Mrfoodie]

@sanman202 Having exactly same issue with my sence and pixel 6 with Android 13 beta