Tap to wake not sensitive on Sense

[sockatume]

In the instructions for the Fitbit Sense, it mentions that you can tap the screen instead of pressing the button to wake it. This is easier to do than trying to get the "button" to respond, at least for me, so I've been trying to use it and it doesn't seem to work very reliably. I've tried short taps, long taps, hard taps, gentle taps... it seems that sometimes (especially if it has just been awake) it'll respond easily, and sometimes it just doesn't respond at all. I've tried rebooting the watch but it hasn't helped. Anyone got any tips?

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[bobby2478]

The tap to wake feature on the sense isn't very responsive at all, most of the time it won't wake even if I tap it 5 times. 

Hope fitbit addresses this in a firmware update with other bug fixes / performance improvements 

[HollieAyne]

I agree...I feel like I have to beat the thing to get the screen to wake up. I was wondering if there was a secret spot that would be better to tap but nothing seems to work better than the other.

[JC_DeeSy]

I experiencing the same with my fitbit sense. Tap and wiggling my wrist won’t awaken the screen even the watch is set up to Screen Wake Automatic. It is just not sensitive at all

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi everyone. It's good to see you here in the Community Forums.

@sockatume, thanks for sharing detailed information about your Sense and the steps tried to get the screen responsive to taps. I'm sorry you're going through this situation. I've contacted our Support team and they'll create a case on your behalf to provide you with further assistance. Just 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.

@bobby2478, @HollieAyne and @JC_DeeSy, thanks for your efforts while working on this situation. While you've tried tapping your Sense screen more than once, may I know if you've tried performing a restart? If not, please give it a try and let me know how it goes so I can continue helping you with this.

Look forward to your comments.

[sockatume]

Hi Lizzy,

Thank you for forwarding this! I'll update the thread if the Support team and I are able to come up with a solution.

[olivine_peridot]

Mine doesn't wake at all if I tap it... I have to keep dramatically placing my wrist in front of my face to wake it, or press the button. I do find the button quite responsive, it's just a bit of pain to have to use my other hand to see the time. I've resorted to have the time and date always displayed. It was too annoying trying multiple times to wake it. I've found having the low power full display is fine. I charge it every three days or so which doesn't really bother me much. It's usually at about 48-53% when I charge it and reaches 100% by the time I've showered etc so doesn't impact my day.

[David_J]

Yes, same thing here, it is not sensitive enough to taps.

[Longarms69]

I can reliably (9/10) get my Sense to wake by tapping the stainless steel bezel in the top right corner 

[bobby2478]

@LizzyFitbit I have restarted my device and this doesn't make a difference. What I've found is the following:

1. Once I have the device woke, if I press the button to turn off the display, and then immediately tap the screen to wake, it appears responsive and often times wakes after 1 press.

2. Once the display has turned off (either manually or automatically), if I wait a few minutes (say 5 minutes), then if I tap the screen to wake it isn't very responsive. I can tap the screen 5+ times, including firmly tapping, and it still doesn't register and doesn't wake the screen. Eventually after enough presses and tapping quite firmly I can get it to respond but the majority of the time it doesn't work. FWIW I'm in the USA and it is paired to Android.

[FloppyDrive]

The responsiveness of the tap to wake ability seems to depend upon how long the screen has been asleep. After 30 seconds, it requires at least a few taps.

[sockatume]

Bobby’s description is exactly what I’m seeing - if the phone screen has been “off” (including showing the always-on clock) for too long it stops responding.

[sockatume]

Unfortunately the support team were not helpful. Their first contact was to simply direct me to the basic Fitbit documentation, then they had me explain the issue again and had me reboot my Fitbit. Then they had me make sure that “do not disturb” and “sleep” were off, giving instructions that seem to be for a different model of Fitbit. Then they had me send in a video of what the problem actually was, and after seeing it they stated that because it has an always-on display you don’t need to ever wake the watch up.

Also apparently you switch apps by swiping up down left and right which also doesn’t correspond to my current model.

[sockatume · Accepted solution]

I solved the problem myself. Although the PDF manual says to tap the display, the following help document, which I could only find on Google, says to double tap:

https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1744.htm

This works far more reliably. The manual is wrong.

[ilya.f]

try double tapping the wrist band right near the watch, instead of the watch itself. works very well for me..

[olivine_peridot]

@sockatume I just tried and even double tapping won't work for me😂 it worked maybe twice out.of trying about 20 times... Guess it's just always on display for me...

[Micsb]

Aha, I think I found the right techniqe to wake the display by tapping. First tap has to be forcefull enough to trigger the motion sensor and wake the digitizer, with second tap, keep the finger on the display, dont lift it. Dont make the taps too quickly, just a tiny pause before lifting finger after first tap.

I assume the display digitizer is put to sleep after 30 sec to save battery and need to be started up again. Waiting 30 sec to make it easy to get the display up if it times out while looking at it.

It worked 10 times in a row, can any of you replicate thia?

[sockatume]

That does seem to work more consistently, although it's still not entirely reliable.

[Armabit]

Surprisingly, what's working best for me is tapping on the side of the watch (double tap). That's right, you don't have to touch the screen. 

I don't understand why fitbit isn't more clear about this. This works fine.

[forthewatch]

I am thinking of buying a hammer. Some people here said tap the watch band and some said corner of the screen. See if that works for you before buying a hammer.