Unable to get Google Assistant to work on Sense

[PmillerAllDay]

I went and bought a brand new Fitbit Sense today to pair with my basically new Pixel 5 phone I biught about 2 weeks ago. 

This is not my first fitbit device that I iown. Nonetheless, I went through the setup process with ease and everything paired and synced fine. The fitbit also updated to the latest firmware: 44.128.4.15 that included Google Assistant. However when I selected the option " REACTIVATE GOOGLE ASSISANT" I get the "Connecting" message but after several seconds, I then get the following message, "Couldn't Connect" message. 

I have factory reset the watch, uninstalled and reinstalled the fitbit app and still got the same message.

Can anyone please help me get this Google Assistant and Fitbit Sense connected?

For what it's worth, I'm in the United States

Thanks!

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject and updated label

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @PmillerAllDay. Welcome! It's great to have you on board.

Thanks for sharing detailed information about this situation, and for every step tried prior to posting. Before anything else, let me explain that your Pixel phone isn't a compatible device and some features may not always work until the Fitbit app is optimized to work on this phone. However, we can try some other steps to try getting Google Assistant working on your Sense. Before anything else, may I know if your watch is regularly syncing with the Fitbit app? Has the Fitbit app been allowed to run in the background?

In the meantime, I'd recommend to give a try to the following:

1. Remove the Sense from the Bluetooth settings.
2. Turn off the Bluetooth from other devices that are nearby.
3. Check if the location services are enabled.
4. Restart your watch.
5. Open the Fitbit app and pull down on the screen to force a manual sync.
6. Try activating the Google Assistant on your Sense. Make sure your phone has internet connection and is within 30 feet.

I look forward to your post.

[HuFit]

I'm having what appears to be the same issue with a fully updated Samsung Note 10+.  Connecting fails every time. 

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @HuFit. Welcome to the Community Forums.

Thanks for the information provided and for your efforts. While you mentioned that your phone is fully updated, have you made sure your Sense and the Fitbit app are updated? Because your post didn't mention, please give a try to the suggestions shared in my post and make sure the Fitbit app is running in the background so the voice assistant can work correctly on your watch.

[lemayp]

@PmillerAllDay I had my share of configuration problems with the google assistant, which start to work and at some point was not working anymore.  One of those iteration has been documented here: https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Sense/Google-assistant-connection-lost/m-p/4627207#M10045 

One thing that I have observed during any attempt to resolve my Google Assistant connection is that the "Reactivate Google Assistant" was not enough for me.  If I remember, there was another option to completely forget the connection and start over.  This was required for me.

I have a Pixel 3XL running basically the same version of Android as your phone, I presume.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @lemayp. It's good to see you around.

Thanks for the information provided and for sharing the suggestions that worked for you. I'm sure your post will help other members experiencing similar issues and if you have any other question, don't hesitate to let me know so I can help you with that.

[Champ7777]

My Fitbit Sense stopped Syncing and the Google Assistant connection was lost.

Spent a full 3 Hours this morning trying everything (and that includes Factory Resetting) before finally resolving my issue. 

I had to go into my phones settings.

Then tap on apps.

Tap on Fitbit while in settings

and tapped on Force Stop. 

Then opened up Fitbit. 

It fixed my Sync ISSUE 

AND it fixed my Google Assistant. 

• Note: I went to the Google Assistant app and disconnected Fitbit Sense Device in the Google Assistant Devices (area) from within the Google Assistant app. 

I disconnected my device from Google Assistant BEFORE I went into settings on my phone to go to Fitbit and Force Stopped.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Champ7777, welcome to the Community Forums.

Thanks for taking the time to troubleshoot your Sense, as well for sharing the steps that worked for you. I'm glad that the Google Assistant is now working on your watch and I'm sure your post will help other members experiencing similar issues.

In case you have some spare time, I’d like to invite you to visit our Health & Wellness board where you can share your success stories, make new friends and create new topics.

Have a good day!

[sidmobile]

Thanks for the suggestion. Syncing is still working for me, but Google assistant seems to be dead (removing and setting up again leads to a blank screen).  Tried all the steps listed in this thread but no luck.

Testing my luck to see if this is just me or if there others impacted (seems I might be the only one).

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi there, @sidmobile.

You're welcome. Thanks to you for sharing these details and your efforts while troubleshooting your Sense. This is odd and because the Google Assistant is still not working well on your watch, let me recommend contacting our Support team so they can investigate what may be occurring and provide you with further assistance. They're available via chat or phone, just click here to get connected with them.

See you around.

[sidmobile]

There's a new update available for the Google app on the play store (released today). After updating, the problem is fixed (for me) and I was able to setup assistant for fitbit again. Might be worth a try.

[IrishPhenix]

Okay, what they forget to tell you is that you have to set up Wi-Fi in your app, and has to be running before you can set up your assistant. So I went in set my Wi-Fi up made sure it was connected and then went back and set up the sense it worked flawlessly, so more of the story make sure your Wi-Fi is connected otherwise it won't connect mine I clicked and it went to a blank page and did nothing. Make sure in your settings it's connected to sense,make sure it is connected to the internet not just there, connected and blue.

[JT_sense_user]

Please make sure to setup on wrist calls and WiFi.  Also make sure not to sync with any other device via bluetooth.   If you sync with more than one device then google assistant may not work or may work with one it paired last.

[Keith77777777]

Tried everything mentioned in forum. still doesn't connect to Google assistant.  I've had nothing but problems with my fitbit. Sleep app also doesn't work and was on phone with service who couldn't fix it. so now I have basically steps and that's it. Totally fed up with Fitbit.  They should call it Lemonbit. 

[BC22]

Hello. I'm just coming across this post but I'm having trouble with the Google Assistant on my Fitbit Sense. I also have a pixel 5 And I am wondering if this phone is supposed to be compatible with this now as I'm getting the message that something went wrong but it might work if I try again but it's still not working. I have restarted my watch and everything is up to date. I have also turned off the Google Assistant and turned it back on and still the same error. Please assist and confirm if this just does not a compatible device for the app. Thank you!

[georgepm]

Thanks! This totally works 👏🏻

[sepepper]

I just bought a brand new Fitbit Sense FB512, and ran into similar trouble with turning on Google Assistant. I discovered that somehow in the initial setup that the phone app took me through to answer several questions (since the screen on the Sense watch itself told me I had to go to the phone app first), I had apparently denied Fitbit access to certain hardware functions that the watch uses as a go between with the phone itself-- such as the microphone-- anyhow to resolve the "permissions" issue with Fitbit and my phone (Android, Samsung Galaxy S9) I opened the phone's settings, opened the apps section, searched and opened the Fitbit app info, scrolled down to "app settings" section where there's a shortcut to "Permissions"..... I discovered that several areas of the phone had been denied (again probably from "operator error" on my part), so I ended up turning on permission to everything in the "denied" column including microphone of course. Then I tapped the "force stop", waiting a few seconds, then tapped "Open" to launch Fitbit, tapped the "Sense" under my account, tapped the "voice assistant" to open the view for Google Assistant, It was still showing the "disconnected" status, tapped it to launch the "activate Google Assistant" again, then VOILA it worked! The Sense watch now responds to my long press of the Sense button to launch Google Assistant, it does not require me to say "Hay Google", I just say whatever command comes to mind (i tested it with just "what time is it?") and it announced through the watch speaker the time, and displayed time and date on the watch face. Hope this helps anyone with similar Google Assistant/Sense activation difficulty. To summarize again, in my case it was most likely from my own "operator error" denying the Fitbit app to access my phone's apps and hardware that has anything to do with the proper function of Google Assistant.

[BC22]

@sepepper Thank you for the suggestion, but this did not work for my phone (Google Pixel 5). It is still giving me the message "Something went wrong, but it may work if you try it again." Any more suggestions???

[sepepper]

Hello again, when you opened the Fitbit app info in your Google Pixel 5 settings/apps, did it show anything listed in the apps section/permissions list as "denied"? Just curious-- when I discovered I had inadvertently denied the Fitbit app permission to access my phone's microphone, including several other items like camera, contacts, and other apps I just tapped on each to open the "allow/deny" buttons and tapped "allow" on everything, then backed out to main Fitbit app info page where the "open/uninstall/force stop" appear at the bottom, I then tapped "force stop" waited a few seconds then tapped "open" to launch Fitbit, tapped the account icon top left corner, tapped my Sense device listed there, tapped the voice assistant icon, tapped Google Assistant to activate, waited for the big rotating circle, then poof it worked, the Google Assistant icon now shows "ACTIVATED" on mine. The only thing I can think of in your case is maybe open your Google Assistant phone app, go to the account page, see what's listed in "personal devices"-- if your watch is listed there, tap it to open its settings for GA and select "Turn off Google Assistant" by tapping the big X on the right. THEN go back and do the above procedure. Let me know if it works for you (or not). Just curious, I'm only on day 2 of my complete history of messing with the Fitbit Sense watch and its corresponding phone app (on my Samsung)!

[BC22]

@sepepper Yes, I did all of the steps you mentioned. I did have the permissions off as well and I turned them on, but it didn't do anything different for me. 😞