Music controls issue

[Mkorver48]

Hey there! I have had the Versa for a few days now. Loving it so far! Execpt for one thing, lol. I have only noticed one issue that seems software related either with the Versa or my phone. I have an Essential Phone PH-1. My issue is that I have been trying to get the music controls working to control my phone playing Spotify, Google music, ect... My phone recognized the Versa right away and would connect to Versa classic, but the Versa would time out and say "no devices found". However it will say it is connected to my phones bluetooth address. When I go to the music controlson the Versa the volume buttons work but there are no skip, play, pause buttons. Just the " start playing music on your phone" message. I have tried alot of troubleshooting. What I could think of and things I found on forums. Tried a factory reset too. Nothing has helped. Any help would be much appreciated. Just kind of annoying that a feature that is supposed to work, doesn't.

[Michel2323]

I also tried to find some help here. Bottom line is it just doesn't work. I have a Pixel 2. As soon as this works I'll buy a Versa. It's THE feature I need when I'm out for a run.

There are some people for who it works. So maybe it has again something to do with the Bluetooth implementation for the particular phones. What I can confirm is that my Pebble Time works just fine. 

[Mkorver48]

My Pebble Steel worked just fine too. Guess I'll just have to wait or send it back and go back to my Pebble till it can get sorted. The pros of the Vresa still outweigh the cons though. I still have 35 days to decide. 

[marciemare]

I'm having the same issues with Music Control, but with a Google Pixel (gen 1) and a Special Edition Versa.  The only way I can get Music Control to (sort of) work on my Versa when playing music on my phone is to:

1. Start a music app (I've tried Deezer, Google Play, and Amazon Music services) on the phone and play a track. 
2. Make sure "Versa (Classic)" shows as connected in my phone's Bluetooth.
3. Go to Music Control (long-press on the left button) on the Versa.
4. Press the 3 dots (...) in the lower-left of the Music Control screen and press the watch icon to switch the source from phone to Versa.
5. Then select the smartphone icon switch back to phone as source again, and press the left button to return to the Music Control screen.

This only works some of the time, but even then the track/artist name will not sync with the currently playing track (so if I skip a track, it will show the previously playing song name/artist, or sometimes just the first track/artist I played that day).  And if I go out of the Music Control screen or the backlight times out, it always just returns to the "Start playing music on your phone." screen. 

I've also tried re-pairing Bluetooth Classic, restarting the phone/app/Versa repeatedly, but no dice.  I remember having some initial issues with Music Control when I first got the Blaze (I think Bluetooth Classic can be kind of flaky?) but it did eventually get resolved with a firmware update.  ::fingers crossed::

[Mkorver48]

Yeah, sounds right. I never got mine to work a little though. Support the
most popular phones out of the box and play catch-up on the rest. Oh well,
hopefully software/firmware updates will happen sooner rather than later.

[Vegga]

I'm in the exact same situation as you. Have used a Pebble Time Steel with the Essential Phone without any issues regarding music controls, so hopefully Fitbit will be able to match Pebble some time in the future...

[marciemare]

[accidental double-post]

[Saebaas]

I'm having the exact same issue with my Pixel 2

[dreambucket]

Same here, Pixel 1 .  Buttons on the side control the volume but no track controls appear. 

[threshfire]

This is a important issue and stated as a working feature in all promotional material and the product manual. I trust that it is actively being investigated by Fitbit as it affects multiple devices, even the ones that listed as being "fully compatible".

[mitwess]

the ionic (same software/hardware) has the same issue. fitbit needs to fix this. although other watches can be a bit buggy with bluetooth music control they are way better than fitbit. the garmin auto senses when you are playing music on your phone and automatically syncs the controls, i.e. no bluetooth classic connection requirement (that doesn't even work). fitbit how hard is it to reverse engineer what every other company seems to have figured out already? please fix this, it's a big feature for many people and doesn't seem that hard for other wearable companies. for me this is the biggest issue with the ionic/versa (over complexity, and slowness of local music upload being the next biggest issue, followed by the slowness of firmware updates). fix those three BIG issues, and you have a great product on your hands. continue to not fix them and you have many pissed off buyers not recommending your product, if not returning it. 

[Jazzyrhythms]

Not working with my Galaxy S9+ also - I've tried everything to get it to work. 

[Username1330]

Upvoting this. Same issue experienced here with my Pixel2 and Versa SE paired through classic. It's not reliable. Please fix this in an upgrade FitBit!

[Username1330]

To provide some more context, I paired through Versa Classic via bluetooth. I'm playing music through my Spotify app on my Pixel2. When I go to my Music Controls screen, it only shows me the screen to "Start playing music on your phone" but music is already playing on my phone. The volume buttons work, but I have no option to rwnd/play/pause/ffwd the song. The source is set to my phone. If I disconnect the bluetooth device and re-add it back, I may see the screen briefly but it goes back to the "Start playing music on your phone" default. Super annoying, as this is a huge feature of the phone and I'd never use the terrible music apps Pandora or Deezer when they could use Spotify which is wayyy better. Don't be like Apple and box us into your specific, preferred products!!!

[ocelotvarn]

Doesn't work for me either. tried restarting both my phone and the versa.

I've also tried playing every possible music source from my phone (youtube music, google music, spotify, apple music) in an attempt to get the versa to recognize something, but alas it recognizes nothing playing.

Before anyone asks, yes it is paired correctly via bluetooth classic.

[totalfrenzy]

I am also having the same issue.

I once saw the name of the song, but every other time it says "Start Playing Music on your Phone".

I'm connected to Versa Classic on my Pixel 2, and volume controls work fine.

[crypticfork]

Same issue, music control not working on pixel.

This is my first fitbit product and looks like it is going straight back....

[jackn123]

Same issue with my Samsung Note 8. The person below that mentioned flipping to watch control and then back to phone control does work for me temporarily though. Then after one song i look down and it says that it is unpaired. Very frustrating - basic functionality. 

[MDLynch]

Oh hey, another disappointed Pixel 2 owner here.

Android Wear ("wear OS") manages to sync notifications, track fitness and control music, all pretty seamlessly. It's unbelievable to me that Fitbit can't manage to do the same, knowing how many of their customers want to control music during exercise. It's half the reason I wanted something more than my old Charge 2.

And really, Pandora and Deezer? Where's support for Spotify?! Spotify worked with Samsung to get a version working on the Gear Fit, so there's no reason Fitbit couldn't team up to create something similar.

Maybe a little bit less time working on "Think Fast" and more time working on making one of the most fundamental pieces of smartwatches actually work.

[Zhiiho]

Same Problems for me. I'm running the Fitbit versa special edition on my Pixel 2.