All-Day Sync doesn't work when Fitbit App is closed

[Chocomilka]

I own a Charge 3 and an iPhone 11 on iOS 13.3.1.

All Day Sync has always been enabled, but it has never worked. To get the Charge 3 to sync, I've always had to open the Fitbit app on my iPhone; sometimes sync would start as I opened the app, sometimes I would have to swipe down to force sync.

Same thing with GPS, my Charge 3 would only connect to my iPhone 11's GPS if the app was open.

As a test, I stopped closing the Fitbit app; it's been constantly open for a few days. All Day Sync has been working without any problem with the app open, and so has GPS connection.

On Android (on OnePlus 6T and OnePlus 7 Pro anyway), it's completely different. I do not have to keep the app open for All Day Sync to work and for GPS to connect. Those processes run in the background.

Looking at old topics, it looks like this issue has been on going for a long time on iOS.

Why is it that the app needs to remain open? I don't always remember to keep it open when I close all other apps on my iPhone, and then when I reopen it, it takes ages to sync.

Same thing when I want to GPS track an activity, as I'm on my bike I have to stop and take my phone out to open the app and get GPS to connect.

When is Fitbit going to address this?

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Chocomilka. Welcome on board! It's good to see a new face around.

Thanks for letting me know about your Charge 3's behavior and I'll help you with your inquiries. As you may know, the All-Day Sync function will automatically sync your data throughout the day and it's required to have the Fitbit app open and the Bluetooth enabled to constantly sync your data. This applies to both, iOS and Android Fitbit app. If you'd like to turn Off the All-Day Sync function, you'll need open the Fitbit app or use the Sync Now option to sync your Charge 3.

If your tracker regularly syncs with the Fitbit app, it shouldn't take too long to complete that process. However, since this isn't the case I'd recommend to give a try to the troubleshooting described in this help article.

In line with this, since your Charge 3 uses connected GPS, meaning that it'll use your phone's GPS signal to generate your data, it's required to have the Fitbit app open, the All-Day Sync enabled, the location services set to Always and the Background App Refresh turned On so your tracker can stay connected during your exercise. Otherwise, it'll lose connection which can result in getting inaccurate/incomplete data.

I'll be around if you have any other question.

[Chocomilka]

Hi Lizzy,

Thank you for the details answer and confirmation that the app must be open at all times for all day sync and gps to work on iPhone.

Just one point I’d like to correct; that is not how it is on Android. On my OnePlus 6T and 7 Pro, I never had to keep the app open for the features to work seamlessly.

It looks to me like it is a requirement only on iOS.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Chocomilka. It's great to see you around and I'm sorry for the delayed response.

You're welcome and thanks for taking the time to review my post. About your question, it's always been required to leave the Fitbit app running on the background to automatically sync with the All-Day Sync function for Android and Apple devices. While this function shouldn't have worked on your OnePlus 6T and OnePlus 7 Pro after closing the Fitbit app, I appreciate you for bringing this to my attention and sharing your feedback. If you've the chance to try again on those phones, let me know if this happens again so I can further investigate.

Keep me posted.

[jmckay]

I am unable to set location services to 'always on' because Fitbit does not appear in the list of available apps (Settings > Privacy > Location Services). Fitbit app has not yet requested location services. How do I force the app to request or manually grant the app access to location services?

The reason I am asking is that my Charge 3 only syncs with the app open and the all-day sync feature is not working. I have tried all other suggestions in your post as well as:

• Restarting both devices.
• Uninstalling/reinstalling the Fitbit app.
• Unpairing/repairing the devices.
• Removing/adding the Charge 3 from within the Fitbit app.
• Checked to ensure the Fitbit app has all available permissions enabled.

iPhone 11 Pro (iOS 13.4.1) with Fitbit Charge 3 (Version 28.20001.63.5) and Fitbit app version 3.19 (945).

The Charge 3 device only syncs when I open the Fitbit app and does not sync "all-day" (automatically).

[EchoRan]

I know it's been a couple months and this question has been technically answered, but I was searching for a solution to the same problem with my Versa after switching from a Pixel 3 to an iPhone 11 and found this post.

I think the confusion I was having and probably the same for the original asker is how Android and iOS treat apps running in the background and what constitutes a Force Close. In Android you can pull up all your open apps and swipe them away. It seems like you've closed the app, but you really haven't. It actually is still running in the background even though you swiped it away. To really truly Force Close the app you have to go in to App Info and press Force Close.

iOS handles this differently. When you go to your open apps and swipe them away, it's treating it like a Force Close. The app is no longer running in the background. For those of us former Android users who obsessively cleaned up their open app tab, this has to force us to change our mentality about what we consider running in the background.

I hope that helps both FitBit and it's users!

[DaftRadiohead]

SOLUTION:

After trying so many of these proposed solutions I found the DEFINITE reason why the GPS wasn't connecting for me. The latest versions of Android require app authorization to access the GPS. Go to Settings > Location. Enable "Use location". Go down and select "Fitbit", then select "Permissions", and then "Location". Select "Allow all the time".

This should allow your Fitbit to connect without issue. Good luck.

[LizzyFitbit · Accepted solution]

Hi everyone, and welcome to our new members.

Thanks for the details provided, as well as the steps tried prior to posting. Let me share that the All-Day Sync function has been removed from the Fitbit app on both iOS and Android. However, your data will now automatically sync each time you open the Fitbit app when your Fitbit device is nearby. For syncing issues, I'd recommend trying the suggestions described in this help article.

To prevent any confusion, I'm going to close this thread from further comments. If you have any other question, I'd encourage you to start a new thread to receive help from the Community. Note that you can always visit our Help Site where you can find information about our products and features, as well as troubleshooting steps.

See you around.