App says "Failed to Sync Device" yet it does sync

[ChrisWill]

iPhone app says "failed to Sync Device" yet it does sync. Irritating. Please help.

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[RicardoFitbit]

Hi @ChrisWill welcome to the Community Forums, it's a pleasure to give you a hand with your concern.

I appreciate the details that were shared in your post, certainly it's not a common situation that your Fitbit device sync but the Fitbit app shows such message, I totally understand how irritating this can be. If you haven't already done so, please try the following steps:

1. Force quit the Fitbit app
2. Log out from your account
3. Make sure that your iOS version is up to date 
4. Reboot your mobile device
5. Make sure that the Fitbit app is up to date too
6. Log back in to your Fitbit account

Let me know how it goes, please keep me posted. 

[ChrisWill]

Thank you for your post! I followed the steps you listed. Still getting "failed to Sync Device" yet it does sync.

[RicardoFitbit]

You're welcome @ChrisWill, thanks for your reply and update, sorry for the delay in responding.

I appreciate your effort and patience troubleshooting this situation with the steps that were shared on my previous post. To better assist you with this, can you please send me a screenshot of the error message that was described in your post? You can refer to this post to do so.

Keep me posted, I'll be around if you need anything else or have any additional questions for me to answer.

[schen6388]

Hi

Just wondering if this issue has been solved? if yes, how?

My Fitbit 3 is having the same issue, I follow the instruction even restart the fitbit charge 3, sometime it sync, sometime it does not... very annoying.

Thank you

Sherry

[wisemichelle44]

my brand new versa is doing the same, keeps saying syncing and refreshing and then goes to a red line and says failed to sync device. I was on the phone with fitbit 2 hours yesterday. please tell me there is an update that needs to be done or something new with fitbit, because everyone is having problems with this.

[SunsetRunner]

I’m getting exactly the same message on a Charge3 bought on Monday. It ran an update when I set it up, so clearly there is no fix for this problem at the moment.

Irritating after paying a higher price for a Fitbit  over other cheaper products 

[cmoonstone]

I have the same exact problem.  I have tried your fix and it still says "Failed to sync device" along with the red line

• My iPhone 8s has the latest update (v13.1.2)
• My Charge 3 responds through the app that I have the latest update and the Charge 3 reads 28.20001.63.5

I really don't know what isn't syncing though...Is the iPhone not seeing a response from the Charge 3 when the sync is complete??

When I manually sync (Sync now tile) I don't get any error message...

it is a bit irritating to see an error message whan there is none

[Yennnny]

Just wanted to add that this is happening on my Fitbit too. I have a Charge 2. Please help, it clearly is a bug. 

[SunsetRunner]

Hello everyone. I understand many of you are experiencing syncing issues and have tried multiple troubleshooting steps to try and resolve the issue. If other troubleshooting efforts are unable to assist you then I would suggest reinstalling your Fitbit App. First try turning your Bluetooth off then back on to see if that resolves your issue. If not just uninstall the Fitbit app then shut down your device, wait 1-2 mins then restart your device. Once your device is fully loaded then head to the App Store and download the Fitbit app. (Make sure your Bluetooth is indeed on right now) Once it’s downloaded just sign in as you normally would with your email address and password. You will see Bluetooth prompts to pair so of course say “Always”. You Will Not lose your data reinstalling the app. 
😃 I hope this helps. 

[angelweers]

I have an iphone 6s and the most current ios. I purchased an Inspire HR for myself on Black Friday and retired my Charge HR which was falling apart. I never had ANY problems with my Charge Syncing. I have CONSTANT problems with the Inspire. I just uninstalled and reinstalled the app, to see if that would fix it, but no go. If I disconnect my bluetooth and reconnect it, then connect my Inspire to the Bluetooth manually, close the app and re-open it, the app will sometimes update the numbers (once or twice a day I can get this to work) but it will still say "Failed to Sync" at the top. Sometimes the only reason I know it actually synced is to go onto the website and see if my numbers are updated there. I'm SUPER frustrated. I love my fitbit, and am very excited about the Inspire, but not being able to Sync with my phone (or not knowing whether it did or not) is really a hassle.

[Brandemo]

This is also affecting my daughter’s charge 3. It says it failed to sync but it does. I have restarted her phone and her Fitbit. I have uninstalled the app and reinstalled it. I have turned Bluetooth off and back on. I have done all of the suggested trouble shooting. It happens all the time on my daughter’s and won’t go away. Mine can usually go away after 3-4 tries of the forced quit, restart, etc. 

[SunsetRunner]

Mine actually does not sync; what’s up?

[booklovegirl]

I too am having the same issue.  Not use if others have this issue too but I have more active minutes than usual.  I got almost 60 min of active min yesterday which I know is incorrect.  This has been all week 

[Kaitydidnt]

For those with the issue - go to Settings, Privacy, Location Services, Fitbit. I had the problem when it was set to “While Using” but it went away when set to “Always.”

 This seems like a naked grab for data on Fitbit’s part, since sync DOES work without it (it just claims to fail), so I for one will be leaving it to “While Using,” letting it fail and looking for a new alternative (maybe Garmin, maybe Amazfit, maybe Apple) as soon as possible. 

[Kaitydidnt]

In good news, though, once I set to back to “While Using” sync appears to continue to function properly. So perhaps it’s just bad programming, and the app wasn’t clear on what the setting was?

[Rayjanie]

My Fitbit is doing exactly the same - says failed to sync when it obviously has.  Fix didn’t work for mine either.

[Longshot88]

Same here: my charge 3 in the app says failed to sync in red, but it really did. Went through all the usual suggested fixes, including the location services change to use “always” and for fun switched it back. I also went through all “fix” and reset suggestions every time I changed these settings, and gave the iPhone, app and charge 3 time to reset any changes. Still shows the error when it appears, there isn’t one. Or is there?

This charge 3 is my 3 device model since 2016. Recently purchased The 3 and it’s had little inconsistencies from the beginning, which I have managed. But this issue of displaying a problem when there isn’t one, annoying and undermining my product confidence: I wonder what else is messing up in the background?

Obviously a problem that is dragging on. Come on Fitbit: get this dealt with. Or, acknowledge you are working on it. 

[Rayjanie]

It is a bit off putting though mine seemed to sort itself out after a
couple of days. I tried all the things you mention but nothing worked so
obviously some kind of glitch

[LegalTrouble]

I just upgraded to the Charge 3 from a Charge 2 I had used for years. 

Upgraded Father’s Day 2020, and my device is doing the same as described by the original poster. It syncs, says it failed to sync, but it did actually sync. None of the above fixes did anything bu waste my time and make me more frustrated with the product. It’s upsetting to spend high dollar on a fitness tracker with obvious bugs that haven’t been fixed with the same reported issue for months.