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Charge 3 connected GPS not working correctly.

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‎11-19-2018 15:15 - last edited on ‎11-20-2018 06:09 by Moderator Alum

‎11-19-2018 15:15 - last edited on ‎11-20-2018 06:09 by Moderator Alum

Hello all,

 

I’ve recently replaced my Charge 2 with a Charge 3 and am having problems with the GPS connection to my iPhone XS Max for running and walking/hiking.  The Charge 2 worked perfectly but the Charge 3 insists that it can’t connect to my phone for GPS and I have to force stop and restart the Fitbit app and the C3 to make it connect.  Once connected it works fine, but having to mess around every time is getting a little tiresome to say the least.  I have also noticed that, sometimes, the app isn’t reflecting live heart rate either so am wondering if it is a general connection issue, as so many seem to be reported on these forums.  

 

I ahve already removed and reinstalled the app, and reconnected the C3 as a new device, but that didn’t make any difference.  Anyone else had GPS connection issues, or is it just me?

 

Cheers,

Tim.

 

Moderator Edit: Clarified Subject.

Best Answer
39 REPLIES 39

‎07-14-2019 17:31

In response to majician

‎07-14-2019 17:31

I’ve had the issue where the charge 3 keeps buzzing on my wrist because it connects/disconnects. I think the device does this every time the Phone changes from WiFi to LTE connection for internet. Switching off WiFi has helped me in these cases. Still not a great experience or solution. 

Best Answer

‎07-15-2019 17:42

In response to Gareth.ky

‎07-15-2019 17:42

I also upgraded from Charge 2 to Charge 3 a couple days ago.  I never had any issues w/the connected GPS and my Charge 2, but my Charge 3 takes forever to initially connect, and then just starts buzzing on my wrist as it continuously tells me it's lost connection to GPS and then regained.  My Charge 2 did do this and nothing else changed.  I tried forgetting Charge 2 in BT and then restarting Charge 3 but same irritating behavior.  Arrrg.

 

Do we know what this indicator/buzzing means exactly?  The Charge 3 has lost BT connection to phone, or the FitBit app has lost connection to phone GPS, or the phone GPS has lost signal?  The maps are still there and accurate, so these momentary signal losses are tolerable, but the constant buzzing on my wrist is not acceptable.

 

 

Best Answer

‎07-16-2019 09:48

In response to SteverinoLA

‎07-16-2019 09:48

Hey Steverino - Seems like everyone in this thread is having the same problem. Fitbit seems to not care about fixing it - or is in the process hopefully....

What i've been doing is just starting the exercise from the app, then afterwards the heart rate data is included. Works for now.

Best Answer

‎07-23-2019 14:20

In response to SteverinoLA

‎07-23-2019 14:20

@SteverinoLA  The buzzing is from the fitbit losing/regaining connection to the phone. I've had this problem several times. 

I thought I solved it once when I found my phone had a power saver mode on that I wasn't aware of (didn't intentionally turn on). After turning that off it connected good and GPS worked well and accurately. 

Today however it's stuck "connecting..." on the fitbit screen. Everything is set for the app to run in the background on the phone, power saver is off, battery restrictions for fitbit are off (can't be on anyway). Doesn't matter, won't connect. If i have the app open and the screen on it will though. 

That makes it seem like the solution would be easy, but like I said, anything that would prevent an app from running in the background has been disabled. 

 

The GPS is not accurate, despite how it may look initially. Put it on and take a mile run, it'll tell you something different, sometimes less, usually more. When I ran 10 miles it told me 12. 

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0 Votes

‎07-23-2019 14:53

In response to majician

‎07-23-2019 14:53

This problem was resolved with the recent firmware update for me. I still get some vibrating but it's correct in that GPS signal lost on phone. Happens when I bike into garage, etc.

 

So I'm good now. My charge 2 didn't do tell me via vibrating that signal lost but that's fine. 

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0 Votes

‎07-29-2019 13:19 - edited ‎07-31-2019 16:19

In response to MarcoGFitbit

‎07-29-2019 13:19 - edited ‎07-31-2019 16:19

Hi @MarcoGFitbit,

 

I've got the exact same issue as @maried2handsum. I've tried:

  • rebooting phone and Charge 3
  • reinstalling app
  • forgetting the Charge 3 at Bluetooth settings and re-pair

 

Syncing works just fine. But connecting either takes really long, from 20 sec up to a few minutes or it does not connect at all. In the process the phone gets pretty warm and it is draining the battery. Sometimes when it is re-paired and connects after a few seconds, a second time might take very long or it wont connect at all. Or after rebooting the phone it just won't connect any longer. It is just not reliable.

 

I have the Charge 3 for about a month now and worked just fine for 2 weeks. Last 2 weeks these issues has been playing up.

 

When I'm ready for my exercise, I just want to start. I don't want to wait for my device. A device that should motivate me, not slow me down.

 

Hopefully there is something that can be done about it.

 

Thank you for your time.

 

Using Moto G3 with Android 9.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE: Workaround

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was wondering why my Charge 3 was just working fine in the first week and I noticed that (because I didn't know yet how to combine the 2 properly) I was using Strava and the Charge 3 at the same time. Resulting in double recordings. Because of the double recordings, I stopped recording my exercise with Strava. From that moment the issue started for me.

 

So something I noticed today was that as soon as you open the Strava App on your phone and go to Record Activity and wait until the GPS is acquired, this while the Charge 3 is trying to connect when you start an exercise, the Charge 3 will connect right away.

 

You will actually have to start recording the activity in Strava to keep the connection alive. If you don't, the Strava App won't stay active in the background and will not "keep the GPS connection active". Just can just trow away the activity in Stravaat the end. Your Fitbit exercise will be visible in Strava as soon as it has synced.

 

Note: The Fitbit app as well as the Strava app have Location Permission on my phone.

 

Hopefully this info will help others the work around the issue and help the developers to solve it.

Best Answer
0 Votes

‎08-08-2019 10:41

In response to nukegod1990

‎08-08-2019 10:41

For me that doesn’t work, heart rate is not included in the exercise. Although I can see it in my heartbeats if the day..

frustrating

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0 Votes

‎09-11-2019 23:59

In response to koekiewookie

‎09-11-2019 23:59

V similar issues for me. Start fitbit at beginning of bike ride and set off. Arrive at destination 45 mins later and it’s either a) not recorded (it’s simply switched off the exercise recording), b) partially recorded (I get a poor map of my route as presumably the Fitbit drops in and out of GPS connection with my iPhone), or only part of my route or c) recorded perfectly (v rare).  

 

I was recording with Strava at the same time as I thought it was a temporary issue that Fitbit would resolve but weeks on, I’m now just using Strava and may return my Fitbit because it’s of no use. 

Best Answer

‎02-29-2020 08:39

In response to MarcoGFitbit

‎02-29-2020 08:39

Done all of the following, my C3 still wont recognise my phone to track using the phones GPS.

The phones app syncs with the watch, but nothing more than that. The watch is only just over 2 months old.

Best Answer

‎03-11-2020 08:14

In response to Suzyharry

‎03-11-2020 08:14

Same issue i am facing.. Its just 2 days and i am facing this issue with charge 3.

Best Answer

‎07-30-2020 08:55

In response to Jinesh_Panchal

‎07-30-2020 08:55

I have the same issue. Charge 2 connected flawless ly. Upgraded to charge 3 and only works if I hold the phone in my hand next to the tracker. In the manual is says the phone needs to be within 30 feet. Well, when I put the phone in the pouch under my bike seat - 3 feet from the tracker on my wrist - it won't connect. Worked fine with my charge 2. What gives? 

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0 Votes

‎09-02-2020 14:48

In response to Pshawfocus

‎09-02-2020 14:48

Having the same issues even now, a year later. Using a C3 and following a recent firmware update the GPS tracking is awful, all over the place. Distance, pace and segments ( when uploaded to Strava) are thrown out. 

I experimented on a 30 mile ride; after 15 miles of tracking with just the C3 connected to my phone, I also started tracking activity with Strava, guess what, the final recorded GPS route on the first half was glitchy, no surprise, but after getting Strava involved as well the second half was accurate, explain that! All I had to do was delete the duplicate exercise. Might be worth a try?

Best Answer

‎09-27-2020 19:55

In response to MarcoGFitbit

‎09-27-2020 19:55

Have tried all the above options still C3 has the same connectivity issues it wont connect .

Best Answer

‎10-11-2020 20:54

In response to Aditisojatia

‎10-11-2020 20:54

Help. Same problem. My GPS worked fine on my Charge 3 until the latest software update. Now it doesn't connect. I like this feature. Are there other exercise trackers that are more dependable in this regard?

Best Answer

‎10-11-2020 22:06

‎10-11-2020 22:06

GPS was fine with my Charge 3 until I updated software, then it failed to hook up. I just solved the problem. In settings I went to Location, App Permissions. Fitbit was set to only use location when the app was open instead of All the Time, which is what you want.

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0 Votes

‎10-12-2020 11:00

In response to S1S

‎10-12-2020 11:00

S1S trying this now. I went into App Permissions and saw only in use like you said. That makes sense for the issue I was having where after this last update, I would barely start my run and GPS would turn off. I'll let everyone know if it works when I go for a jog tomorrow.

Best Answer

‎10-23-2020 18:06

In response to Torpens

‎10-23-2020 18:06

Did it work? Because I tried all of that and it’s not working. And similar to most people here, my charge 3 was working perfectly fine and the app was connecting the whole time during my run until a recent Fitbit tracker update. Tried customer service, and everything they said didn’t help either. 

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0 Votes

‎10-23-2020 18:14

In response to ZMK

‎10-23-2020 18:14

Sorry totally forgot! It did work for me. I still have some spottyness that I've always had but it picks up most of my route when it wasn't getting anything at all.

Best Answer

‎10-23-2020 18:52

In response to Torpens

‎10-23-2020 18:52

Thanks for the update. Will try again, some are saying I might need to turn off the WiFi, prior to the run, as switching between WiFi and cellular data can impact this. But that was never an issue before. Anyway, will try and see what happens.. thanks again. 

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0 Votes

‎04-12-2022 09:33

In response to MarcoGFitbit

‎04-12-2022 09:33

This was my issue! My Charge 3 was tracking my walks but not my runs. After reading the below comment, I found "Run" on my Fitbit and swiped up to see that somehow my GPS settings had been turned off. I turned them on and I think it should work moving forward. This is also why my runs weren't syncing to Strava.

"You selected an exercise type from the Exercise app that uses connected GPS. To check on Charge 3, swipe up on any exercise and check that Use Phone GPS is listed and set to On."

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