Unable to set up Alta HR on iPhone 7

[Mack348]

Just got the Alta HR about a month ago...first experience with Fitbit, and I’m not impressed. I’ve owned an iPhone 7 Plus for approximately 1 year, and updated to iOS 11 prior to getting my Fitbit. When I try to setup the Alta HR, my phone cannot find it. Screen on Alta shows “Fitbit.com/setup”. I’ve done everything the book, the online forums, and common sense suggests. I’ve contacted customer support and gone through every combination of steps again with the tech on the phone, on both my phone and my iPad..still nothing. They thought the Alta was faulty since it wouldn’t work on either iOS device, and had me send it back.  They sent me a new one, but I’m still having the same problem. There seems to be some kind of compatibility problem between the current iOS and Fitbit. My buddy has a Samsung phone, and my Fitbit shows up on his Bluetooth list, but not mine.

I’m very frustrated. Everything I’ve read has shown that people have been reporting similar problems since September, yet there doesn’t seem to be any actual fix for it from Fitbit. Apparently some people who already had their Fitbit device prior to the update are finding work-arounds, but setting up new devices is impossible.  Seems to me like 2 months is quite a lot of time to leave customers hanging without coming up with a fix.

I have turned off every Bluetooth device in my house to be sure it wasn’t trying to pair with anything else.. seems like I’m just screwed out of the money.  If there is some fancy trick someone knows about, or if the Fitbit people actually read these posts, please post a fix!

Thanks in advance. 

Moderator Edit: Clarified Subject.

[MarcoGFitbit]

Hello @Mack348, have a warm welcome to the Fitbit Community, it's great to have you on board. 

Thanks for letting me know you have already contacted our Support Team and tried troubleshooting steps with them, I appreciate it. At this moment I would like to gather some information from you so I can check this situation further:

1. OS version your iPhone 7+ is running.
2. App version installed in your phone (you can check by going to the Fitbit app > Account > Help)
3. The list of troubleshooting steps you have tried so far.

Thanks for your patience and understanding, I'll be waiting for your reply. Additionally, if there's anything else I can do for you please feel free to reply as well. 

[Mack348]

Thanks for the email...

The version of iOS on my phone is 11.0. I upgraded my iPad to iOS 11.1, but the Alta HR was not recognized on it either.

The version of the Fitbit app installed on my phone and iPad is 2.42 (726).

Both on my own, and with customer support, I went through all the steps of troubleshooting why the Alta HR would not connect with my phone. I have restarted my phone, turned Bluetooth off and on, restarted Fitbit app, and rebooted the Alta HR. All those steps were done multiple times, and in various orders. All those steps were also done with my iPad when I attempted to make sure it wasn’t a problem with my phone. The Alta HR device never showed up in my Bluetooth connection list on either iOS device.

All the above steps were also done while on the phone with a customer service representative. After that didn’t work, they asked me to ship the Alta HR to them because they thought it was faulty, and then shipped me a new Alta HR. When I received the new Alta HR, I once again tried all the same steps to get it to connect to my phone or iPad with no luck.

A friend who has a Samsung cell phone turned on his Bluetooth, and the Alta HR shows up in the list of devices in his Bluetooth menu. That shows that it’s a device compatibility problem with the iPhone, and possibly just a software issue.

I’m very frustrated because the Alta HR was intended to be used to record data for an insurance policy I purchased through John Hancock. If they don’t get the data from the device, their system doesn’t show that I’m keeping up with the health/fitness requirements of the policy, and they will raise my premiums. So, essentially, this problem with the Alta HR is going to cost me more money when they raise my premiums.

Mackey

Sent from my macfone

[MarcoGFitbit]

Hello @Mack348, I hope you're doing well, thanks for taking the time to reply. 

Thanks again for your patience and working through these troubleshooting steps. I’ve reached the limits of what I can do for you here on the public community forums, so I've contacted our Support team on your behalf to look into this issue further as they have already worked with you about this issue in the past. Please keep an eye on your email inbox for further instructions.

Once again, thank you for your patience and understanding, if there's anything else I can do for you, please don't hesitate to reply.