iPhone's battery draining with new Fitbit app

[honglong1976]

Fix: Disable Motion and Fitness for the Fitbit app (even if you don't use MobileTrack).


Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[Casscat]

I logged out of my Fitbit app last night. My iPhone was at 100% charge when I went to bed (I use it as my alarm so it sits on my bedside table). In the morning it was on 97% charge. Compare this to my low battery warnings recently before I disengaged with the app. I look forward to confirmation of a fix for this, but currently I will only log onto the app to check my stats and then I will get straight back out again. 

[JMark235]

Lizzy, thanks for escalating the battery drain problem. I installed the v 4.01 app update yesterday and I'll post any info that I come up with. I am seeing what appears to be an anomaly with the iPhone battery use screen which is showing a lot of "Screen Off" battery drain but when I look at the detail for the individual apps, the background battery usage is minimal. The data in the graph doesn't look right so any assumptions that high off screen battery usage is caused by any particular app need to be questioned. The relevant data is the background time reported for an individual app. Even with the v 4.1, with the Fitbit app permission Background App Refresh = ON, I'm seeing about 3 minutes per hour of background app activity for the Fitbit app which, I think, is significant. More on this later.

I'm still not seeing the permission for "Location Services" as a Fitbit permission which was there in the pre v4 update. I always kept the permission for my location set to "While using". I don't see how the app is calculating distance since the Versa 2 does not have an internal GPS, suspect that Fitbit is now using the phone's GPS but not showing that it is using it and therefor not permitting me to restrict use. In other words, I'm concerned that Google is tracking my location all of the time without my permission. I didn't think that Apple permitted this. I'd really like an answer to this.

If you could, since I'm not sure where to report other app issues or bugs, perhaps you could forward the following to the appropriate group. I am using an iPhone 13 mini running IOS 16.7, using a Fitbit Versa 2 and am using the Fitbit app v 4.01 which I installed on 4OCT2023. There are still a few bugs that I'd like to report which are:

1) Some of the exercise detail screens use a white font on a light gray background in the header which makes part of the screen header and some controls. See pics below.

2) There appears to be a bug with the steps updating on the home screen. When I woke this AM, the steps count on the app today home screen read 7,266. I dragged the home screen down to sync and it still showed 7,266. I went into the steps detail for the day and it showed 278 steps for the day, back to the home screen and it still showed 7,266. From the home screen I went back to yesterday which showed a total of 7,266, then I went forward to Today and it showed the correct step count of 278 on the home screen.

3) I'm still not seeing the permission for "Location Services" as a Fitbit permission in Settings which was there in the pre v4 update. I always kept the permission for my location set to "While using". I don't see how the app is calculating distance since the Versa 2 does not have an internal GPS. I suspect that Fitbit is now using the phone's GPS but not showing that it is using it and therefor not permitting me to restrict use. In other words, I'm concerned that Google is tracking my location all of the time without my permission. I didn't think that Apple permitted this. I'd really like an answer to this.

4) I'm OK with the new GUI but would like to have the watch battery charge% show when synchronizing as it used to do.

[Monkeyhike]

My phone battery drains overnight from the Fitbit app doing hours of background activity. This needs a software fix!

[AnneA]

Omg I’m unable to vote on your comment because I’ve exceeded the limit of 10 votes per minute apparently. Wtf is this??!!

[Kmh-ames]

I am curious whether the iPhone battery drain issue has been fixed or not, because I have encountered exactly the same issue since Fitbit app 4.0 installed; now updated 4.01 but still the app drains my iPhone battery. All potential solutions raised in this thread I have tried but not solved yet. 

[JMark235]

No. None of the fixes including the 4.01 update stopped the battery drain on my iPhone.

I am running IOS 16.7, FitBit v 4.01 and Versa 2 firmware 35.72.1.23. It is possible that there is some combination of IOS, watch model and firmware that doesn't experience the battery drain but I don't have access to that info.

[honglong1976]

Still draining battery, bizarrely during night time when I am sleeping or during an activity. The charge 5 should track so why is the phone draining?

[honglong1976]

Also, background app refresh, location, etc are all turned off. Past 24 hours. 47% battery drain.

The only fix for now is to close the app.

 

[honglong1976]

The more that reply to this, the more chance we have of it being fixed.

[Kmh-ames]

The battery situation is exactly the same with mine. Request bug fix asap. 

[honglong1976]

68% battery used. This is not normal. Could the mods report to devs pls?

 

[honglong1976]

Hi @LizzyFitbit The battery drain is still there 68% was used yesterday. Obviously a bug and the app shouldn’t be draining with everything turned off.

the only fix for now is to close the app and open when you need to sync 

Anyway to report this? thanks

[Phil-D]

My wife and I are both having the same iPhone battery issue even after trying all the suggestions listed in this thread.
Fitbit app - 4.01
iOS – 16.7

We never had this problem prior to the “new and improved” app. Please fix this.

[JMark235]

The only suggestion that seems to provide some significant reduction in battery use is to close the app when not using it. Otherwise the only real option is to wait until Google (Google bought FitBit) to fix the problem which they don't seem to be in a rush to do.

[Casscat]

The other option is to ditch Fitbit and find a different fitness tracker! I cannot be bothered to keep logging in and out of the app because it kind of defeats the object of having an app linked to your device. After several days of no Fitbit data it's not like my life has ceased to have meaning so I can cope without any tracker, but my Fitbit use has principally been health monitoring (activity, sleep, SP02 - I have long covid) and there are other fitness watches which can do that. I will wait to see if there is a rapid fix to an issue which has been dragging on for far too long, but if not I shall start shopping.  

[norneslo]

I too am having the same problem, 2020 iPhone SE with 17.0.3.  I put on the new app this morning.  My phone keeps using up about 60%-70% battery via Fitbit. I have stopped the app today to see how it goes. I love this notification I get after doing so:

[Akhinch]

Same issue occurring on Android. Phone and Sense batteries drained at twice the rate prior to v4. Update v4.1 did not remedy the issue.

[Casscat]

Okay, I’m done with Fitbit. I’ve had four Fitbit devices so I consider myself a loyal customer but enough is enough. I’d rather ditch my Fitbit than my iPhone! I’ve just ordered an Amazfit instead. 

[tigertimb]

Feeling similarly frustrated, also having had multiple fitbits
My Surge nearly always showed the 'disconnected from phone' icon; and so displayed about 1 text in 10
Was pleased to see that was fixed with the update, and text notifications were working properly - but turns out the fix was at the expense of draining my battery, and being forced to keep the app closed means I don't get any text notifications at all now

If I do decide to move on, this experience is turning me off google too, as it feels like it's their update that is causing the issue

Working for a tech company myself, I wonder how such a software update got released to customers, and why is wasn't reverted immediately if a fix wasn't straightforward and imminent: as it stands today, I don't have anything close to the product I paid for

[Casscat]

This is what mystifies me. Knowing all the problems, and the widespread discontent, there should be a greater imperative to resolve the issue, or if an immediate fix is not an option why not unwind the software update which created this problem until the engineers can get under the hood with their wrenches and repair the broken bits. Such a shame, but time to move on.