Fitbit Charge 5 owners struggled to sync devices during widespread outage

If you spent Tuesday wondering why your Fitbit Charge 5 won’t sync, you’re not alone. Frustrated Charge 5 owners have taken to Reddit and Twitter to report their fitness trackers simply won’t sync in what appears to be a widespread outage. It’s the latest in a series of complaints this summer following slow Ionic recalls and messed-up blood oxygen graphs for Android users.

The Verge was able to confirm that at least two of our Charge 5 devices are unable to sync on both Android and iOS despite multiple efforts. We were last able to sync a device at 10:39PM ET on Monday night. Unpairing and repairing the Charge 5 as well as force quitting the Fitbit app were unsuccessful in fixing the issue.

Around 4:45PM ET, the Fitbit Support account tweeted that the problem is resolved, and we were able to get a Charge 5 to sync successfully again.

Fitbit outages have spiked this morning as users report issues syncing their devices. Screenshot: Downdetector

According to Downdetector, it appears that users were complaining of Fitbit outages since late last night, with reports picking up steam at around 6AM ET this morning. Multiple users have also reported the issue to the official @Fitbit and @FitbitSupport Twitter accounts. The bulk of the reports seem to deal with the Charge 5, but a few users have also complained of syncing issues with other devices as well. Fitbit has responded to individual complaints on its official channels, and confirmed in a tweet that it was investigating the issue. 

The outage is the latest in a series of customer frustrations this summer. Since Fitbit’s Ionic smartwatch was recalled in March after burning 78 users, multiple Ionic owners have complained that the company has dragged its feet in issuing refunds. The Verge has also independently received three tips from readers confirming issues with receiving help from Fitbit in returning their Ionic devices.

More recently, Android users have complained about an app update breaking the estimated oxygen variation graph. The graph depicts how blood oxygen levels may change during sleep. After the update, it appears several users saw a dramatic and sudden increase in their nightly oxygen variations, leading to widespread confusion. The issue appears to have since been resolved in the Android app 3.65 version update.

All this comes as Fitbit gears up for a busy fall. There have been several recent leaks surrounding the Sense 2 and Versa 4 smartwatches, hinting that we may soon see some news from the company on the hardware front. Fitbit is also expected to largely feature in the Pixel Watch launch. While Google hasn’t revealed too many specs or details about the Pixel Watch, it did highlight a forthcoming Fitbit integration as one of the watch’s key selling points at this year’s Google I/O.

Update, August 16th, 3:00 PM ET: Included official tweet from Twitter acknowledging the syncing issue for Charge 5 owners.

Update, August 16th, 7:21 PM ET: Noted tweet from Fitbit saying the outage is over, and confirmed the issue appears to be resolved.