Runner 2- Problems syncing with phone

msobral

I got my TomTom Runner 2 last Thursday. Previously, I had a SONY Smartwatch 3.

I am puzzled by the Runner 2's inability to sync activities properly to the phone. Actually, the sync is not the problem itself, it's the watch connecting to the phone.

I own a BQ E5 FHD Andoird 4.4, and properly installed the TomTom MySports app. I managed to pair the watch as per the instructions, and even managed to sync my very first activity to the phone (I did have some problems initially trying to sync with the phone, but managed to get the activity uploaded after connecting the watch to the computer).

From my understanding (reading the manual and following the incorrect online help - clicked "Help" link on the app, instructions do not relate to the Runner 2 menus), I should be able to finish an activity with the watch, and once near the phone, turn the phone's bluetooth on, start the app, and it should sync the activity(ies) to the phone and to the online account. Somehow, the app keeps not finding my watch anymore, even though it shows up in the Bluetooth devices list.

Am I doing something wrong ? I believe I followed every instruction to the letter, but simply can't seem to connect the app to the watch anymore...
I was used to a very simple and "bluetooth-on-and phone-near-is-enough-to-have-watch-sync'ed-with-phone" approach with the SONY, so now I feel a bit frustrated that such a process seems to be so troublesome with the Runner 2 ? And hopefully I will not loose my last activity's data....

msobral

Update: I managed to get it working, by unpairing the phone, pairing it again, and finally it sync'ed the activity.

Please tell me that I don't have to unpair/re-pair the watch every time I run, to get the activity uploaded to the phone.

marekbz

It should sync automatically. It does sync automatically for me. I am syncing to iOS, an iPhone 6. It does sync both wirelessly, and when I connect the charger.

msobral

Thank you, marekbz. As I mentioned, I am using an Android 4.4 phone, which should work too, like it did with my previous watch.
Since I only did a couple of activities yet, I will wait until I get a few more under my belt to come back and post about it.

And I actually bought two TomTom Runner 2 watches, one for me another for my wife, and we both have Android Phones....let's just hope it was just something I did wrong.

chang_koukaii

Hi,
I had the same problem. a workaround is to push the top button, it activates the bluetooth on the watch then it syncs with the phone.

srasse12

Not sure if the runner 2 is the same as the spark cardio but I am having issues with my phone and watch not syncing as well. I am running Android 5.0 on Note 3 and the connectivity is really hit and miss. If I delete the Bluetooth connection and re sync the units, it will upload but intermittently again. Is this a programming flaw or should I turn off my Bluetooth on my phone when not syncing?

tfarabaugh

srasse12 wrote:

Not sure if the runner 2 is the same as the spark cardio but I am having issues with my phone and watch not syncing as well. I am running Android 5.0 on Note 3 and the connectivity is really hit and miss. If I delete the Bluetooth connection and re sync the units, it will upload but intermittently again. Is this a programming flaw or should I turn off my Bluetooth on my phone when not syncing?

It is actually a problem with BT 5.0. They had problems with it from the start. It worked fine on 4.x and on 5.1 but Android did something in 5.0 that caused issues with the BT connection. You don't need to turn off BT on your phone, you can more easily turn off phone sync on your watch (which ensures you are not draining the battery looking for the phone). My suggestion has always been to use the PC connection if at all possible. It is faster and more reliable and puts the ttbins and the data files you should be creating as a backup anyway on your machine for safe keeping.

Poochiepie

I am using the app on an iPhone 6 and it does not update automatically nor when I try to sync manually. As posted on this thread, my spark watch will not connect to my phone. I have followed the advice of forgetting the device on my phone and pairing as new and it has worked. How often will it keep doing this I wonder. 8 days old and 2nd glitch I have encountered!

msobral

Poochiepie wrote:

I am using the app on an iPhone 6 and it does not update automatically nor when I try to sync manually. As posted on this thread, my spark watch will not connect to my phone. I have followed the advice of forgetting the device on my phone and pairing as new and it has worked. How often will it keep doing this I wonder. 8 days old and 2nd glitch I have encountered!

I was able to go for a run last night, and I still had the same problem. The watch simply does not sync with the watch. I will try another phone just to make sure next time, but for me, it's a case of the headphones that always worked before don't work with the watch, and the phone that has always sync'ed with my previous watch (non TomTom) perfectly, has problems with the TomTom...

Kuma-kun

Poochiepie wrote:

I am using the app on an iPhone 6 and it does not update automatically nor when I try to sync manually. As posted on this thread, my spark watch will not connect to my phone. I have followed the advice of forgetting the device on my phone and pairing as new and it has worked. How often will it keep doing this I wonder. 8 days old and 2nd glitch I have encountered!

Same problem for me but with iPad retina ( has bluetooth 4.0 )

Poochiepie

Unpairing and repairing worked for me. As did a factory reset for the other issues I encountered. Fingers crossed it works properly now!

mac_111

I may be wrong here, but I am sure I was told on another post that sync does happen automatically and that you need to 'awaken' the watch each time you want to sync. This was explained so as to assist with battery drain, i.e. the watch wasn't always looking for the the phone to sync with.

I have to say I do find this slightly strange, given that something like the Fitbit (all models) have automatic sync with their app's over bluetooth and don't suffer with massive battery drain.

Mac

Wonder

I'm having the same problem syncing to my iPhone 5. Every time I want to sync a run I need to turn the sync off and then back on on the watch before it will update to the app. Extremely frustrating and very disappointing when I'm used to this happening automatically. Once it finally does sync if I then want to look at the details of the activity there is a significant delay in being able to access them. I'm starting to regret buying the spark.

MikkoK

Hi all,

Thanks for all your feedback regarding pairing and syncing!

Could you also state your phone models and OS versions, please?

Cheers, Mikko

mac_111

One further issue when I went to sync last night the phone appeared to sync ok at first, but then only logged 6500 steps on the phone whereas the watch was telling me 14500. I tried to re-sync but it wouldn't change the step count then switched off bluetooth, restarted the phone and about half hour later re-sync'd and it logged the correct number of steps. Am using Samsung A3 android version 5.0.2

Wonder

I'm using iPhone 5 and IOS version 9.0.2

ageddes

Hi, I'm having the same issue as people above - watch won't connect automatically with either of my two android phones - an HTC One M8, and a Samsung Galaxy S3. Very frustrating having to plug the watch in again every time to upload an activity! Has there been any progress fixing this?

mark.thorned

same problems with huawei P8 lite

MikkoK

Hi all,

Thanks for your feedback regarding phone connectivity! I'll forward it to the watch team.

Please, mention the phone model and OS version and describe the issue you're having.

Cheers, Mikko

mark.thorned

huawei p8 lite android version 5.0.1
ciao

jw2010

I just got the Spark and it is not syncing to my phone (Android 5.0). Last night I followed the instructions to unpair and repair it - still no luck. I am making sure to have wifi connection, bluetooth on, and making sure the watch isn't on the clock/home page, per the instructions I've read in these forums. It is still not working. Does anyone have other tricks? I am going to return it if something doesn't give. I want to see my stats on my phone, not on my computer. This is ridiculous!

tfarabaugh

jw2010 wrote:

I just got the Spark and it is not syncing to my phone (Android 5.0). Last night I followed the instructions to unpair and repair it - still no luck. I am making sure to have wifi connection, bluetooth on, and making sure the watch isn't on the clock/home page, per the instructions I've read in these forums. It is still not working. Does anyone have other tricks? I am going to return it if something doesn't give. I want to see my stats on my phone, not on my computer. This is ridiculous!

The app was not compatible with Android 5.0 on most phones due to a change Android made in the OS. I am not sure TT was ever able to resolve it. What phone are you using, is it on the compatibility list?

Nicole123

Got my spark yesterday and synced with iPhone 5 first time but today has lost ability to synch. iPhone shows watch has been found but will not connect. Have tried all suggestions as per above and per the factory. Wasted huge amount of time try. Will give it a couple of days otherwise will return as faulty.

jw2010

I already returned it as faulty. Good luck!

MandiRocks

I have a Nexus 6 running Android 6.0.1 and though it synced perfectly last night, but along with the above, can't get it synced. The little watch icon shows up in the status bar, the watch says its connected, but it doesn't sync information. The info it had yesterday is now gone. Of course I threw the box away when it was working so I'm screwed with returning it. This seems like such a basic feature, I don't understand the problem.

sophiewophie

Ahhh its not just me then! I have exactly the same problem. Brand new Tom Tom Runner cardio 2, synched once when I first set up with phone app, but now wont synch to my phone. Using Iphone 6 ios 8.2. I've tried to unpair, re-pair, deleted app, added app. Now the phone and watch wont find each other. Ridiculously irritating, as the watch itself is basic and I want to see all the detail on my phone app.

Further how the hell do you make the watch permanently show the screen detail in the dark? Its uselesss for nighttime!! I also want the heart rate to show when I'm in run mode - do I need to turn that on, set run mode, then switch to that screen?

Need help please, or I'm asking for a refund.