The Band on my iPhone 6

[hoermal]

Can somebody create an US iTunes Account for me. Here in Germany I can't download the app.

 

[danwanna]

After using the band on my WP HTC One for the first month I reset and synced with my iPhone 6+ and have had nothing but problems. It stops receiving notifications several times per day and will often not sync with Microsoft Health without rebooting both devices.

Things I've tried:
- Uninstalled the app from the iPhone
- Multiple hard resets on the band
- Removed band pairings from my HTC One
- Removed all other BT pairings from iPhone

I also use a Pebble, Ford Sync and several BT headsets and all of them work fine on my iPhone, not sure what the band is doing differently that makes it have so much trouble.

I still use both WP and iOS, but due to an app I need for managing my basketball team's schedule the iPhone is my daily driver now.

 

[smileyboy]

Anyone know of any backdoors for syncing Microsoft Band info to HealthKit?

 

[mkg3]

.......
Things I've tried:
- Uninstalled the app from the iPhone
- Multiple hard resets on the band
- Removed band pairings from my HTC One
- Removed all other BT pairings from iPhone
...........

Do you have a name for your Band? When I had not named the Band, BT would lose connection but have not lost a connection between my 6+ and Band since naming the Band and connect BT using the name of the Band.

Sounds hokey but if you've tried all other things and have not named the Band, try it...

 

[danwanna]

I am updating with the latest firmware now and will check the name. I believe I always named it Dan's Band when I was prompted but I'll try something different this time.

 

[andrew.b]

I've experienced flakiness too on the iPhone 6. However, I noticed that although often when I try to force sync in the app by pushing the sync icon and it fails, if I just leave it alone I'll find it's sync'd on its own after not much time. Still irritating but I now just pretty much leave it alone and let it sync itself which it seems to do reliably, just not at the instant I want. Hopefully the issue is with iOS8 and future updates will improve bluetooth LE performance/reliability.

 

[Witness]

After using the band on my WP HTC One for the first month I reset and synced with my iPhone 6+ and have had nothing but problems. It stops receiving notifications several times per day and will often not sync with Microsoft Health without rebooting both devices.

Things I've tried:
- Uninstalled the app from the iPhone
- Multiple hard resets on the band
- Removed band pairings from my HTC One
- Removed all other BT pairings from iPhone

I also use a Pebble, Ford Sync and several BT headsets and all of them work fine on my iPhone, not sure what the band is doing differently that makes it have so much trouble.

I still use both WP and iOS, but due to an app I need for managing my basketball team's schedule the iPhone is my daily driver now.

Start from scratch again and do not pair with your HTC. Seems like pairing to multiple phones can't make things go awry, but maybe the latest updates fixes that. After I exclusively paired it to the Band, I didn't have any problems. Connection dropped once or twice, but I was able to reconnect. Good luck!

 

[Witness]

So I gave my Band to the wife. Not because I no longer liked it, but because she's been wanting one and MS Store has not been stocking them. On the first day she wore it, she complained a bit about the fit - she has small wrists, and it was a bit cumbersome especially typing. I agreed, then told her she's not supposed to have her wrists touch the desk anyway as she could injure herself with that posture - haha, so I resolved that issue with ergonomics. She's on day three now, and so far she likes it. She's also using an iP6 (because we went to TMo, and they didn't have the M8 WP version in store), and no longer misses an incoming text. So far so good.

What am I using now? I decided to pick up a Pebble Steel. It's ... okay. I do find myself looking at the bottom of the band where the clasp is sometimes because I was used to looking at the Band in that position. It's chunky, and I miss the color screen. And I miss the touchscreen. And I miss the simplicity. And ... well ****, I miss the Band. As neat as the Pebble is, the Band is better. Limited to 8 apps on the Pebble, whereas I had 12 (?) on the Band. I enjoyed the Band's Stock Ticker, Weather, Sleep Monitoring, Step Counter, and Calendar app. Sure, there are similar things on the Pebble, but boy is it clunky and the way it updates it is pretty lame. Battery life is good though, and I do like having a multifunctional watch face - time and weather. At the end of the day, I prefer the Band. This Pebble might get returned.

Next up will be the Apple Watch. I feel like I'm going full Apple here, but the only reason why I'm even considering that expensive watch is because I will be able to get it for 25% of the full retail price. It will cost me $88, so sure I will buy that thing since the employer is going to reimburse. As I mentioned before, camping out in the Apple ecos since moving to TMo isn't entirely unpleasant, but I do miss WP for the interface. I'm closed to writing up my experience of this temporary transition, and will post a note about it here as well. One thing that was immediately apparent is that I no longer checked this site daily. Every few days now, and that was kind of shocking. I have some thoughts about that too. Anyways, have a good one!

 

[danwanna]

My iPhone and Band seem to be working great now after both the firmware and rename. The new issue is that getting a call when paired with both my Band and Ford Sync cause it to disconnect from the car.

Thinking I'll try removing and repairing the Sync and iPhone now to see what happens next.

 

[Tim Stone]

I had some interest in the Apple Watch until I read their own info which says you may have to charge it twice a day, or more. If you do heavy workouts, or are very active, battery life is reportedly 4 hours. For those of us who have a "long day", it may spend part of that on the charger.

I'm OK with two or three days but less than one ? That's a total non-starter for me on a device that is $350 plus taxes.

 

[kenjancef]

I had some interest in the Apple Watch until I read their own info which says you may have to charge it twice a day, or more. If you do heavy workouts, or are very active, battery life is reportedly 4 hours. For those of us who have a "long day", it may spend part of that on the charger.

I'm OK with two or three days but less than one ? That's a total non-starter for me on a device that is $350 plus taxes.

I agree. I'm not a marathon runner (just halfs for me), but what if you work out/run for more than 4 hours? Guess you need a battery pack or something... As much as I'd love to have it, battery life that bad is a deal-breaker for me.

 

[mkg3]

4 hrs is probably incorrect. I've read its 19 hrs under most demanding uses.

 

[Tim Stone]

The info I reviewed earlier in the week was all about the battery life, and efforts is making to get it up to 1 day. So far, they are reportedly not close enough, and aggressive activity drains it very rapidly. That is where I found the 4 hour reference ... attributed to someone using it for a GPS engaged workout.

I don't care about price if the product is good, but that battery info is a killer. Leading to reinforce this info is the fact that Apple still has not provided any official battery life info.

 

[Paul Sorice]

My bands have both had the Bluetooth disconnect from time to time. I find resting the iPhone 6 fixes the problem 100% of the time. I try cycling the phones Bluetooth and making sure it connects but that works maybe 60% of the time.

I can confirm the band will last and sync after a 5hr Marathon with GPS on if:

• watch mode is off
• haptic feedback is low
• screen brightness is low
• you don't leave the display on by accident

 

[smileyboy]

Anyone update their band yet?

 

[spampy2]

My band hasn't received the update yet and not sure if it's because we are using iPhone 6s

 

[kenjancef]

iPhone 6 Plus, no update yet. As far as I can see we aren't going to be able to use the keyboard on the Band...

 

[Tim Stone]

I'm still waiting also. Thought I would chat with Band support ... but once I asked the question it replied back it was closed ... but it was open seconds before, and still has 100 minutes due on the clock. Hmmmmm

 

[Witness]

Came to the forum looking for update instructions in this thread only to find that this was my thread a while back - lol.

Checked, but there's no update. I'm thinking the app updates and it will push out the firmware update to my Band on first connect - I hope.

So I'm back to using the Band because the metal piece where the HR sensor was giving her a rash - anyone else have that problem? Meanwhile, my Pebble is collecting dust now. It's funny how the update goes to WP first - as it should. I can't switch back to my Nokia until I get my iP6 unlocked from TMO. I may expedite the process now.

An ongoing issue I have is that the iP6 has intermittent disconnects from the Band, and I lay that blame squarely on the iPhone. Bluetooth in general is so wonky - disconnecting or hiccuping audio playback, the Band selected as if it was a BT headset when I answer the phone. Weird.