Auto-pause for running fails to record run after restart

[benasaur]

I've recently started to use the Fitbit app on Pixel Watch to track my runs, and noticed a bug with auto-pause. With auto-pause enabled, the run will track on the watch, pause and resume, and appear to continue to track, but at some point it loses the ability to continue to save data. It appears that location data continues to be saved but the distance elapsed somehow resets to 0. This causes the loss of run distance information after the reset and no statistical analysis is possible in Strava.

I recently switched from the Pixel Watch 3 to Pixel Watch 4 and the problem has occurred on runs being tracked on both devices, so this is a software issue. I vaguely recall something like this happening when I had a Fitbit Blaze, and it is a bit perplexing that something this fundamental with run tracking could have occurred for this long without anyone reporting it; not many must be using this feature.

After days of isolating the problem, I believe auto-pause is the culprit; the failures correspond with locations where I know I had stopped. I have not observed it on workouts where I turned auto-pause off.

This is what it looks like in the Fitbit app:

The following is a screenshot of the TCX file. This is almost certainly an auto-pause problem because the time increment jumps by 5 seconds (from 19:56:47 to 19:56:52) while the GPS coordinates is unchanged (I recall I briefly stopped to tie my shoelaces). When this is propagated to Strava, the run shows its full route, but distance fails to increment after 8.1 km.

After this, it appears the watch briefly attempted to regain its bearings, but soon went back to 0 distance and remained so for the rest of the run. The heart rate was also frozen at 136.

However, the watch and the Fitbit app recorded the total distance and heart rate correctly, with exception to the map:

What makes this problem insidious is that there is no indication from watch/app side (during the exercise) that a problem has occurred. I had no idea these issues happened until reviewing the exercises days later when I found out my planned and actual distances didn't match. Needless to say, this makes the device unusable for serious training unless I resort to manually pausing and unpausing.

It's a shame because I've found that the Pixel Watch's HRM is quite reliable and always within 1-2% of my strap, which means I should be able to use it as a substitute for having to get another device. I've used my phone to track, but the Pixel 9 Pro's GPS is a lot less accurate than its predecessor, and I'd really like this feature on the Pixel Watch to work properly.

[ItsMelvin]

I've had a similar with cardio-centric workouts on my Pixel watch 2 ever since the most recent pixel watch firmware update.

Whenever I am on the treadmill or an elliptical it will constantly auto-pause and then immediately resumes and often when I finish training the final results won't nearly line up with what I was doing. This is happening in spite of me having automatic workout tracking off and regardless of is the sweat lock is turned on. I've rebooted my watch a couple times now, doubled checked my settings to make sure I wasn't going crazy, and thoroughly cleaned my watch to make sure there wasn't any crud in there hitting a button or something. It also does not seem to make a difference if I wear my watch tightly or loosely. I mention that it's only cardio-centric workouts because when I have it tracking my weight lifting this does not happen.

This only started happening after that firmware update and I've always taken good care of my pixel watch.

[RiekoC]

Hello @benasaur , @ItsMelvin 

Thank you for the information on this issue. 

Please submit this issue using the Feedback option in the Fitbit app:

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• Tap Feedback in the menu that opens
• Complete the prompts and submit

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