Bike activity not tracking distance

[R.J.]

Gps does not track distance in biking....the icon of the cell phone comes on ....on the screen of the fitbit but it keeps on searching....bar goes back and forth the time im biking....time, calories burnt,heart rate are all tracked.....even on the map i can see my all roads ...streets i biked in red....but no distances....in the past it would track full distance....even give me a time per Km....BUT distance is tracked  if i use the run or hike??

Ive updated ghe app...its a Fitbit charge 2

Moderator edit: Subject for clarity and format 

[DavidO89]

One point which may help some. Make sure your app has permission to access your phones GPS 'at all times' rather than 'only when this app is open'. This will be in your phone app settings for Fitbit. 

Here's my issue. Distance tracking fine within the excercise tab, but distance isn't counted on the dashboard. 

But... when I let the app auto-recognise the cycle rather than manually starting it, then the dashboard distance WILL include the cycle. I think this was the case for me yesterday.

Is this deliberate? 

[RLOwiny]

Thanks for letting us know this is a pervasive issue. I came on searching for ways to fix my Fitbit for not tracking my mileage when I bike too. I went 8 miles today and I had --- for miles and mph the whole ride. 

[JOHNBoy3181]

I just purchased a new Charge 4 from Amazon for my wife. She had issues with her Charge 3 not tracking and being low screen. After reading about the GPS built in feature, I thought this would solve the issue. She has the same issue discussed here, "bike not tracking distance," but starts to show path only, but stops. 

[Rich_Laue]

Are you using the Bike mode or the autoderection of a bike ride?

Dies the GPS have a continuous lock on satellites 

[Jacqueline096]

Hello

I just bought my Charge4 last month and noticed that GPS only tracks distance when I run. It does not track distance for any other activity. I just went for a 2 hour bike ride and 4 hour hike last week and distance was not tracked. Everything else is tracked for all activities (heart rate, duration, calories etc.).

It seems like distance is ONLY tracked when I run. I tried to google to see if there was a solution and after reading this forum, it seems like this problem was identified over a year ago and there is still no solution. This is quite disappointing 😞 

[JOHNBoy3181]

Absolutely disappointing. I am still within the window to return this to Amazon and believe I will. Then I will look into other possible trackers to use. There is no reason that Fitbit cannot fix this issue for now over a year from some reports. I purposely purchased this for my wife who is a avid bike rider and it does not work. We have gone through Charge 2, Charge 3, and now Charge 4 for myself and wife and mother-in-law. I'll look elsewhere and advise others not to purchase. 

Moderator Edit: Formatting

[JOHNBoy3181]

Absolutely disappointing. I am still within the window to return this to Amazon and believe I will. Then I will look into other possible trackers to use. There is no reason that Fitbit cannot fix this issue for now over a year from some reports. I purposely purchased this for my wife who is a avid bike rider and it does not work. We have gone through Charge 2, Charge 3, and now Charge 4 for myself and wife and mother-in-law. I'll look elsewhere and advise others not to purchase. 

Moderator Edit: Formatting

[JOHNBoy3181]

My wife has tried both ways. The moderator stated to shut the auto off and reboot. Did both and same results. 

Absolutely disappointing. I am still within the window to return this to Amazon and believe I will. Then I will look into other possible trackers to use. There is no reason that Fitbit cannot fix this issue for now over a year from some reports. I purposely purchased this for my wife who is a avid bike rider and it does not work. We have gone through Charge 2, Charge 3, and now Charge 4 for myself and wife and mother-in-law. I'll look elsewhere and advise others not to purchase. 

[Sundararaghavan]

I have the exact same issue with my Fitbit Versa. I go biking daily for about 11-12 kms and at the end of the trip my Fitbit shows 0.00 kms though it shows the time. I have tried everything suggested, to no avail.

[LongTrailHiker]

Having the same problem

[RLOwiny]

I did some poking around to troubleshoot on the app and on my phone, but for several rides, the fitbit still wasn't tracking my mileage and then today, it magically appeared! I hope it stays! 

[Rich_Laue]

Hi @Sundararaghavan the Fitbit app doesnt have the option to record a bike ride.

You will need to use the tracker and record with GPS. This means you will need to manually start the bike mode tracking with gps.

[LongTrailHiker]

Has anyone tried using the outdoor activity selection on their tracker to
record a bike ride? I used it for hiking and got the whole 7 miles with no
glitches - not sure why biking would be any different.
--
Deb 

Moderator Edit: Personal info removed

[sfkc]

It's different because if the Fitbit loses GPS or phone connection, as far as I'm aware it calculates the missing segments based on the steps/gait it detects. Biking is not walking. Thus the fallback calculation does nothing.

[LiliyaFitbit]

Hello everyone. I appreciate the updates in this thread.

Thank you for taking the time to share your comments and experiences. I would like to advise that our team has recently released a new version of the Fitbit app. Please make sure you have downloaded the new version by following the instructions from this help article: How do I update the Fitbit app? If you continue experiencing any difficulties, please let me know. 

For more information about tracking workouts, see How do I track my workouts with my Fitbit device?

Looking forward to hearing back from you.

[knyberg]

Hi! In preparation for triathlon, it would be great if I could not just track the distance of my swims, but also my biking. Is there a workaround yet or will I need to look for another watch to use for triathlon purposes?

[knyberg]

Updated firmware, resynced Charge 3 but not yet any option visible to track distance for a bike ride after disabling auto-track functionality. Where is that setting to be found? Am on iOS / iPhone SE 2020.

[Ashley-Kew]

It's been such a long time for this post and I have now given up with trying to fix it.  There is obviously an issue Fitbit can't resolve.  Having owned fitbits from the early days their customer support was great im not seeing this now.  I recently wanted to upgrade and ended up going for a Garmin vivosport which so far has been great.  Sorry Fitbit but you had your chance.

[joecorey]

I'm hoping my post can help everyone as I've struggled with this as well and was finally able to get it resolved. Some Android release in the last year changed the default behavior for newly installed apps to only allow GPS usage while the app was active. For most of us, we start the ride on our Fitbit, toss the phone in our pockets, and start riding. Well, shortly after this, the phone will put the Fitbit app to sleep and the permission to use the GPS ends then (that's why everyone is experiencing very short ride times - it captures the first minute or so). To fix, this do the following:

Note: some of these steps may be slightly different based on the type of phone you use

1. Open the Settings app
2. Select "Apps"
3. Find or search for "Fitbit" and select it
4. Select "Permissions"
5. Select "Location"
6. Change the selection to "Allow all the time"

I hope this helps everyone and wasn't just an anomaly for me. Let me know!

[Mtbr]

Spoiler

Spoiler

It's more than an inconvenience. The watch is useless if I can't track my bike rides.