GPS recording incredibly slow

[nkmcmanus]

I use the app (or try to use...) for recording moderate length hill walks, in the order of 4 to 6 hours but rarely manage to get it to Finish properly. The activity duration keeps ticking as expected during the hike (so the app is still running), but when I get back to my starting point and try to press Pause in order to Finish nothing happens.

Swiping the screen to the GPS view shows, alarmingly, the GPS data being actively plotted on the map for where I was about half an hour earlier. The red line draws away merrily at what looks like almost the correct speed but with that odd time-shift.
It's impossible to activate the Pause button until the line drawing catches up with where I am, and even then the App usually hangs/closes on returning to normal use.
Anyone else come across this issue?

There appears to be a high CPU load and battery drain during plotting, but this is a MotoG XT1039 so it's not a slow device, and certainly fast enough to draw on a map. We're talking about the Scottish highlands here so there's usually no decent mobile signal and often running in airplane mode.

[RobertoME]

Hello @nkmcmanus, welcome aboard the Fitbit Community. The environment you are in can affect the signal strength of GPS. For example, if you are running in an urban environment with many tall buildings, it may take several seconds to get a fix.

If the issue persists on a daily basis, please log out from your Fitbit app and go to your phone settings, access to the App manager option and  look for the Fitbit app in your downloaded apps list. Once you are there, clear the app cache and data and finish this workaround by restarting your phone. When your phone has initialized again, go back to your app and try.

According to the model of your mobile phone, this is not listed as compatible. Keep in mind that not all the features will work correctly if the phone is not fully compatible. To see the latest list of supported devices, please go to here.

Hope this helps. See you until the next one!

[nkmcmanus]

Thanks for the reply and the generic phone tips Roberto.

It's definitely not a GPS signal issue, this is out on open hillside. Besides, the GPS data itself isn't that useful (I use a different app for navigation and saving .gpx files, and this works with offline maps unlike the fitbit app) but it seems to be the only way to be able to export the detailed .tcx file for an activity in order to see the high-res heart rate data.

The .tcx file exports for auto-sensed activities are empty - do I have to write my own application and use the API to retrieve that data?