Kayak activity recorded incorrectly in the Fitbit app

[HRoy726]

Beyond the fact that incompatibility between my Pixel 3XL (Android 9) and Fitbit has rendered my Versa near useless, I've experienced another issue with the app (?) that perplexes me.

On Sunday, I went for a 71 minute bike ride for which auto-detect worked. Then, later in the day, I went for a 1 1/2 hour kayak tour, which I tracked using the app on my phone. I wanted the GPS map to show the legs of the trip. I am positive that I selected "Tracking; kayak" because I was pleasantly surprised that I could do so. I see today, though, that that feature doesn't exist. In the end, my trip autodetected as a walk with no steps which is kind of funny because you can clearly see the GPS mapping me going up and down the river. Furthermore, on my first sync (one of the few random syncs that have worked on my Pixel) I showed 161 minutes of exercise. Later that evening, those stats disappeared and I show 71 minutes of exercise even though my exercise log shows both events.

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @HRoy726, welcome to the Community Forums. I'm sorry for the delay in my response.

Thanks for the information provided, and I'm sorry that you've had these experiences with your Versa. I'm here to help you out. Our team has received comments from our users to add kayak as part of the exercise app, and I appreciate you for sharing your feedback, as I understand how great will be to have it on your Versa to track your stats. While there isn't an option to bring back your information, I'd recommend to add and use the "workout" option on the exercise shortcuts to track kayaking or any other activity that it's not in the exercise app.

Regarding to your other concern, I confirmed that your Google Pixel 3XL phone is part of our supported devices list. While Fitbit is aware of the syncing issues experienced with Android 9, and our team is working to get this resolved, I'd recommend to try the troubleshooting steps from this help article, which have worked for other users.

If you need anything else, feel free to let me know.

[HRoy726]

Thanks for your reply, Lizzy. I'll check the fixes and see if there's
anything I haven't already tried. At this point, if I want to sync at all,
I have to Force Stop the app. It will sync once and then stop syncing after
that.

Can you tell me if the syncing situation could be causing my Versa to lose
battery life? I've been charging my watch to 100% (yes, I've checked that
it's truly at 100%) and finding it at 0% within 12 hours. For example, this
past weekend was a group cycling tour on which I wanted track my heart
rate. I topped the battery up too 100% before bedtime at 11:00pm and it was
dead (only enough juice to tell me it was at 0% and then die) by 6:00am in
the morning. Needless to say, I didn't get to track my bios on the rides.

I've switched off all day sync in the hopes it will help but I am very
close to giving up on Fitbit altogether!

Thanks,
Heather

[HRoy726]

Hi Again, Lizzy. As an update, I unpaired and then repaired my Versa to my Pixel and I seem to have overcome the syncing issues. Thank Goodness!

However, I have not been able to remedy the battery issue with my 6-month-old Versa. It charges quickly, but the battery dies within 18 hours. Basically, I wake up with 0%, charge to 100% in the morning (while I'm stepping), gather my steps for the rest of the day, go to sleep with my watch on and wake up with 0% again.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @HRoy726, welcome back. It's great to see you here! I'm sorry for my delayed response.

Thanks for checking the steps posted above, and I'm glad that your Versa is now syncing correctly. You did a great job! Now, with your other inquiry, the battery life will depend on how frequent you use its features. That being said, I've checked with our Support Team and apparently they already took your case under their wings. They'll continue working with you via email, so make sure to check your inbox.

See you around.