Dashboard and challenges steps are not matching

[phanceyes]

My steps on the Dashboard are greater that the steps in my challenge. I restarted my device (I think I did it right). How do I check for software update? I’m in the same time zone. Does it matter when the challenge started when I join?

Moderator edit: subject for clarity

[Rich_Laue]

Sorry not enough info. 

Have you manually added any steps. iE: are all the steps in the dashboard recorded by the tracker? 

Is the Challenge running in the same timezone as you are in?? ImI'often in a Challenge where it starts for me at noon if the day before.. 

[phanceyes]

Same time zone, no manual tracking. The only difference is that I tracked using my phone and my tracker. I wanted to compare miles b/c my tracker seemed off when I do workout videos (they claim a mile in 15 min when it always takes me abt 30 min). I started with my phone and once I finished I switched to exercise mode on the tracker (walking). There were not tracking at the same time. So now the tracker and dashboard match but not the challenges. The challenges didn’t pick one of them up (I think it’s the one from the phone).

Sent from my iPhone

[Rich_Laue]

There are two ways to track with a phone. 

Mobile run which doesn't count steps but tracks miles then takes a guess at how many steps where taken based on the stride setting. 

Mobile Track which does count steps that will go towards the challenge. 

Having both enabled will give an unpredictable step cunt .

If your tracker is off in distance, and you are not using the conected GPS it simply means that the stride has not been setup. Your Blaze will only measure distance when using the GPS. 

[phanceyes]

I don’t think I understand the difference. When I track using the phone I just go. How do I know if it’s in run mode or track mode?

In the results it gives step count under “impact on day”. So those steps won’t be added to the challenge?

Sent from my iPhone

[Rich_Laue]

I'm not sure what you mean by I just go. 

Are you wearing the Blaze? 

Did you use the walk or hike recording option found in the Fitbit app? 

[phanceyes]

I was not wearing the blaze when this happened. I was only using the app on my phone. When I said I just go I don’t look for options (mobile run/track) b/c I didn’t know that was a choice. I just hit start. So when I exercised tracking with the phone, it did not show on the challenges I’m in this weekend.

Sent from my iPhone

[WendyB]

Workout videos will never match. I dont know which ones you are talking about so I'm going to guess Leslie Sansone.

She even states on her blog that miles she does will never match a pedo. Just go with it

[phanceyes]

I’ve done diff ones and none if the match. So basically there may have been a glitch and those steps just won’t count?

Sent from my iPhone

[Rich_Laue · Accepted solution]

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@phanceyes wrote:
I was not wearing the blaze when this happened. I was only using the app on my phone. When I said I just go I don’t look for options (mobile run/track) b/c I didn’t know that was a choice. I just hit start. So when I exercised tracking with the phone, it did not show on the challenges I’m in this weekend.

Sent from my iPhone

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When you say that you where using the apps on the phone, I assume that you used the Fitbit app. You say that you don't look for options, and just hit start, but I'm not sure what app you are hitting start in? 

Now if the tracker is not being worn and your using the app, hitting start will not count your steps. The app will measure your distance by GPS and guess at the step count, this guess is not added to the challange. Since your standing still the GPS on the app if perfect will display the correct distance of zero miles. Unfortunately GPS will not work in a building and also requires the user to be actually walking, not walking in place. 

,For your steps to be added to the challenge your tracker will need to be worn even when hitting start on the Fitbit app. 

As @WendyB states your distance will never match a workout video.. Simply because the user is not physically moving but stepping in place, any miles reported are virtual made up miles not physical miles thar where walked across the ground. 

The tracker is giving the user an imaginary made up distance calculated using step count times the distance off each step (stride). Your Fitbit assumes that your outside and walking across the ground. In reality your standing still, not really moving but walking in place. Your real distance is zero miles, yet Fitbit is still using the walking stride to guess at the virtual distance. 

[AlejandraFitbit]

A warm welcome to the Community @phanceyes, @WendyB and @Rich_Laue thanks for stopping by.

I would like to know if you keep having issues with your Dashboard and challenges information? If you do, below are some possible reasons for this issue: 

1. Your steps have fully synced to our database but you're not viewing the mobile app dashboard in Live Data Mode. (Live data mode would show the word "connected" under your tracker tile). 
2. You manually logged an activity. Steps from manually logged activities do not count toward challenges; only steps recorded by your tracker or MobileTrack are counted toward challenges. 
3. You used MobileRun to track GPS data with your app. Only steps recorded by a tracker or MobileTrack are counted toward challenges. 
4. All challenge participants are not in the same time zone. 

I also recommend waiting 15 minutes after syncing your Fitbit data to see if your challenge updates.

Let me know how it goes. 

[phanceyes]

What is MobileTrack?

Sent from my iPhone

[BrainWaveCC]

I have a similar problem with my Blaze.  I've looked at several other threads on this problem with synchronization with challenges, and I have a fun twist.

I have been participating in challenges off and on the the past year, but steadily since mid-Spring.  MOST of the time, my Fitbit captures my steps correctly.   For the past two months, I have been doing at least two challenges each week.

One week, I noticed that one of my challenges had a drastically different number of steps than the other (~6000 steps) even though there was only an hour gap between the challenge start times.  (One started at midnight, the other at 1:00am, and I was already in bed by then.)

I was able to get that one resolved by quitting the challenge, resyncing the device, then having someone invite me back in.   I got all my steps synched up.

Last week, I had 3 simultaneous challenges, two of them in the same timezone, and one of them 11 hours off.   The steps were maintained just fine across all 3 challenges.  (Two of the step counts were identical, but the one that was different, was accurate according to my manual count verification.)

This week, I have 3 challenges again, and one of them is only 1 hour off, but the steps are off by almost 8000 now, with only 2 days to go.

We're talking the same tracker, the same phone, and the same walking.  What's more, thankfully, some of the same people are in two of the challenges, so I can see that *their* numbers match up for both challenges, and mine don't.  More importantly, they can see that my numbers do not match up at all.

I'd love for this issue to be resolved once and for all, as there is something clearly wrong with how the tracking gets reported in certain circumstances.  It obviously doesn't happen all the time, and might be happening to many more people than are reporting it here, because it is not always easy to notice over a multi-day challenge, especially if it doesn't start in your timezone.

[Curtisy]

No matter what I try my steps do not go over to my challenges correctly. Any idea why I use a Ionic watch and have tried just letting it count my steps and also tracking via the walk mode. Nothing gets the steps to correspond. Over the weekend challenge it was short over 4500 steps. 

[Rich_Laue]

Was the challenge started in your timezone @Curtisy?

Did you sync by 12  pm  of the chaangers times. 

[jjcemery]

Same issue, I have 7,474 steps in one challenge and 41,608 in the other? How do I get the first challenge to update. I would be in the lead if it was correct, but instead I am at the bottom.

[Rich_Laue]

Hello @jjcemery do both challenges originate from the same timezone? What type of challenge is it?

As for fixing it, other than trying a lot out and back in, this should force a road of the days.

Do the other period in the challenge see the step total that you see?

[jjcemery]

I do challenges with the same group all the time, so nothing should be different. It is a weekly challenge that I have done many times before, but this problem is a first. I read comments from other who have had the same problem and they said the others saw the same thing they did.

[jjcemery]

I re entered the challenge and it had no effect. Hopefully it will be back to normal next week. I would be in the lead if it was correct so it is frustrating loosing a challenge I should win.

[BrainWaveCC]

Exactly. That's what caused me to notice it the first time.

>From my experience, I suspect that your tracker is going bad. I had
intermittent issues with my old tracker that became e worse and worse over
time.

I finally got a new Blaze tracker, and have not experience that issue
anymore. Unfortunately, I have started to experience a different issue
spontaneous shutdowns), but not this one.