Do I need to start tracking on the app, or on the Fitbit, or both?

[pointofgravity]

Hello,

I purchased a Fitbit Charge 5 yesterday. Hurray! I went on a run this morning. However, I was confused as to weather I need to start tracking my run exclusively on the app, on the Fitbit, or both at the same time. I did both. When I was finished with my run, I saw that the activity had been recorded twice, and both had location data recorded as well.I am using dynamic GPS.

When I deleted one, the remaining activity did not have location data, which was odd because I saw that they both had the GPS map data before I deleted one.

I am now confused on which method I should use to record my activity session, as the location data is quite important to me. If I only record with the Fitbit, will it still record the location data? Also, why did the location data get removed from my previously recorded session when I deleted one of them?

Thanks in advance for the answer.

[pointofgravity]

P.S. is there any way I can recover the location data I deleted?

[Wibby · Accepted solution]

Hello @pointofgravity 

You don't need to set it on both.  I would recommend using the exercise shortcut on your Charge 5 for it instead.  You can just tap start and stop when you're finished.

Make sure that you've decided which GPS you want to use by setting up in Settings on your tracker.  Also when you select Run from your shortcut, swipe up to check your settings.  You can turn GPS and other things on there.  Then they should be saved and you can just press Start after that without worrying.  It should track your route and show it in the App when you sync later.

I'm not sure of a way of getting back deleted data.  I had a quick look at the App and the Dashboard but couldn't spot a bin or anything to retrieve from.  You could possible try manually adding the exercise for the times you were out and see if the map appears again...

Good luck!

[pointofgravity]

Thanks for the reply @Wibby. I have seen that usingthe onboard GPS will impact the battery usage of the Fitbit. However, I would prefer to have it switch to onboard GPS if the GPS from my phone fails to sync correctly. As I understand, this is the intended usage of Dynamic GPS. With your suggestion in setting up the GPS settings in my tracker, do you mean to say I should either stick to either onboard or phone GPS, and using dynamic isn't as reliable?

[Wibby]

Hello again,

I'm not sure which version of GPS would be best for your use case.  Maybe  another runner could give their opinion.  I think dynamic is fine.

In my very limited experience, I don't take my phone with me but rely on the GPS on the Charge 5.  It loses about 10% in an hour that way.  I always go on the same route so don't use GPS unless I want to check my Cardio Fitness sometimes.

I have heard people say that you have to have your Charge 5 out of your sleeve and able to make a link with the open sky to track well.  It can cut off if you go under trees etc.  In my case, I always have my sleeve rolled up a bit because I want to see my stats all the time.

Here's a link to a GPS article.  You can click on the various sections to check.

GPS Settings 

I hope that helps!

[pointofgravity]

Thank you for the help!