Charge 6 AND iPhone 14 are "Connected to Fitbit"

[drm1978]

It appears to me, that my exercises are being double-counted on my Fitbit app (running on my iPhone 14) when I record my daily 5km walk using the "Start Exercise" button on the app while wearing my Fitbit. It appears to do this regardless of whether the Charge 6 is set to "Auto Start" or not. Both the Charge 6 and the Phone are listed on the "Connected to Fitbit" page in the app. I'm afraid to delete the Phone from the list, because the iPhone's GPS is more accurate than the one in the Charge 6. I have the GPS on the Charge 6 set to "Dynamic" because I thought the app would be smart enough to decide which to use, but it looks like I'm getting the same exercise recorded twice. Should I just turn off the Charge 6 GPS?

[LZeeW · Accepted solution]

@drm1978   I hope I can sort this out for you.  First, the only reason to add your phone as a connected device is to count steps if you forget to wear your Fitbit.  You don't have to add your phone as a device to use the Start Exercise feature.  Second, the Fitbit app isn't as smart as we think (or hope).  The Start Exercise feature will double count activities if it is simultaneously tracked on your device.  Third, you mentioned the Auto-start setting on your Charge 6.  This is part of the Exercise app.  You see a top, middle, and bottom stat when Auto-start starts, not your clock face.  You disabled this when you toggled it off.  Your duplicate walk is being recorded by SmartTrack, the feature that can track activities just by doing them.

If you want to use Start Exercise, then you need to turn SmartTrack off for the Walk shortcut.  One path is to tap on your Exercise days tile, then the three dots in the upper right.  Tap on Activity settings.  Scroll down to Auto-track activities in the Feature setting section.  Tap on Walk and toggle it off.

I normally don't use the Start Exercise feature in the app.  But I walk daily and use SmartTrack.  I used Start Exercise yesterday, wore my Fitbit, and got duplicate records.

You mentioned the Dynamic setting on your Charge 6.  The Dynamic setting is supposed to use your phone's GPS when it is nearby.  Seems to me, the maps should be identical.  But I rarely track with GPS, only something new and different.