Charge 6 no longer tracking workouts

[dpatts]

I've had my Charge 6 for about three months. 

I use it to track my workouts – lifting weights in the gym, running, climbing, etc. Today, suddenly all my non-walking activities/workouts started disappearing from the Fitbit app. As I moved back through the weeks, they would briefly appear and disappear. I have now lost weeks of workouts. However, bizarrely, all the walking activities remain!

I went to the gym today, tracked the workout as usual by starting the activity on the watch, completed the workout, and synched the Fitbit with my phone. The workout just disappeared, and Fitbit said I had 0 exercise for the day. I just went for a walk and it logged the walk perfectly.

I have tried updating the Fitbit, restarting the Fitbit, restarting my phone, looking on the browser dashboard on my laptop. Nothing. I just want to log my workouts!

Can anyone help or advise?

[ChiggerHaven]

My Charge 5 recently died just after the one year mark. I replaced it with a Charge 6 and so far so good except yesterday my zone minutes showed 48 minutes of intense activity but it didn't show up as exercise for that day. I walked one mile instead of the two I normally have been walking.  But still it should have logged that as exercise,  right? 

[Schaapsoup]

I've been asking others via Reddit and it's been noted that apparently there was server issues due to an update? Either way, I've noticed it and a lot of others as well, so not our physical devices, thanks goodness. 

[Julia_G]

Hi, @ChiggerHaven , Active Zone Minutes (AZM) is a different measurement from daily exercise session.  It is perfectly possible to get AZM for the day but not an exercise log.  AZM are based on the heart rate detected and not necessarily on a walk or other specific exercise session.

Your Charge 6 can track exercise in two ways.  One method is to use the Exercise App on your Fitbit to manually start an exercise as you begin and to stop it manually at the end.  During the session your Fitbit will display information about your activity as it happens and when you sync your Fitbit to your phone app you will see the full details, including distance where your activity is step based.

The other method of tracking exercise is to use SmartTrack.  SmartTrack automatically detects certain exercises based on the settings in your app and you do not need to start them manually or remember to stop.  Activities tracked using will also appear on your app when you have synced (but note it will not show distance even for step based activities). 

It sounds like you were relying on SmartTrack for your one hour walk.  I would recommend checking your settings to make sure that your Charge 6 is set to automatically recognize your walk and also that it is set for the minimum amount of time (10 minutes - note that although it will not start logging until it has detected at least 10 minutes of activity it will back count it to the time your activity began). 

To check your settings for SmartTrack please go to your phone/tablet app.  On the opening, Today, screen of the app please click on the gear icon top right.  On the next screen choose Activity and Wellness and then Exercise.  That screen will show you which exercises are ignored and which are auto recognized and for how long you need to be doing them before the auto recognition kicks in.  Be sure to sync your Fitbit whenever you make any changes in your app.

Although SmartTrack is generally pretty reliable, you do need to maintain the activity, pretty much without stopping, for the amount of time set - otherwise it may not detect properly.  Also I find that a gentle stroll does not always trigger SmartTrack.  If it is very important for you to have a record of your activity, and especially if you would like to see the distance metric I would recommend using the exercise app rather than SmartTrack.

For full information on how to track exercises using your Fitbit please see this help article .

You may also find it useful to read all about how Active Zone Minutes are calculated here .

Please do post again if anything is unclear.  Welcome to the forums!

[Rich_Laue]

I'm not sure how fast you walk, or how consistent tge default is 15 minutes needed before a walk can be detected. 

[ChiggerHaven]

When I manually log my 2 mile walks I average 16 to 17 minutes per mile, so my one mile walk should have been logged. 

[MrUnix]

I do daily walks with GPS enabled.  Everything was fine until today, when apparently things broke for some reason (update from fitbit maybe??).  I went to look at my exercise data and all of the GPS route maps were gone, including today - even though I did have GPS enabled.  I found out that if I edit the exercise and 'Categorize' the exercise as "Walk", even though it already labeled it correctly as "Walk", the GPS map then showed up.   In order to get the maps back for previous days, I'd have to do the same with each one individually.

Additionally, it now shows a section labeled "Interval", which apparently should show data for "Move", "Rest" and "Repeat" whatever that is.  Unfortunately, they are all blank, just displaying dashes "--".  Not very useful.

Another problem is the section labeled "Distance Exercise Laps".   Used to show individual laps (1 mile intervals) and associated data.  Today, I walked 3.12 miles at the park according to the GPS data.  That would previously be listed as 4 laps (3-1 mile laps, and a 4th with the fraction).  But instead, it now shows just 1 lap, and says it was 5.06 miles, and the pace value shows 13'56" which is absolutely nuts... I don't walk fast, usually between 18 to 20 and never faster than 17 or so.  Definitely something wrong there.

I'm really disappointed at this point with my Fitbit.  It seems that it has been getting worse over time, not better.  For example, a few weeks ago, the automatic stride length calculation went away (was working previously), so I had to disable it and manually enter a length.  WTF is happening?  At this point, I'm about ready to ditch the thing and go with a Garmin or, gasp, an Apple watch.  Is this ever going to be resolved, or can we expect things to continue to break without notice going forward?   Google seems to have really dropped the ball on this.

[ChrisHS]

Seems like the Charge 5 disease is slowly but surely creeping to the 6!  I don’t know what happened last weekend but there are quite a few 5 users whose device has bricked, mine included.  That’s why I’m looking at the 6 page to see you folk fare any better…fitbit support seems to be in short supply for the majority there.

[jrlrunner]

I’m having the same issue with tracking and log nutrition. Did all the recommended things to rectify the issue. Called support and the said buy a new one.. lol 

hope you have better luck.

[Rich_Laue]

Sorry @ChrisHS but this looks more like an app issue, and tracker independent. 

However without knowing if it is iOS or android... 

[MrUnix]

Well, today it completely lost my exercise.  Went to the park as usual, and started the 'walk' function on the watch... waited until the GPS connected and pressed 'start'.  After I was done, I hit 'done' and the stats all came up as usual - distance, time, zone minutes, etc.  But when I went to look at the data in the app - nada, nothing, last exercise shown was for yesterday, nothing for today.  I tried every known remedy suggested... rebooted the watch, rebooted my iPad, turned off and on WiFi, re-paired the watch and disconnected/reconnected Bluetooth.  Nothing.

Additionally, when I got home and tried to load the exercise data, it wouldn't sync.  It also wasn't showing heart rate as if the Bluetooth connection was hosed.  Turned off/on both WiFi and Bluetooth and that didn't help any.  The watch reboot fixed it finally, but not the exercise data.  The watch will now sync, but still no exercise data for today.  I have about had it with this thing...

[ChrisHS]

Not sure how this can be an app issue when the tracker is dead, not a peep out of it.  The app recorded part of the days’ activity but not after I got the dreaded black screen.  It is iOS btw.

[MrUnix]

Just noticed that all previous exercise data is now hosed as well.  I went back to look at the data from a few weeks ago, and all have changed and are wrong.  For example, a 3.54 mile walk, which used to show (as of just a few days ago) 4 laps under the distance portion, now only shows 1 lap, and incorrectly states the distance as 5.75 miles and a pace of 12'22".  The new "Interval" section still shows no data, just all '--' in each one.  The banner at the top of the display does however state the correct info - 3.54 miles, 1hr11min time and pace of 20'05".

Something definitely broke, and it appears to be getting worse.  I haven't done anything different - same as I've been doing since I got the watch in February.  I really don't know if this is a problem with the watch or the app, but it certainly is annoying to say the least.

[emilyskates]

I have had my Charge 6 for THREE DAYS.  Something must be going on with the software judging by your report and another similar post.  It isn't showing any of my workouts.  I've done both autodetect and tracking the activity on my watch.  I've tried restarting the device, disconnecting bluetooth, etc.  I will contact customer support tomorrow.  I haven't changed any settings from my Charge 5.  So far I am not impressed.

[JojoMightyMouse]

Same I have had mine since March. Always track my exercise at the gym and it usually syncs fine. Now nothing and when I look back on previous weeks they are all gone too! So frustrating. 

[mayfieldjd]

I'm having the same problem with activities disappearing.  Sunday  September 1st I used the app and started tracking my bike ride.  Completed 21 miles.  Distance along with other stats were showing along with my route map.  Monday September 2nd I started my bike ride using the app.  Completed 16 miles.  It too showed my route map and stats.  Tuesday September 3rd I started another bike ride using the app.  Completed 10.33 miles around the neighborhood.  Again it showed my route map and stats.  Today September 4th my three days of bike rides disappeared from my dashboard.  

I've removed the app and downloaded.  Confirmed it's the latest version.  Removed my Fitbit charge 6 and re-added.  Made sure it too had the latest update.  I confirmed all of my settings are correct.  

I've lost 47 miles toward my 100 mile challenge for a cancer charity.  I don't have the route maps and distance stats for submission.

[emilyskates]

That is so aggravating!  I chatted with Fitbit support this morning.  They recommended doing what you did: uninstalling the app, reinstalling, restarting my phone.  They encouraged me to contact them again if it's not fixed after my next exercise session *eye roll* I doubt it's going to magically fix itself.  I asked if they are maintaining reports of these issues.  This is clearly an error on their part.  

[Petunialilly]

I am having the same issue. Just noticed it today. Previous workouts were logged because I transcribed the calorie burn to my fitness pal but those workouts are no longer in the Fitbit app. Why has no one officially responded to this post as there are obviously others experiencing the same problem. I tried signing out and signing back in. No luck. 

[Petunialilly]

They better not suggest I buy a new one. This one is a replacement for my previous charge 5 that unexpectedly died. This one is fairly new. It must be a software issue. Hope someone responds from Fitbit soon. 

[KBCPA]

I’m having the same issue as everyone else. My Charge 6 is fairly new. I’m pretty sure I updated the app recently has anyone else done the update then noticed these issues? So FRUSTRATING!