Include Manually Added Steps in Leader Board and Challenges

[THitch]

Please make modifications to show the manually added steps in both the Leader Board and the Step Challenges.  While I understand that the change to exclude the manually added steps (implemented this week on the Leader Board but earlier in the Challenges) is related to individuals who cheat the system, the feedback in the Fitbit community seems to suggest that your core and very active customers WANT this feature for valid reasons and are offended that you've put the need to address cheaters above the desires of your committed users.  

As suggested in the community forum posts, if you feel it necessary to differentiate the steps manually entered, this could be accomplished by showing the total steps as the primary total and including the manual steps as a subset of that total (e.g., Rob H. Total 95,993 (12,000 manual).  That will better expose the "small number" of those who are cheating the system.  Seems it would better to cater to the 95% of the users who are doing it right versus the < 5% who are cheating.

My husband and I have been loyal Fitbit customers since January 2014.  We believe in the product and most importantly, the purpose of the product so much so that we have personally purchased or influenced the purchase of Fitbit trackers for 15+ individuals.  Although some of these individuals have come and gone in our Fitbit world, we still have a very competitive and active group of Fitbit friends.  For different reasons (running, using treadmills, elipticals, forgetting to charge the Fitbit, etc.), we often enter a portion of our steps manually.  The inability to see our total steps, whether manual or otherwise, on the Leader Board defeats what I believe to be the purpose of the Leader Board, which is to encourage activity through friendly competition.  

Thank you for your consideration!

[Lowbattery]

Please allow logged activites for your steps show in all the Challenges. It's very deflating to have your friends thinking they are beating you when you actually have more steps that are shown. If you are moving it should all count.

[dmason508]

I am using a Charge HR, and when I add activities manually, the steps do not count towards a challenge. This makes sense so that people simply don’t add in activities to cheat.

But perhaps a compromise, when an activity is added, the software can check to see if there really was activity going on at that time.  For instance, when I run 3 miles, I get about 4-5,000 steps on the Fitbit.  In reality, it should be ~6000.  When I add the activity manually, the increase is noted, but they do not count towards the challenge.  Walking the steps work great, but it seems to always be a percentage behind when running.

If when adding there is confirmed activity within that timeframe, then maybe the steps could count towards the challenge?

Moderator Edit: Added Labels

[Nikjkershaw]

If I've done the steps they should count for challenge whether I'm wearing the Fitbit or not.
Not allowing manually entered steps to count towards challenges the way they count towards daily and weekly step totals makes no sense. I contacted support on this issue and was told the challenges were set up this way to avoid users cheating. I personally find it incredible offensive that Fitbit thinks their users are inherently dishonest - shame on you Fitbit very uncool!

[Stolichy]

There's an easy work around for this - if you're in a challenge.... wear your Fitbit. 

Allowing manual entry would completely negate the validity of a challenge.  You may be the most honest person ever, but how would you feel if you never had a chance of truly competing in a challenge again because of some unscrupulous Fitbiteer?

[SunsetRunner]

Whenever I use a treadmill I typically use the bar for stability and to read my heartrate. This means that the step count is woefully inaccurrate.

To make matters worse when I add the activity it ups my step count by some random factor which isn't then included in the challenges; which as that is my major step source makes challenges pointless.

So I suggest a) making treadmills understood better by the FitBit and then b) include the updated step count in challenges, the way it is in the Dashboard.

[bmaugy10]

I would like to see a change made to the challenges that if you have to manullay track your activity, it counts towards your challenge that you are included in.  Sometimes people forget to wear there tracker and need to manually add the activity.

This would be great to see this added to the Fitbit One.

Thank you.

[Eric349]

Please allow exercise tracked manually to count towards daily challenges. Seems like a easy fix. We will see I guess!! I'm using a charge

[LMarieM]

It would be nice if logging an activity where you cannot use your Fitbit (like swimming) would add the steps to your tracker for the purpose of challenges.  My work has a program that connects to Fitbit to get my daily steps, but also allows me to add other activities and convert them to steps.  I've participated in work challenges this way and it would be nice to be able to still go swimming and win Fitbit challenges!

[giggliefrog]

Challenges are awesome and I utilize them weekly BUT feel limited only being able to invite 10 friends.  I have a large support system and we love to encourage each other....It would be nice if the total participants was increased form 10 to 20 please...

[hehp]

Hi - please consider restoring manually entered steps to the leaderboard rankings. There are a number of reasons I think this is a good idea: not all activity is accurately reflected in the automatic capturing of steps on my Fitbit One (I take off my Fitbit when I ride the stationary bike and manually record the time as steps), I don't think the concern about cheaters is valid as people will find a way to cheat if they want to (and cheating your Fitbit doesn't make any sense IMHO) (besides, why should you care? - it's my workout), and finally it removes the friendly competition that helps so many of us stay motivated. In fact, it would be nice if you'd consider counting manually entered steps in the challenges too - I don't participate in them because my manually entered steps don't count.

You guys have been so good on customer service the few times I've needed help! I just think this is an unnecessary change that doesn't fix anything. Thank you!

[oneclickaway]

I agree with this suggestion. It doesn't make sense to have a weekly total, that doesn't include the total of all the activities a user completes!

[hehp]

I made the same request (below). Hopefully they'll restore the feature!

[allyalexmch]

Agreed wholeheartedly. Why punish everyone for the few who cheat?  I'm quite perturbed that I can't log steps while my charge is charging every 5 days. 

[jja262]

I’m a very loyal Fitbit person, buying my first in 2012. We have purchased fitbits for our entire staff (15 people) and I have had numerous family and friends who have purchased these devices over the past few years. A few have dropped off the “friends list”, but still about eight remain. The ONLY reason we do not buy Apple Watches is the fact that Fitbit has one unique feature that Apple does not have, that “friends list”. It’s the #1 motivator and the biggest single reason to have a Fitbit over Apple. I can say without any doubt, that once this is gone, so are tens of thousands of Fitbit users.

So now Fitbit comes up with a brilliant idea to take this away from us by no longer allowing manually added steps to be part of the “friends list”. What are you thinking? There are so many reasons to bring this back, the r major ones:

1. Since we only get 4-5 days max before having to recharge the Charge HR, and then it takes hours to recharge fully, we are losing 1000s of steps while we walk, run, workout, etc., while the units sit on our desks. In the recent past (just 2 days ago) we could manually add these “missed steps” back in. But no longer.
2. Most of us use Ellipticals and similar equipment with stationary “handles”, so there is little or no arm movements, yet we build up many miles and therefore steps. We used to be able to add these manually, but no more.
3. I run a lot on a treadmill.  The fitbit does not accurate record steps/mileage on the treadmill so I add those steps it misses. 
4. All my friends and I’m sure tens of thousands of others who compare steps with their friend do so for motivation to lose or maintain weight through a healthy lifestyle of exercise and calorie control. But, without this motivation, we would not be using these devices! And now you’re taking part of this away. Why?

Fitbit, please bring back this feature, like tomorrow, or you will lose considerable business over time, I guarantee it!!!!

[cmcrooks]

Please consider going back to letting our manually added steps to our leaderboard.  I don't wear my fitbit when running or working out because it is so far off.  I know point A to point B is exactly 5 miles but the fitbit only gives me 3.5.  Therefore, for my own benefit, I manually log in my 5 miles.  I hope that all my friends and family do the same so that they are credited with the hard workout they have put in.  NOT ONCE did I ever think anyone was cheating or even care if they did.  If someone wants to cheat, then that is all on them.  It is completely unfair to penalize us all because you feel someone is cheating.  If you are unable to do this, I will definately consider buying a different brand of product.  You have deminished my hard work and my personal goals of the challenge.  It is not a fair challenge anymore if I don't get the true credit for the workout I put in.  The pressure of the challenge with friends and family is my favorite part of the workout.

[SunsetRunner]

Long time user, owner of multiple FitBits over the years and have recommended them to many friends and family. I am insulted and frustrated by this policy change.  I am on the verge of shutting off my Fitbit and migrating to another device and platform.  Fitbit should be ashamed of themselves for this abuse of long-time users just to try to deal with a few bad apples. 

[Colinm39]

Here is a link and it's shortened version of my post in the Community to try and get voting action.

http://tinyurl.com/jv6z5ac

You can copy and paste the shortened link and message your Friends.

Range checking for steps and distance is a must, a normal computer prerequisite and always difficult to implement because most IT professionals will range check money fields and in this case we need sensible physiological profiling. The data is there, so Fitbit can examine the manually entered steps. before embarking on the proper solution.

[ktousi]

I actually had an issue with my fitbit and support suggested I manually enter steps while they send me a new one.  I noticed my manually entered steps did not count on the leaderboard so I sent a note to support and they sent a note saying they were "talking to engineers" - did not admit that this was actually a deliberate change!   Then yesterday I walked for almost 8 hours (long story) and my fitbit only recorded 6K steps.  Now I was walking slowly but there is NO WAY I only logged 6K steps in 8 hours of walking.   So in a way I am being cheated by fitbit.  Like many others, the appeal of the fitbit is that I can compete with others.  If manual entries are automatically assumed to be cheating and will not count to the leaderboard, then i am tempted to find a more attractive tracker option as well.   I have voted to bring back this feature and will give them a bit more time.   If it does not happen, a new tracker may be on the Christmas list after all.

[cracker55]

I am so frustrated with this change... I have always had issues with it accurately showing distance and steps so manual entry has been the fix that I am ready to do.  To take this away is absurd

[imnotacheater]

I have been a fitbit user since 2013 and  have thoroughly enjoyed it. I use an eliptical and hold on to the stationary handles for safety. Fitbit does not record steps accurately so I use the manual log. When I first noticed "the change", I called support. The man told me "these aren't counted as steps but are now points". I asked for printed material so I could read it and he said he would e-mail me the pdf  and call me back in ten minutes. Neither happened. I have now found out that my honesty is in question when I log steps. I feel that a cheater only cheats themselves. I don't think it's a good business practice that a company would assume it's loyal customers are cheats and penalize them for good workout. I also don't think it was appropriate to make this change without any warning. I am offended and frustrated with this change and hope fitbit will bring back the manual log option. I also hope they will evaluate their customer relations department and decide to take the high road of trusting their loyal customers instead of assuming we're cheats.

[doricekay]

I emailed a copy of your note to Fitbit. I had recieved a response from Fitbit, prior, saying they won't count manually added steps. I, like you, and countless others manually add my time and distance after running on a treadmill, biking or swimming. I was directed by Fitbit back in 2013, when I got my Fitbit, that my treadmill would be way more accurate. They directed me to manually add my info. I am extremely unhappy with Fitbit and I am now considering leaving Fitbit.

[gailfit]

Bring back the manual to all challenges. I agree with all of the comments about time to charge and not lose steps as well as using an eliptical or treadmill count. The steps on a treadmill are not measured accurately so I prefer to manually add using the data from my treadmill. Challenge with friends is no longer a motivator to keep moving while doing other exercises. I accept that my 3 times a week weight trainer is not measured by fitbit (also a limitation of the flex) but now my steps on a treadmill are not incorporated.

I had just decided to buy another fitbit and give one to my daughters. I will buy something else unless there is a change back.

[jja262]

I am so disappointed by the total disconnect between fitbit support, fitbit engineering team, fitbit customer service and fitbit being totally out of touch with its customer base's needs/wants that you have now turned me into someone who was once a great advocate and supporter to someone who will never buy another fitbit again or recommend your devices to anyone. You really have no idea, (nor do I believe you care) regarding how much you have disappointed one of your former loyal customers.

[ktousi]

You make a great point on the disconnect. When I had an issue with my Fitbit and mentioned that I was trying to stay caught up with some friends on the leader board, I was told by customer service to manually enter until the replacement arrived. When I noticed this didn't work I reached out to support and they told me to try to "restart the device@ and that they would pass the issue to engineering without ever telling me that it was not an error but a deliberate decision. I only learned the truth from this board. I am as disappointed with the disconnect and runaround as I am with the decision itself.

[gailfit]

I agree with your comments. I have always been aware of the limitations like not measuring weight training and Barre work