Changing the exercise options in the app

[MrRichW]

So I have bought a Fitbit Inspire 3 - paired it to my phone, installed app, connected it to my google account and its recording data - all good. When I go to start exercises in the app by pressing the + it gives me 4 options -0 Run, Walk, Hike, Bike .. below the map. I want to change these as I dont Run, Hike or Bike.  - so i went to the Fit bit Settings in the app  - clicked exercise and it gave me auto recognised ones which are different - interestingly no Pilates or Rowing (second question - how do I add Rowing!!). Anyway - I ignored Run, Sports and Outdoor Bike from there but that doesn't change the Setting with the map - that still shows Run, Walk, Hike, Bike!!. So I logged into the website and updated the device settings on there. Auto exercise recognition, exercise shortcuts (to Walk, Workout,Swim Pilates,, Treadmill) and exercise cues (interestingly no Swim- but hey ho) - interestingly I could add Pilates but not Rowing again !!!!! - so i go back to my app and press + Start Exercise and hey presto Run, Walk, Hike, Bike - argh!!

So my question - How do I update all the settings to match the ones on the Website as that is closest to what I want - is there a way to sync website settings to App !!! (or is this like apollo 13 where Fitbit have different teams creating different bits and none of them talk to each other ??) 

Thanks for all your advice 

[LZeeW · Accepted solution]

Hello @MrRichW and welcome to the Community.  I agree with you about one thing.  It seems like there are Fitbit/Google teams that don't talk to each other.  But to answer your question, there are three different features that evolved over time.  They do record activities differently, because that was the limit of the evolution at the time.  All three are on the Inspire 3.  I hope this explanation will help.  Yes, the Fitbit app is compartmentalized and there are parts that don't talk to each other.

• Starting an activity from the "+" sign on the app.  Fitbit calls this MobileRun.  It was the first feature that could do GPS activity mapping.  This is the only way I could map an activity on my Fitbit One and Charge HR.  Originally, this feature only had walk, run, and hike -- Fitbits were just high tech pedometers at the time.  Fitbit recently updated this to include Bike.  This feature uses the motion sensors in your phone, not you
• Auto-recognized activities.  Fitbit calls this SmartTrack.  Fitbit introduced this in 2015 and it has that list of seven activities that give you exercise details, but it can't do any GPS tracking (devices were too simple to support this).
• The Exercise app on the Inspire 3.  This feature has the long list of activities, such as Pilates, Rowing, Workout, etc.  You start and stop all these activities from the Inspire 3 screen.  Some shortcuts have connected GPS available.  You must use this feature to track rowing.

You mention changing things on the website.  Fitbit shut down the web dashboard, so I don't know how you are making the changes.   

[MrRichW]

Thanks Laurie. I appreciate your time and advice.

so in short

• dont bother with the + as I wont find rowing or how to change it 
• just start rowing and it will eventually pick up that that is what I am doing after some mins… sounds like this is the one i will use.
• exercise app. for me the inspire 3 is a bit tricky to navigate - I seem to get stuck in screens and can’t get back to the clock even, so I am trying to keep it to capturing data and movements and just showing me the time if I need to. I am hoping it can be as simple as that.

PS - I didnt do anything special - I just logged into the website and there it was .. so I assume you are saying that i should ignore using it as it isn’t linked to my app or device at all sadly. 
Rich