MobileRun vs Inspire 3 - Distance

[Jmkero]

I do not know which is tracking correctly!? My Fitbit when I start “walk” or when I go into the app and press “track walk” It seems that they are always off by a mile or so when I track them at the same time. I don’t know which one is real!! 

Moderator edit:  updated subject for clarity

[JuanFitbit]

@Jmkero , A warm welcome to the Community! Thank you for your message and information. 

MobileRun (Fitbit app) will use the information captured by your phone. 
The inspire 3 recognizes the steps done. 

Keep in mind, that the distance is measured by multiplying the amount of steps by the stride length. 

Please make sure that you input the stride length  so that the distance from the Inspire 3 is more accurate. 

[lmacmil]

In my opinion, the best way to know your stride length is to measure your route using Google Earth, convert the distance to inches, then divide by the number of steps.  There will be some variation in the number of steps each time you run or walk the same route so you can average the number of steps over 3 or 4 runs/walks if you want to get more accurate.  In my experience, the iPhone GPS is not quite as accurate as Google Earth.

[Jmkero]

Thank you! I’m curious if the Fitbit has to be gps connected when I press “walk” because it appears to not count when the gps isn’t working?

[lmacmil]

If you have your phone (I'm assuming an iPhone) and the Fitbit app settings are 1) always use location, 2) run in background, and 3) use cellular data, then when you select walk (or run), there will be a white arrow outline in the upper right of the Fitbit screen.  When the arrow turns solid white, and you start the walk or run, then the phone GPS is connected to the Fitbit app and your distance will be tracked by the phone GPS and reported in the app data for your walk or run.  If you don't have your phone with you, then the app distance will be calculated based on whatever step length you have set for your walking step or your running step. The distance will only be as accurate as your step length setting.

If the arrow turns red instead of white, the phone GPS is not connected.  I have had this happen several times and the remedy seems to be to turn Bluetooth on the phone off and back on to re-establish the Fitbit connection.

[JuanFitbit]

@lmacmil , Thank you for your insights and help. 

@Jmkero , Thank you for your reply. Any Fitbit will still count steps either it's connected to GPS (directly or with GPS Connect) or not.

What we have seen, sometimes if you start an activity on the tracker/watch and simultaneously another on the Fitbit app, one of them gets overwritten by the other after syncing. 
If you don't see any steps on the Inspire 3, try tapping on the display to cycle through the different stats.