Zone Minutes Experiment

[TheNeilHaley]

I noticed something and tried an experiment for the Zone Minutes and found something interesting.

First off, my Inspire 3 if fully updated as well as my Pixel 6 phone.  When I go for my walks, I always start and stop manually on the Inspire.

Saturday, August 24 -- Walked for 32 minutes, 2.07 km and no Zone Minutes.  I had my phone with me
Sunday, August 25 -- Walked for 55 minutes, 4.78 km, 48 Zone Minutes but did not have my phone with me
Monday, August 26 -- Walked for 30 minutes, 2.61 km, no Zone Minutes, had the phone with me
Tuesday, August 27 -- Walked for 30 minutes, 2.61 km, 18 Zone Minutes, with no phone

So, it seems that when I am not carrying my phone while walking, I am getting Zone Minutes.  This is weird. Can other people try this as well to prove/disprove this theory. 

[SarahJeffery]

Hi

Yes I'll give it a go. I'll go for my usual brisk walk around the village which used to earn me 6 zone minutes before the pesky update. I went yesterday with my phone and earned no minutes. I will go today but instead of leaving my phone at home I will turn off bluetooth and put in flight mode (so I can listen to my downloaded audio book!)  I will report back.

[SarahJeffery]

OK so I went for my usual brisk walk with my phone on flight mode and bluetooth switched off and managed to get 8 zone minutes! This is about the amount I usually got before the update so it seems there maybe something in the theory that not having a  phone with you makes a difference. I wish they would just restore it to how it was before.  

[Imalobster]

I talked to someone from Fitbit contact help yesterday and they told me that the reason we are not getting zone minutes is likely because we have connected our phone to the watch and it is tracking your phone's activity, not your body's. They told me to go to the mobile activity tracker and toggle that off. About to test it out right now with a workout....will report w/ results ....

[TheNeilHaley]

Did they mention how to turn that off?  Is it from the Fitbit app or a setting on the phone?

[Bill_209]

I think that CS was referring to another phone app.  For Samsung it is called Samsung Health.  

It is not clear to me why another Health app is needed when using the Fitbit app though.

[Imalobster]

They said from the fitbit app. And either I didn't do it right, or that didn't work, because I just finished an little over an hour long workout that killed 440 calories, and ZERO ZONE MINUTES.

[LZeeW]

@TheNeilHaley   Fitbit used to call this feature MobileTrack.  You set it up on your phone by tapping on your device/battery icon then Add phone in the Add new devices.  If you never set it up, then it doesn't explain your results.

@Imalobster   Is this the feature you toggled off.  This feature should count your steps when you forget to wear your Fitbit, but it is supposed to give preference to Fitbit counted steps.

[Bill_209]

@LZeeW  I always thought that my phone had to be added in order for it to properly sync with the device and the Fitbit server, so I clearly got that wrong.

Should I just delete the phone from the app to avoid potential issues related to the phone interfering with the Inspire 3 data collection?

[SarahJeffery]

My phone has never been added to the app and so I don’t think it can be that.

[Bill_209]

Now I am even more confused.  Here is the AI response to the question "Why add phone to Fitbit app?"

"Pairing a phone with a Fitbit device allows the two devices to communicate with each other and sync their data. This can provide a better overall experience, and gives users access to more fitness data and the ability to change settings. For example, users can track their progress, set goals, log food and water, and see how they slept in the Fitbit app."

[LZeeW]

@Bill_209  That's an incorrect AI generated answer.  Please read this Help article: How do I track my steps with Fitbit with my phone? 

[Bill_209]

Thank you for the clarification, @LZeeW.

So, it appears that the phone is continuously counting steps with its accelerometer at the same time that the Inspire 3 is tracking steps with its accelerometer, but the phone step count is only used when the Inspire 3 step count can't be used when the customer is not wearing the device?

[LZeeW]

@Bill_209   That's the experience I had when I had that feature connected.  

[Bill_209]

Okay, that helps to explain why I'm still logging steps after removing the device for charging and then forgetting to put it back on for some period of time. 

I will try experimenting with un-adding my phone from the app to see if my statistics change in any appreciable way, just to see what happens.

[Imalobster]

I'm not sold that connecting my device and mobile tracking are analogous, only because the words Mobile Tracker are nowhere to be found. Well, and because after I turned it off I continued to log ZERO minutes.

[Bill_209]

Here is another Moderator reference to Mobile Track:

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Inspire-3/Inspire-3-counting-steps-while-not-being-worn/td-p/5645674...

[Bill_209]

I can understand how Mobile Track might affect step count, but not Activity Zone Minutes.  AZMs are calculated solely using the Heart Rate measurements and calculated, personalized HR zones.

[Imalobster]

Exactly!

[Imalobster]

Yes, I've tried connecting and removing - no effect.