Fitbit & Strava walk recording

[dbrewood]

Guys as I'm waiting for my Ionic to arrive I've a query to ask.

Now, at the moment on my Samsung Gear S3 if I record a walking activity then as I have that linked to Samsung Health on the Galaxy Note 8 and Samsung Health is linked to my Strava account then the walk (with mapping data etc) appear in the Strava app shortly after completing the walk.

I'll be using the Ionic with the same Note 8 and I have the Fitbit account also linked to Strava.

So... when using the Ionic if I trigger a walking activity using the Fitbit app will that flow through the linked systems and appear in Strava or will I need to use the Strava app on the Ionic to record the walk (assuming this then throws the data directly into Strava)?

[Tony.r · Accepted solution]

@dbrewood No need to trigger through the Fitbit App, you can trigger directly through the exercise shortcut on the Ionic, becuase it has built in GPS. All you need is to have walk set up in the exercise shortcuts which can be configured in your Fitbit web account. Hope this helps. 

[dbrewood]

@Tony.r thanks for that, good news! I guess I won't be able to set up the exercise shortcuts until I've got the Ionic and paired it with the account?

[Tony.r]

@dbrewood yes that's right you can have a maximum of 7 exercise shortcuts configured on your Ionic, just ensure your Fitbit and Strava are still linked and you will be good to go.

[dbrewood]

Fantastic that sounds perfect! Oh, will it also work with auto recorded activities (Smart tracking) or only those which have been manually triggered?

[N8teGee]

It will only sync activities to Strava which have been recorded using GPS. As far as I'm aware the smart track for walking doesn't turn on the GPS, so yes you will need to start it manually. 

[dbrewood]

Brilliant thanks guys for confirming. All sounding good.

[Tony.r]

@dbrewood as @N8teGee mentions Fitbit Strava sync is only limited to GPS activities and does not work with smart track.

However, you will have no issues syncing outdoor walking, as well as outdoor running and outdoor cycling to Strava.

[dbrewood]

Great to have the confirmation, all viable for me then 🙂

[Tony.r]

@dbrewood definitely so ☺

[bbarrera]

@dbrewood Once you have both Fitbit and Strava accounts, use this link:

https://strava.fitbit.com

from a web browser to configure Fitbit servers to sync GPS activities to Strava. Note that both GPS activities recorded in Fitbit app’s MobileRun or on Ionic will sync. 

Once setup, Fitbit servers will send activities to Strava. It also works in the other direction, for example my bike rides on Strava are pulled by Fitbit and appear as manual activities (without GPS and other data). 

[dbrewood]

Thanks for that. I've already made that link in advance of getting the Ionic, so hopefully should be good to go when it arrives tomorrow night!