Idea to minimize phantom step counts

[Xipher_404]

So, the watch has a GPS, and can also connect to your phone.

While some of us are amazing athletes, none of us are running >15 mph. So, if the watch is "moving" greater than a speed we can set in the app, don't count any movement as steps. This whole "getting steps while driving in the car" thing needs to stop, and there are ways to address that with a little clever engineering/thought.

[Tony.r · Accepted solution]

@Xipher_404 welcome to the  commuinty. It's worth posting your suggestion over in the Feature Suggestions Board

[N8teGee]

The trouble is, although the Ionic has built in GPS, it's not permanently active. For the feature you are suggesting to work, the GPS would have to stay on and we know that the Ionic's battery can only last upto 10 hours with the GPS active. So in practice it just wouldn't really be possible, unless you wanted terrible battery life.

[Xipher_404]

This is why it would take clever programming/engineering.

Most folks are connecting these devices to phones. Therefore when connected, use the phones GPS to determine the conditions where it's clear that the person is driving versus walking. These aren't edge-case issues we are talking about, but large scale frustrations from a broad population of the users of these devices.

There is no [currently] perfect way to address this, however, they can do better.

[N8teGee]

I understand your thinking, but I still don't think it's workable. Even by using the phones GPS, you will be draining your phones battery and your Ionic would also need to maintain a constant Bluetooth connection, which again would put a drain on the tiny battery.

A more resource friendly way would be for Fitbit or a 3rd party developer to develop a drivebit style app which can be started straight from the Ionic itself. Just out of interest have you tried the Drivebit phone app? It does similar to what you are proposing (ignore steps whilst driving), although it has to be initiated manually.

[Xipher_404]

I appreciate the engagement over this topic.

I have not looked into Drivebit, and I would consider that a stop-gap [workaround]. Most of us are super busy people, and having to launch something manually would leave to further frustrations.

I would think that burst checks from the device to its app would heavily minimize any battery drain. Heck, even let the user determine how often to poll the device for whether the phone/Fitbit are in motion > 15mph. To put it another way, I wore the Fitbit for 4 days, and still had 40% battery. If I lost a "day" of battery to have more accurate step counting, I am good with that (and I suspect most folks would be as well).

Sidebar: you could even allow users to have a settings page specific to this need. Have them set a typical time of day where the GPS is polling, or using the phone for polling, for speed every X Minutes to check if you are driving.

I would happily sign up for a Beta/Labs team where they would have me load these beta profiles onto my watch/phone, and see what happens.

[N8teGee]

@Xipher_404 I'm grateful for you taking the time to go into more detail. As @Tony.r has already posted above, your suggestion would be better placed in the feature suggestions forum. People can then vote on it to help gauge interest for the fitbit developers.

[Xipher_404]

Thanks for the reply, and is there a way to move it over, or do I have to start a new thread?

I would hate to have to paste all of the other conversations that took place after my first post.

[N8teGee]

Unfortunately I can't move posts to the feature suggestion board, you would need to start a new thread over there. 

[Tony.r]

@Xipher_404 definitely worth taking the time to do so. If enough people vote for it and Fitbit think it's feasible it may well get implemented. 

[Xipher_404]

Hi Tony,

I created a new thread in the Feature Request forum.

Thanks for your reply and input.

Have a great weekend.

[Tony.r]

Your welcome, you too.