Massively over-calculating steps

[BabyB]

Hey folks, 

New user of the Fitbit ionic - I've literally just worn it for the first time tonight to try it out. 

I went for a little walk, the Fitbit stated I'd walked over 7,000+ steps when realistically I know that at the most it would have only been around 1,000 steps, maybe 2,000 steps at most.  

Although I don't know the numbers of steps for the specific route I took, I have walked a similar route and I walk a lot (using a pedometer to keep track of steps) so I know what it feels like to walk 7,000 steps. 

Soooo....what's the deal? 

[SunsetRunner]

I read in a help article that if  any fitbit device over counts data

---

@BabyB wrote:

Hey folks, 

New user of the Fitbit ionic - I've literally just worn it for the first time tonight to try it out. 

I went for a little walk, the Fitbit stated I'd walked over 7,000+ steps when realistically I know that at the most it would have only been around 1,000 steps, maybe 2,000 steps at most.  

Although I don't know the numbers of steps for the specific route I took, I have walked a similar route and I walk a lot (using a pedometer to keep track of steps) so I know what it feels like to walk 7,000 steps. 

Soooo....what's the deal? 

---

  manually log a "driving " workout until your data comes down.

Hope this helps.

[JohnnyRow]

Did you check the count before you left to make sure it didn't have steps on it at the start?

[BabyB]

Yes, I started at zero.

[BabyB]

What does that mean, and how does that fix the Fitbit over-counting steps?

[SunsetRunner]

I faced a similar situation this morning and this method helped.

[BabyB]

Great, good for you, but I'm asking what that method is and how it fixes the problem.

[SunsetRunner]

For more information on that go to help.fitbit.com and search for "how do I delete data?".

[SunsetRunner]

It doesn't fix the problem. 

Historically, one of the most common situations where Fitbit trackers incorrectly record steps is driving,so Fitbit created a "Driving" activity that users can log manually. When one logs a Driving activity, any steps that occur during the Driving activity are deleted. 

Now, whenever customers complain about too many steps being recorded, Fitbit tells them to log a Driving activity....

[BabyB]

Well, I guess at least that explains the 'driving' advice.

But then, what am I supposed to do? 
The whole purpose of using the Fitbit is to count steps, if it can't even do that...what's the point? 

[SunsetRunner · Accepted solution]

---

@BabyB wrote:

Well, I guess at least that explains the 'driving' advice.

But then, what am I supposed to do? 
The whole purpose of using the Fitbit is to count steps, if it can't even do that...what's the point? 

---

Which arm do you wear your watch on and does this correlate to the settings in the Fitbit app (ie is it on your dominant or non dominant arm, with the corresponding setting in the app). Sometimes switching the setting to dominant can make the Ionic less sensitive to movement, which it interprets as a step.

[NellyG]

I would also suggest (appart from @SunsetRunner's great advice to check you arm against what is in your profile) to restart the Ionic. That will hopefully kick it into gear with the step count. Let us know how you go.

Restart your Tracker

[BabyB]

I'm mixed dominance. Currently it's set to less dominant arm in settings and being worn on my left wrist, I'll see if playing with that changes anything and see if resetting helps too, thanks folks. 

For the record this morning I also found it had me walking around 100 steps overnight while I was asleep and while laying in bed stroking the cat...this exercise stuff is easy! lol 

[BabyB]

Hey, so for now it looks like playing around with dominance has done the job. 
Thanks folks 

[harry_jacko]

I am a tradie, and wear my ionic at work. Today while using a hammer drill most of the day i logged 27,000 steps, I noticed my distance is about 6km higher than normal too. My normal step count at work lately is 13k-15k. I know today I did less walking today, maybe 10k steps, and was working in a smaller area than normal, so vibration logs steps, as does driving. 

Is there any way of correcting the data?

[SunsetRunner]

At a guess I would say no, only deleting the data and logging it as driving, like the solution above sadly.

It is a real nuisance this and one of the quirks of wrist-based trackers (not unique to fitbit) and until fitbit implement a type of touch on-touch off type of 'pause' or 'hold' scenario there is really only the option of logging unwanted steps/distance as a driving event like the post earlier states. ;(

[Tammylt]

Plus it doesn't fix your steps if you're in a challenge!! Calling got me no where!