Pushing a Stroller will Count Steps?

[Sparkle_lite]

The Ionic does not record distance, pace, or accurate steps when pushing a stroller.

I do not want to take off my $300 watch and put it in my pocket (leggings don’t usually have pockets anyway) when I walk with my daughter. I will never, ever be able to meet my workout or step goal if I can’t count stroller walks each day.  

If I track the walk with the stroller, the GPS will record a map of my walk, but not the distance, even though GPS is on.

My current solution is to track my walk as “bike” and then go into the app and change the category from “bike” to “walk”.  Since the “bike” option tracks my distance via GPS it will convert to a mile pace, but I still don’t get that distance counted in my Daily Miles for some reason.  I wear my old One to count steps, and STILL don’t get a correct daily mile/distance count (even though my stride length is automatically calculated.)

Hopefully this makes sense. I find it a serious problem that the answer is “take it off and put it in your pocket” (and not record any HR data...some ‘fitness tracker’!) or to wear 2 devices to get an accurate step count. 

Moderator Edit: Updated Subject for Clarity

[NellyG]

Well like the suggested options or not, wrist worn trackers count your arm swings when walking so if you are pushing something they dont get a good step count. It is just a fact of life with a wrist worn tracker and and why the One works better when you are pushing a stroller - it has a differdnt mode of operation

[Sparkle_lite]

Wrist-worn trackers do not use arm swings to track steps, or else the suggestion to put it in a pocket or inside a sports bra would do no good.  

There needs to be a way for these expensive trackers to be able to track heart rate, distance, and accurate steps, or else design a way to track these things and get reasonable credit, like they have with the treadmill and elliptical, which both previously undercounted steps and distance. 

Has anyone tracked this using a different Exercise Shortcut and found that it accurately tracked the stats you wanted it to? 

Moderator Edit: Merged User's Posts

[LZeeW]

@Sparkle_lite  I think the solution that many people use is to wear their Ionic on their ankle.  I can get the large band on my ankle (probable because my wrist is almost too small for the small band).  Amazon also sell third party band extenders like this one.  There are others.

[Purrstachio]

Try the Treadmill shortcut. I watched my Ionic for a few minutes yesterday while walking on the  treadmill at the gym. Whether I swung my arms or rested my hands lightly on the machine, both steps and distance counted along nicely. 

[Sparkle_lite]

Thanks!  I’ll try it! Hopefully I’ll get a good HR there too!

Thank you!  I haven’t tried that shortcut yet but that seems like as good an option as the bike. It will probably miss out on GPS tracking, but still record the other stats I want. 

Moderator Edit: Merged User's Posts

[SantiR]

@Sparkle_lite I hope you're doing well! Thanks for taking the time to post the experience you have had with Ionic while strolling. Thanks for sharing the workarounds you have been doing to sort this out and for your feedback regarding this matter. 

In this case, something you could try is using the strolling option when you manually log an activity on the online dashboard. It allows you to select that you were strolling and the log should calculate your data correctly. You should give it a try and check if that works better for you.

@LZeeW @NellyG @Purrstachio Thank you very much for sharing your help and experience on this thread.

Hope this helps. Keep me posted! 

[imeson79]

My question is why can Garmin, Apple Watch, and even Samsung Gear or Frontier able to record steps on the watch, when pushing a stroller, or trolley. But fitbit Ionic can't manage to increment steps if doing the same? 

How can they be able to get it right, but fitbit cannot?

[0hwell]

The Ionic can't feel the shock of your footsteps when your holding a stroller or a grocery cart. They are dampened by the object your holding.

[SantiR]

@imeson79 Thanks for your reply and for posting your inquiry here. 

It is recommended to be walking at a speed of at least 2 miles per hour to obtain more accurate step readings. When strolling you are going too slow, so your wrist-based device will count your steps but the total may be slightly lower than usual. This also happens as your arms are not moving when you stroll @0hwell

Hope this helps. Keep me posted! 

[Sparkle_lite]

Manually entering “strolling very slowly” is not what I’m doing with my baby stroller. I am not going for a very slow, <2mph “stroll” or slow, leisurely walk. I walk at least 2.5mph or jog up to 4mph. “Strolling” and “pushing a stroller” are not the same activity. 

[SantiR]

@Sparkle_lite Thanks for your reply and for sharing those details. Thanks for sharing your feedback regarding this.

Try tracking your activity as a Hike or Walk and check if you get some positive results this way. 

Keep me posted! 

[debbiejf]

I had the same problem with the Ionic not counting my steps ( I was not pushing a stroller) I put the large band on the Ionic and it fits on my ankle. Counts steps, heart rate, and everything, I figure a more accurate counting since it is counting steps

[Sparkle_lite]

I solved my own issue.  I bought an Apple Watch 4.  Every single step was counted while pushing my daughter’s stroller.  Accurate HR, Steps, Distance, Pace...accurate everything (for the first time in what I feel like is at least a year).  I owned the original Fitbit, Ultra, One, ChargeHR, Blaze, and then the Ionic.  I love the Fitbit app and community, but now I have an accurate step counter AND a smart watch that has a Dexcom app. 

[Debbles12]

Did Fitbit ever give you a solution for this?

[Malisser]

I agree. This is very frustrating. 

[Ybarrington]

I have the same issue with troller walking. I’ve tried logging in as “walk” and while I walked over 2 miles at a fast pace. it showed the path correctly on the map but logged in 0.22 miles and did not track the steps walked. 
I’m going to have to give in and get an Apple Watch instead. But I promise to be back when you fix this issue!

[LizzieM]

Is there a solution to this yet? I don't really want to invest in a new tracker when in every other aspect this one works. 

[WendyB]

@LizzieM  There will never be a solution to this. It needs to see the arms swinging. Its just how it works with ALL wrist trackers even another brand

[AsterickAnjuu]

Thanks for the post @Sparkle_lite! I have this same issue and at first I thought it was just my ionic dying after a couple years of heavy use. This thread helped me realize it's a known "limitation" and to figure out a few potential workarounds to try.

I have to wonder, out loud, if these workarounds work, why couldn't fitbit just add a stroller walk using a combination of the treadmill plus GPS.

I too have been using fitbit for a long time, for over seven years and I've owned give-or-take 5 devices. After a poor customer support experience after I got sent the wrong sized replacement band and then this, when I thought it was dying, made me think I'd do a little shopping around before up and buying another FitBit.

While I'm on this rant, I'd like to also complain that it feels like the Fitbit app's original features haven't gotten any notable improvements since I started using Fitbit in 2013. The steps, the exercise tracking and the calorie counting feel very much the same--I do think the food database has gotten better, however. And, to their credit they have added some cool new ones--I especially like the heart rate and sleep tracking, but I'm in software and it just feels like they aren't continuing to improve their core product. For instance, Strava's free service will tell me how I performed on specific segments of a walk or run compared to previous records and would give me other trails I can take. 

Anyway, I know Google owns Fitbit now, so hopefully they'll inject some life. It's good to know my watch is "working as intended" but I may follow in your footsteps SL.