Running route is diplayed wrong on the map

[MThor]

Hi!

Since the fitbit OS update last week(don't know if that's the reason), I've been out running 3 times, 2 of those the route printed on the map has been "weird" to say the least(see pic). The total time, length and lap times seems ok. But if you move the "stat bar" on the desktop app it kind of flips out😁

Anyone else who has experienced anything like this?

And a little sidenote, since about August the GPS has been kind of bad with a lot of fallouts. Didn't experience it a lot before that, had it for 10 month now.

Latest 10k run

 Regards,

Mike

[Jillyholli]

I'm having the same thing. GPS dropping out and gaps on the map. Seems to be getting worse. Loosing signal in every run at the mo. Irritating. 

[SunsetRunner]

The problem has been out there for a very long time. Fitbit won't tell how GPS actually works in Ionic. Usually, there are just minor inaccuracies but sometimes I see things like this:

I don't remember myself swimming on that day 🙂 This kind of bugs led me to use other mapping software. If I want accuracy Strava and PolarBeat/Flow do the job for me. I still map in Fitbit but to be honest I don't even check the result because of issues like above. I think the GPS accuracy may vary depending on the battery level. Most of the devices lower the GPS accuracy to save power and last longer. Even my phone does that so I had to change "auto" into "high accuracy" to make sure whenever I use GPS it maps everything with correct accuracy. But nobody knows what Ionic does. Anyway, whatever it does, it does it wrong.

[MThor]

@SunsetRunner , @Jillyholli

But the weird thing is that the total distance and the split times seems correct,

and also the watch says "connected" thru the whole run. So I don't think it ever lost the GPS signal :-S

/Mike

[Jillyholli]

mine was saying 'connecting' at some points but was switching. Oddly it seems OK when I'm cycling so this can't be the satellite comms which I think is the line they usually trot out. I'm almost past caring to be honest its so rubbish I'm going to have to replace it at some point soon. 

[BS3Rob]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

The problem has been out there for a very long time. Fitbit won't tell how GPS actually works in Ionic. Usually, there are just minor inaccuracies

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Sorry to reply directly to you but I notice you were running near London. Are your issues new or are they longstanding? Several in this thread have commented about GPS getting really bad in the last month or two and that is exactly what I've been seeing in South London using an iPhone (and after 2 years without issues) and led me to buy an Ionic this past weekend for dedicated GPS, and my first run with it this AM (albeit in torrential rain) has also had similarly awful GPS (see below - after ensuring a GPS connection).

As this GPS tracking mess is a carbon copy of the corner cutting, failing to track basic inner city roads and way-off route record I've suddenly had on iPhone for the past month or so, I'm now wondering if this isn't a device issue at all (neither iPhone nor Ionic) but something more general with the London region on GPS signal since the summer? I don't know enough about the reliability of GPS signals but surprises me to suddenly get these issues in or around London (and this obviously isn't the usual Ionic/GPS complaint about how distances are tracked.)

[SunsetRunner]

@BS3Robit is not that "near London". I can't even use oyster payments anymore 🙂 Still, it classifies as Zone 9 but there are no tall buildings, lots of green stretches and very little pollution comparing to the city. I'm closer to Windsor than London. But I know what you mean. I noticed that last weekend when even my mobile went crazy during navigation when I cycled between Knightsbridge and Parsons Green. It went at some point way off the route. This, however, is the problem whenever you are between tall buildings and I agree, it's not great. In my area, however, the GPS of my mobile works like a charm and I've been even showing a comparison in another thread of the same route but captured with mobile and Ionic. In London such thing happens occasionally and to be honest, I wouldn't be mad about such inaccuracies as both Ionic and my phone have problems there. Moreover, in some parts of London even Bluetooth connection gets unstable ( I experienced that running with headset ). It's a price of living in the big polluted city with tons of technology at every corner. Where I live now such problems don't exist. There are two places from my running routes when GPS is lost. One is a tunnel over dual-carriageway and area under the bridge over the Thames. There is no way the GPS won't get lost there so I always use these areas for sprinting 🙂 Otherwise, my mobile does a pretty good job while Ionic brings certain inaccuracies. The problem isn't the fact that GPS may be lost or reading inaccurate for some reason. The problem I see is that if one device in the same circumstances is way more accurate than the other then apparently, the other isn't good enough. Still, I think it may somehow be related to attempting to save some power and lowering frequency of GPS sampling ( this is what mobiles do in power-saving mode ) but I don't expect Fitbit to come forward and say "look, guys, this is how it works in Ionic...". My guess is mostly based on my experience of working with wearables and other mobile devices.

[BS3Rob]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

It's a price of living in the big polluted city with tons of technology at every corner. Where I live now such problems don't exist. There are two places from my running routes when GPS is lost. One is a tunnel over dual-carriageway and area under the bridge over the Thames. There is no way the GPS won't get lost there so I always use these areas for sprinting 🙂 Otherwise, my mobile does a pretty good job while Ionic brings certain inaccuracies. The problem isn't the fact that GPS may be lost or reading inaccurate for some reason. The problem I see is that if one device in the same circumstances is way more accurate than the other then apparently, the other isn't good enough

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Thanks mate (noticing you were in the UK I read a number of your contributions on this forum prior to purchasing an Ionic - not to say I wasn't put off, I valued your points of view although decided to give it a go for a few days and return if it really was bad, as I like the look of the device versus the Garmin's).

I'm not sure where I run really qualifies as the big polluted city (the worst GPS recently is always running alongside Peckham Rye park - grass, wide roads and Victorian houses) but I do read you loud and clear when you point to one device, even if I'm seeing a continuation of my own recent iPhone GPS issues.

Nonetheless GPS was the only reason I bought a GPS watch so if the next couple of days don't improve I will have to return the Ionic as I literally only bought it as an antidote to frustration with iPhone GPS. (& I do know Staines isn't London but I was exercising my right as a Bristolian to generalise massively )

[Paxton]

I have found that the POWER MODE makes a difference.  If I leave it as "Optimized", I get the crazy maps with sections not showing properly.   Changing it to high performance makes the thing work properly, although there is a much greater battery drain.