Charge 2 Connected GPS

[Outlaw13]

Hi

I'm just about to buy my first Fitbit and just wanted to check how the GPS bit works first. I will be using the GPS bit when I'm cycling and hopefully it works with the minimum of effort. Once paired to my iPhone will the fitbit constantly monitor my location or do I have to pair it each time I want to track where I'm going? Do I have to do anything on the iPhone before I set off?

Cheers

[MMMMMMMMM]

I agree. Had the surge it is great with built in GPS but the bands keep breaking and Fitbit offers no solution. They won't even sell you a replacement band. 

Problem with the Charge 2 is the connected GPS doesnt always connect. It doesn't seem to connect if you select "Location" mapping as "While using", and I am not comfortable letting Fitbit knows the location at "Always On". 

[Rich_Laue]

@MMMMMMMMM not knowing if you have an android or ios. I woupd think location would need to be before the phome and Fitbit will know where you are.

If the setting of mapping is equivalent to use only GPS, then your using the lest accurate setting.

[CamperMike]

Consider yourself lucky!! I just used "Hike" for the first time. We stopped to admire a nice view at about the 2 mile mark, and the tracker stopped mapping on the GPS and then auto logged a walk. So I got the total miles, but only half the map. When we got to the car, I hit stop so it looked like it was tracking the hike, but it had stopped. Not really sure why?

[don1000]

i had that thought it was because i used the phone to take some pictures when i was stopped

[Daryl529]

I get that you need to have both bluetooth and internet connections when using connected GPS. 

BUT-- what if you lose internet service during the excercise (for example a hike into deep woods).  If the device and phone are still connected via bluetooth and GPS is still seeing the satellite, will it continue to track the whole map and show the complete route once you're back withing internet range?

[don1000]

it must do as i dont even have a sim card in my phone 

[PrybarIN]

Better late than never.....I have learned you have to have Fitbit running in the background (on your phone) in order for the Bluetooth to link on your Fitbit.  That said, don't be surprised if you lose connectivity between the two during your ride.  Mine is consistently, inconsistent.  Also it helps to turn the Bluetooth off/on on your phone if you're doing everything right and Bluetooth still isn't linking.

[Raz124]

I've been in contact with Fitbit about the decidedly flaky 'Connected GPS' connection between my Charge 2 and my Moto G5 Plus and I thought I'd share the latest response (received 1st August 2017) from the Fitbit team. The first paragraph no doubt applies to the many other current (and indeed also less recent) phones that are not on the Fitbit list of supported devices. 

We'd like to share with you that the Moto G5 has all the hardware requirements to be a supported device. However, it is currently not on our list of supported devices. This means that our Android team has not yet tested it for compatibility and added it to the list. Our team is always working to test and add more Android devices to the supported devices list, so keep an eye open for updates!

Some of our customers try to clean all out of memory of their phone on the "apps background running" settings. We believe that the issue is between the consistency of the Bluetooth connection between your Charge 2 and mobile device and we appreciate your patience and do apologize for the inconvenience knowing that it is important for your to keep track of your biking activities.

If you have any questions, let us know so we can help you more.

The fact that the Fitbit team recognises that the issue lies with the consistency of the Bluetooth connection between my Charge 2 and my mobile device is a positive - and hopefully means that they will develop a solution to an identified problem!

[Raz124]

In case this is of use to anyone with inconsistent Connected GPS performance on your Charge 2 and an Android 6.0 (and upwards) device. Originally posted (a couple of days ago) at https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Blaze/Blaze-Connected-GPS-Disconnects-during-exercise-Pls-track-inst... in the Blaze area of the forum.

@Raz124 wrote:

Sorry, know this is a Blaze post but me too (on Charge 2) /w Google Moto G5 Plus (non-US variant), Android 7.0.

I have the Fitbit Notification Widget running to notification drawer, and Always Connected enabled from within the Fitbit app. Wi-Fi is off and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth scanning are also off (from within android Location menu).

The problem was occurring at any point during a ride (started from the unit, and marked as Connected GPS) but I've managed to improve the situation by marking 'Fitbit', 'Bluetooth Share', 'Fused Location' and 'Location Services' as 'not optimised' within the android Battery Optimisation menu [this stops Doze (Android 6 and upwards) from being too aggressive in killing off apps, tasks and connections(?) when the phone screen is off during the ride]. 

The unit and the phone still lose Bluetooth connection more often than I'd like but this seems to happen early in the ride and appears to be resolved by killing Fitbit app on the phone and restarting it (and then restarting the Connected GPS exercise). 

Having changed the battery optimisation settings, once my unit has shown a connection for more than a minute or so during the early part of of the exercise it tends to be stable all the way through until the end (10 to 25 minutes at present - haven't tested it on longer rides).

Wearing my phone in a pocket on same side of body as my Charge 2 seems to help. I'm also trying to get into the habit of closing down as many apps as possible (including Fitbit, which is then restarted prior to the exercise) just prior to pressing the button on the unit to start Connect GPS exercise (and then starting my ride). 

[PrybarIN]

Thx so much Raz....The loss of connectivity is disconcerting and consistent with your experience. There seemed to be no problem 3 weeks ago with the fitbit 'fairly' accurately tracking 5-25 mile rides consistently then it suddenly has gone to 2 miles max before it craps out.  On a 40 mile ride Saturday I restarted tracking (bluetooth/GPS) but it only tracked 6 miles before stopping again.  I tried the same side of body to no avail.  However I have started using Strava with success and just log my ride in Fitbit Biking as Outdoor Biking won't accept milage. (THE app restarts everytime I start keying in mileage.  Accepts everrything else though.


As Everdb
Samsung Galaxy S8+,AT&T 4G LTE smartphone

[Raz124]

PrybarIN, have you connected your fitbit and strava accounts? I've done this and found that activities logged in Strava are automatically transferred over to fitbit (though without heart rate data), which would avoid the need for you to manually enter the mileage.

It's for this reason that I've needed to delete duplicate rides (from both fitbit and strava) when simultaneously logging with both Strava and Fitbit (via Connected GPS) - I figure it's better to have to delete duplicates than to risk not have the data in the first place due to the fitbit losing connection with my phone...

[PrybarIN]

Raz..
Yes, I've connected the two.  I've only had Strava for 3 days.  I saw the duplication.  Saving both maintains Heart info which Fitbit measures two different ways and I've got my mileage.


As Everdb
Samsung Galaxy S8+,AT&T 4G LTE smartphone

[brideru]

---

@don1000 wrote:
it must do as i dont even have a sim card in my phone 

---

Exactly the answer I was looking for! Wanted to use my old (and smaller) phone for runs without a sim. Glad that works! 😊

[Ocadhla]

Aha! Thank you so much for this... I couldn't work out why I kept losing GPS on my bike commute. It worked fine on my first few rides but then the GPS was very erratic. It would link when I started the exercise (only if just synched) and then immediately stop when I put the phone in my pocket; then sometimes start again halfway through my 40 minute ride. 

I've just gone in to my (Samsung S6 Android 7) battery settings and found that Fitbit was always being put to sleep when not in use. I can only imagine I must have followed a prompt to optimise battery at some point since my first few rides. I'll test it out on my ride home tonight... 

[Ocadhla]

😞 That didn't fix it... 

[Running-Girl]

The connected GPS on my phone is only tracking half of my run, it cuts off a whole section and so gives me inaccurate results.... I have searched online and see that this is a common problem.

I always open the fitbit app, select exercise and click on the timer, wait for GPS to locate me and off I go! Still doesn't work...

I've restarted both devices and.it doesn't work...

And yes my Bluetooth is connected.

Help!

[northrk]

It is ridiculous to carry a phone to have connected gps to work on a charge 2!  Why own a Fitbit if you have to carry a phone to get an accurate run step count?