Charge 3 Exercise with GPS Tracking Fail

[Walker_73]

Does anyone achieve consistently reliable operation of GPS Tracking during Exercise?

Tonight once again I do the voodoo that must be done to have a chance of it working using my iPhone 6 on iOS v12.4.4 :

- Go outside to a clear spot for reception

- Check another GPS program to be sure GPS signal is received and able to lock on

- Exit that program

- Turn Wi-Fi off (hopefully don't forget to turn it back on after you are done exercising)

- Change Location Services for Fitbit from "While Using App" to "Always"

- Start the Fitbit app

- Select Exercise on the Charge 3, in this case "Walk"

- Wait from 1-5 minutes for the Fitbit to change from "connecting" to "connected"

Then you can start! Tonight I was in a hurry so I didn't wait for "connected" to show up. According to Fitbit you can just start your exercise and it will connect when it is able. However tonight as has happened multiple times, even when I wait for "connected", the Charge 3 apparently does not successfully record the exercise. Either when I'm done the Fitbit is back on the Start icon or it says "Not Found". My success rate in actually recording a GPS track is about 1 in 5.

I use GPS tracking on this phone with other apps for driving or hiking almost every day without problem. I'm curious what your experiences are with the Charge 3.

[MarreFitbit]

Hello there @Walker_73, welcome on board. Thanks for the details provided and for trying to fix the inconsistency with the connected GPS.

All devices with GPS sensors require a direct path to GPS satellites to calculate location. A weak GPS signal might affect the accuracy of your route and other activity data.

Your device uses your step count to calculate distance until it finds a signal, so the total distance calculated for a workout may be slightly less accurate when GPS isn't available for the entire time. To learn more, see GPS.gov. 

Let me know if you need anything else. 

[Walker_73]

Uh, that's why I start up another GPS app first, to be sure the signal is strong and locked on. MapMyFitness has no problems staying locked on and tracking throughout this same walk. I'll try to run them both at he same time on my next walk to get a identical case comparison.