Charge 3 activity tracker not recording active minutes

[Evandood3]

Anyone else having this issue? After a 3 mile hike up a mountain, I look down and see I have 7500 steps, 24 floors, and zero active minutes. 

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Sherryhtz and @Sparnel278. Welcome to the Community Forums. I'm sorry for the delay in my response.

@Sherryhtz, thanks for letting me know about your Charge 3, as well for trying the restart. Great job! You mentioned to have checked your heart rate reading, may I know if it was accurate? I'm asking this as your device will record your active minutes and calories based on the heart rate readings. In case the heart rate is inaccurate, I'd recommend to check this help article for tips to improve its accuracy.

@Sparnel278, thanks for the information provided, and let's work on this together. Just to clarify, do you mean that your device isn't recognizing your activities? If so, what activities were you doing? Also, have you tried restarting your Charge 3?

Keep me posted.

[Sparnel278]

Thanks for your help. I restarted my charge3 and that seems to have solved the problem.


Sandra

[Lmessick]

I don't see this issue of not tracking activity as solved.  First statement below says that tracker does not star tracking until after 10 minutes of constant moderate activity.  That is not true.  My Fitbit  charge 3 tracked my walking activity within a few minutes of my starting to walk.  Now that it is summer I have started to swim.  Tracker will sometimes start to show minutes then stops or gets stuck sometimes it does not register at all.  I upgraded to the charge 3 specifically to track my swimming.  Please do not show this as solved....it is not solved.

[Sparnel278]

MY issue about tracking my exercise and including in the weekly activity has been resolved.


Sandra

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Sparnel278, welcome back! @Lmessick, it's nice to see a new member around. I'm sorry for the delay in my response.

@Sparnel278, thanks for keeping me updated, as well for having tried the restart. I'm glad that your Charge 3 is now working correctly, and now you'll be back to crush your steps!

@Lmessick, thanks for letting me know about your Charge 3. Before anything else, let me share that the accepted solution for this thread was given by the person that initiated this topic. I understand how important is to track your information when swimming, and I'll help you out with this.

There are some factors that may prevent your device from recording active minutes, for example, if you change of stroke or stop in the middle of your activity. May I know if it usually gets stuck in the same amount of active minutes? Does this happen only when swimming? In the meantime, I'd recommend to restart your Charge 3. Also, when swimming, make sure to use it snug on your wrist, as well to maintain a high intensity.

I look forward to your reply.

[Sminkytoo]

My Charge 3 is not keeping track of my active minutes.  After 2 hours of hiking in the mountains, it only recorded 16 active minutes!

I’ve rebooted the watch several times, unpaired & repaired it with my iPhone and still having issues. 

Please help!!

[Sherryhtz]

I've done all the above,  and mine still isn't keeping track of my active minutes either.  A little frustrated by itSent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

[DonnaMaeB]

Super bummed! I just got my new Charge 3, walked almost 4 miles this morning, and got NO active minutes!! Now I see that this has been a problem for a very long time. I was pushing a stroller, so I had my Charge in my pocket. Does that matter? It doesn't seem like it should, but I know it's not monitoring my heart rate when it's in my pocket. 

[DonnaMaeB]

After going back and forth with Fitbit "support" on Twitter, I did my own testing. I put my Charge 3 on my wrist and walked a loop around my living room for 15 minutes. I was credited with 15 minutes of active minutes (although it slipped back to 14 for some reason). Next, I put the Charge 3 in my pocket and walked the same loop in my living room at the same pace for 15 minutes. No active minutes were logged. Then, I removed my Charge 3 from my phone app and reinstalled my Alta. I put the Alta in my pocket and walked the same loop in my living room for 15 minutes. I was credited with 15 active minutes. Bottom line, apparently the Charge acts differently than the Alta when not on your wrist. That means that for all those people who walk on a treadmill or push a stroller, it's impossible to get active minutes and accurate steps.

[Sherryhtz]

Thank you for your information.  My charge is always on my wrist and I'm not pushing a baby stroller lolSent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

[Sminkytoo]

I just did 2 hours of uphill hiking. I checked the Charge 3 and it showed 75 active minutes. Not the right amount but I’ll take it :-).  

When i synced the watch to the app, active minutes reduced to 0.  

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Sminkytoo and @DonnaMaeB welcome to the Community Forums! @Sherryhtz, it's nice to see you again. I'm sorry for my delayed response.

@Sminkytoo and @Sherryhtz, thanks for sharing detailed information about your Charge 3, as well for your efforts while trying the suggestions from this post. I understand how you're feeling as this shouldn't be happening, I'll be helping you out.  As mentioned above, active minutes will be recorded based on the calories and heart rate readings. For this reason, let me know if you're getting accurate readings? If not, please try turning off and on the heart rate settings on your device. Also, if you've not done so, check this help article that includes tips to improve its accuracy.

@DonnaMaeB, thanks for letting me know about your Charge 3, as well for the troubleshooting steps tried prior posting. I'm sorry that you're having this situation, and while sharing your information with our Support Team I was informed that a case was already created for you. They'll keep working with you via email, so keep an eye on your inbox.

Catch you later.

[Sminkytoo]

Hi.  Thanks for the response!!  The problem with active minutes has been intermittent.  But more often than not, syncing the watch to the app caused the active minutes to zero out.  It didn’t work on Tuesday - I did the Grouse Grind and the watch showed 85 active minutes. When I started the app, the watch read “0” and so did the app.  Went hiking on The following day and it recorded 256 active minutes which is accurate. 

I also noticed that there was a update to the app 2 days ago, was this one of the bug fixes?

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Sminkytoo, welcome back to the Forums. I'm sorry for my delayed response.

Thanks for the information provided, and I'm sorry that the active minutes aren't recorded consistently. While I don't have more details of what is fixed with the latest update for the Fitbit app, I'd recommend to download it as this will help the Fitbit app to work correctly. If the same keeps happening after the update, I'd recommend to review the information posted above. This way, I can continue working with you on this situation.

Keep me posted.

[Gabzster]

45 min kickboxing, 60% peak heart rate and I still get 0 min of activities. According to fitbit instructions it reads:"Be sure to wear your device during the day and fitbit will do the rest." that's why I purchase this product and it's not doing what is supposed to.

Clearly the sensor on the tracker is failing. They should do the right thing and recall this product. It is a rip off.

[Sherryhtz]

Yes they should,  I never had any problems with my charge 2, but the 3 no active minutes ever, calories are always off as well as fat burn. And resetting the device never works.  When this one breaks which will  be a year because this is my 5th Fitbit in 5 years. I'm going back to the 2 Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

[nwieme]

I had an Alta it counted active minutes on EVERY WALK I took.  Suddenly it stopped syncing, stopped counting active minutes and eventually completely it died.  The "expert" I spoke to didn't seem to listen to my issues. I "chatted" for an hour and the person just kept sending a solution that had nothing to do with my problem.

I finally just threw in the towel and got a brand new Charge 3.  It DOES NOT COUNT ACTIVE MINUTES AT ALL.

UNHAPPY.

[janschonsc]

Extremely unhappy with the Charge 3 HR, doesn't properly log minutes. This is the last Fitbit I will purchase. I was also unhappy with the Alta, although they sent me 3 replacements, none of them worked properly.  Goodbye Fitbit.

[janschonsc]

Yep, I have to resort to adding minutes which does skew the steps.  I'm in a work based competition which will give a $$ bonus for hitting certain exercise targets.   HATE the Charge3 HR and will never but another Fitbit of any type.  Going to something less expensive.

[janschonsc]

Yep, I think I'm going to get a Garmin as well.  Really sad since I just purchased the Charge 3 HR piece of junk in July.  Glad to hear the Garmin works! : )