Step count on Charge 3 is being reduced after sync

[Ralf_G]

By hundreds and even thousands of steps. It's really quite annoying, especially when it cancels out my step goal attainment. This has been happening every time when I track and map walks. For example, the tracker itself registered 6100 steps before syncing with the app but after the sync the step count was reduced to 4800 in the tracker. The phone does not have a data connection so syncing is delayed until a wifi internet connection is available.

[MarreFitbit]

Hello there @Ralf_G, it's nice to see you around here! 

While reading your post I was wondering if the mobile device you're syncing with is included in our list of supported devices? You can see the list at: Which phones and tablets can I use with my Fitbit watch or tracker?

Please keep in mind that when a device is not supported we cannot guarantee its functionality with the Fitbit app. It might work at a certain time and then it can stop working out of nowhere after an update. This is because the app is not optimized to that device and any change could impact the performance. 

If this is only happening during your map walks, that means you're using GPS. Please take a look at the help article: Why isn't GPS working on my Fitbit device? 

Additionally, check the information provided at: How do Fitbit devices sync their data? 

Let me know if there's anything else I may do to assist you with. 

[SunsetRunner]

I started having this issue yesterday evening.  My Fitbit deleted almost 3k steps last night after syncing.  Since then I have been unable to get past 1,647 steps.  I will add more steps, but once I sync it reverts back to 1,647 steps.  The issue in not with my phone (iPhone 6s) or internet.

[Ralf_G]

Hi Maria, thank's for replying.

Sorry to be so long getting back to you.

For me this is a combo of new phone plus a new tracker and everything else "Fitbit" seems to be working fine, if not better than before.

As it happens not only is my new phone not on the approved list, the entire brand (ASUS) is missing from that list. I can do a  comparison using my old MotoG 2014 next time out to see if the same issue crops up.

Meanwhile I've already allowed the Fitbit app update in the phone in question so I'll see if that has changed anything. 

[MarreFitbit]

Welcome on board @SunsetRunner! Thanks for bringing this to my attention. 

Is this issue still happening? If so, I'd recommend to restart your Charge 3 by following these steps. Then, please take a look at the help article: Why won't my Fitbit device sync? 

If neither of the suggestion provided above work and your amount of steps are being reduced after syncing, I'd appreciate if you can send me a picture showing the amount of steps before and after syncing so I can go from there. 

Hey there @Ralf_G, thanks so much for coming back! I'm glad to hear that your Charge 3 is working better than before. 

Give that a go and let me know if you notice an improvement now that you've updated the Fitbit app.

I'll be around, keep me posted guys.

[SunsetRunner]

It took several resets, but the issue is resolved.  Thanks for following up.

[MarreFitbit]

You're very welcome @SunsetRunner! I'm glad to hear that the issue is solved now. 

I would like to invite you to visit our Discussions board where you will find great tips and encouragement from other members and if there's anything else I can do for you, please keep me posted!

[Ralf_G]

Hello Maria, It's been a while again...I took a hiatus from walking outside because of the heat. By the time I got back to mapping walks there had been software updates so I don't think the current outcomes are directly comparable anymore.

I mapped my lawn mowing the other day day just for kicks but other than a rather exotic looking GPS track everything was normal and the step count was unaltered after syncing.

The next time I tried to map a walk however the Fitbit app glitched entirely. There was no map and it split my walk into two segments with different time stamps and displayed different parts of the stats  in each... as below. Note the Pace also showed as "zero".

This was a single continuous walk and the app  never did produce a map.

I had seen something almost similar a few months ago when the App triple entered a single walk. That time it did finally produce a map after I deleted 2 of the duplicate entries. This time the entries were not duplicates of each other and I had no luck getting a map.

For comparison's sake I decided to track one walk using my old MotoG2014 phone instead of the new one. The result of that was the step count was not altered after syncing. So that brings me to the most recent episode. This time the step count in my tracker was altered again after syncing but steps were actually added rather than removed. Quite a lot of them. I forgot to pause or stop tracking my walk before I got in the car to drive home. Ooops.  Anyway the result of that:

Before syncing the tracker (but after having driven home):

After syncing more than 9k steps were added to the tracker:

I have been wondering, if I turn off the 'use GPS' setting in my tracker would the Fitbit app revert to using only the steps recorded by the tracker during a walk and leave them unaltered after syncing? Or would that just end up messing the GPS/mapping function entirely?

[DsfitbCrazy]

I was wondering if anyone can help me figure out how to track my walk with th Charge 3 I recently got! I start walk on my App in the beginning of my walk it’s mapping my walk but there is no data! No miles , Calories or minutes all it says is null? Then it has a second one that just says the calories and minutes it’s a split thing I don’t know how to fix it help