Fitbit thinks I'm swimming and misses steps

[Chelle11411]

My Fitbit thinks I'm swimming even though I haven't been in the water for years.  I have a different tracker and the difference in steps between the two can be well over 1000.  These issues have happened for months.  Often no steps register at all.

[LZeeW · Accepted solution]

Hello @Chelle11411 and welcome to the Help forums.  Fitbits use a device called an accelerometer to detect movement.  Certain repetitive patterns will be perceived as an activity by the SmartTrack feature.  You aren't the first user who said they got a swimming exercise recorded when none happened.  This is a limitation of the technology and I can tell you how to keep it from happening.  Tap on your exercise tile on your phone app, then the gear.  You will see the SmartTrack exercises.  Tap on swimming, then toggle the Auto-recognize to Off.

Do you switch between the clip and the band?  Make sure you have the proper setting, either On Wrist or On Clip.  This is very important in order to have steps counted.  Even if you don't switch, be sure you have the correct setting.  Because you make this setting in the Quick Settings, it is possible for this to get changed without you realizing it.  These touch screens are sensitive, sometimes even to long sleeves.  Once I started the Exercise app in my sleep.  Trust me, I wasn't dreaming about exercising at the time.