GPS tracking problems getting increasingly worse

[SunsetRunner]

I have had an Inspire HR for about half a year now. A couple of months ago I reached out to get help on a problem I was having with the GPS tracking function on my Inspire HR. Unfortunately I got no solution at all, Fitbit stating that the problem was that my phone was "not a supported device" for Fitbit. Which is ridiculous because my phone hasn't changed in the last year but the problems with my Inspire have only gotten worse.

In the beginning (when I first reached out) the problem was that with some exercises (in-line skating, biking) the distance on a tracked exercise was inaccurate. It would give a distance that was about 70-80% of the actual distance travelled. Fortunately I did have a map so that I (or Runkeeper) could calculate the actual distance of the exercise. But there is no way to get Fitbit to record an accurate distance.

And yes, I have tried every suggestion that was offered.
- I reset my device every time I charge it
- I wait for the device to be connected before I start the exercise

- I close all other apps on my phone except for Fitbit

- I keep my phone close to the Inspire during the whole exercise

- I have tried setting the stride length to automatic, and I have tried entering my actual stride length; this did not make a difference

- and every other suggestion there is in all the articles concerning GPS or exercises

Unfortunately, as I have mentioned above, the problem has only gotten worse. The distance tracked on walking exercises has also gotten inaccurate, and increasingly so. Sometimes the recorded distance is less than half of the actual distance that I walked! Even with all the precautions mentioned above. And again: as long as I had a map, I could calculate the actual distance; or let Runkeeper do this (apparently Runkeeper is able to calculate an accurate distance with the GPS data, where Fitbit is not). But since last week I didn't even get a map in the app after synchronising the device! It just shows the first couple hundred meters of the walk and then nothing. So now I can't even recall how much (or where) I have walked during the exercise. Totally worthless!

So Fitbit, unless you are able to come up with a proper solution this time, I'm switching brands. 

And please, before you respond, read the whole post and don't ask me to try things that I have already tried. 

[BigSwede72]

Did a test today. I ran 5km yesterday and logged it with my Fitbit.
Exported the activity to a TCX-file and looked at the data and there are both "AltitudeMeters" and "DistanceMeters" for each trackpoint (and GPS-positions as well). So what you are saying is that the DistanceMeters value is taken from calculating step length x steps?
When I imported the TCX-file into Runtastic I got the exact same distance and time as in Fitbit.

Ex:
<Trackpoint>
<Time>2020-08-05T18:52:37.000+02:00</Time>
<Position>
<LatitudeDegrees>59.355342626571655</LatitudeDegrees>
<LongitudeDegrees>13.566112518310547</LongitudeDegrees>
</Position>
<AltitudeMeters>89.0</AltitudeMeters>
<DistanceMeters>1.54</DistanceMeters>
<HeartRateBpm>
<Value>117</Value>
</HeartRateBpm>
</Trackpoint>

[SunsetRunner]

I'm not that tech savvy so I don't exactly understand what you're asking. But as I show in the post that I link to above: I used my Fitbit to track a canal tour, during which of course I didn't walk much. Fitbit showed a distance of 0.14 km, but the map showed the correct  route. Then I exported this "exercise" to Strava, and Strava calculated that actually the distance was almost 9 km.

So yes, the distance that is shown on the watch during the the exercise, and afterwards in the Fitbit app, is number of steps x stride length and not based on GPS data. 

[BigSwede72]

ok 😄 
...I ran 5km yesterday and tracked it with my Fitbit. The distance recorded was 5.03km. When I exported the activity and imported it into Runtastic it also said 5.03Km. I also tried a couple of other import functions across the web (like Strava) and they all reported 5.03Km. So everything seems ok but...

If I start Runtastic parallell to my fitbit or compare with my girlfriends Garmin watch running at the same time, the fitbit always have a shorter distance by at least 7-9% than both Runtastic (using the same GPS!) and my girlfriends Garmin watch. So something is definitely wrong somewhere...
Your observation on the boat is very interesting though.

[SunsetRunner]

I think there have been some improvements / corrections to the distance calculations for GPS tracked runs since Elionepje posted about it. I increased the running stride length from 100cm to 300cm in the android App. The distance for a 5km run came in at 4.6km, which given the steps counted over the run corresponds to a 102cm stride length, not 300cm. So the current version of the android app does not appear to be using the run stride length to estimate distance on GPS tracked runs.

When I first got my Fitbit Inspire HR in mid-March 2020 distances for GPS tracked runs were 35% lower than they should have been, and the route shown in the App zig zagged back and forth instead of showing a straight line between the start and end point. Since the June 22, 2020 android app update, I found that estimates of distance for GPS tracked runs improved. The Fitbit now provides distances for GPS tracked runs that are consistently 5 to 10% lower than actual, and the route shown in the App is more or less a straight line from the start to the end of the run. The distance based on the data in the exported TCX file is only 1 to 2% lower than the actual distance. So I'm not sure why the Fitbit's distance estimate is still off by as much as it is. My guess would be that the app is using a "smoothing" algorithm to deal with what it sees as inconsistencies in the run route. If the app would just use the recorded GPS data without adjustments, the distance estimated by the Fitbit would be much closer to actual.

[SunsetRunner]

Or Fitbit us s an average stride length to calculate distance. How else would you explain the 0.14km distance of the example I mentioned?

Anyway, it seems Fitbit is _finally_ doing something about this. Good for them.

In the meantime I am VERY happy with my Garmin. Not least because of customer service / handling of complaints.

[SunsetRunner]

Just to be clear, I'm not defending Fitbit. GPS tracking is a mess. I have been tracking my runs in a worksheet outside of the App because I have no faith in the information being recorded by the Fitbit, which kind of defeats the purpose of having it. As soon as it dies I'll be looking to switch to a Garmin device.

I was just pointing out to BigSwede72 that due to the age of this thread, some of the information may be out of date. With the latest App I'm seeing results similar to those that he had posted. So the Fitbit team appears to slowly be doing "something" to try and resolve the issue. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee they won't break things again on the next update.

As for explaining the 0.14km distance in the example you mentioned, I saw something similar when I forgot to turn off GPS tracking on a 5km run before getting on public transit. I realized my error about 2km into the bus ride and shut it off. The GPS map in the app showed the entire route including the bus ride. But the distance reported for the activity did not include the distance for the bus ride. I just assumed that the Fitbit had thrown out the recorded GPS coordinates for the portion of the route where there was no motion detected. That kind of made sense to me, so I never really thought about it.

[ClausW]

Have a similar problem with my new inspire.

Maps and distances are sometimes very accurate and then sometimes - more often lately- the path on the map is not very precise at all and the distance is off be 10-20% on the high side.

Any idea anybody ?

[Jackreacher101]

Hi, yes experiencing similar issues with my Inspire HR.

For the first 2-3 months, when starting a run from the fitbit everything was fine and tracking was quite consistent. Then about 2-3 weeks ago GPS tracking and distance logging become much more erratic. It seems the only way to guarantee an accurate run now is to start a new run on iPhone app rather than using the fitbit. But then it doesn't record the heart rate data as part of the run, which seems crazy.

I'm wondering whether the sudden change in behavior is linked to a recent firmware update or App update?