RESOLVED: Steps count increase while charging Fitbit Versa

[AlessFitbit]

Fitbit Update: 9/09

 Hi, Versa Fam! 

Thanks so much for your patience while our team continues to investigate and work on this issue. We're still working on this and I hope to have more information for you all very soon. 

As soon as there is a fix in place, I will make sure to announce that here. Please stay tuned and subscribed to this thread for updates. 

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Fitbit Update: 7/25

Hey, everyone!

I know many of you are wondering what the status on this bug is and I'm here to reassure you this is still being worked on by our team. For anyone still getting ghost steps on their Versa's, we are definitely working towards a fix. I don't have a timeline for when the fix will be released, so I appreciate everyone's patience for the time being. I recommend if possible, placing your Versa on a different flat surface without any vibrations to prevent the extra steps. 

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Fitbit Update: 6/21

Hi, everyone!

Sorry to hear that some of you are accumulating unwanted steps while charging your Versa's. Thank you for taking the time to report this issue here on the forums. Our team is aware of this affecting some of you and is working towards a fix on a future firmware release.

Thanks for your patience for the time being. 

[slellis128]

So, I just got a celebratory alert on my Versa. Congratulating me on reaching 10,000 steps.  Woo hoo!!! ... Problem is, I walked just over a half mile... how's that even possible...

[Runtu]

It is now day 2 1/2 and still no ghost steps recorded on my Versa.  I forgot to mention that I purchased the Fitbit Versa Special Edition.  Not sure if that matters, but maybe.

I worked out yesterday around 4 pm and watched my steps very closely and saw no increase in my steps other then the ones I should normally get.

My husband and I go for early morning walks with our little dog most days, and I usually get around 2900 - 3000 steps during that walk that I charted with my old Samsung Gear 2 watch.  We tested my Versa this morning and it was very accurate as to how much I got today on my walk, almost the same amount, off by only a few steps, nothing was added while we were in the car driving and I made sure I put my arm on the center counsel that vibrates a bit.  Still no added ghost steps at all.

Not sure ghost steps will appear on my watch or not, I am willing to test it until I feel a suitable time has passed to say I might be the lucky one that will not experience it.  I will however be charging it today to see what will happen.  I am at 55% charge now.  The charge will definitely not last 4 days, but it again will be close.

I will post again on the ghost steps after my first charge to see if any appear.  I did also read that someone here posted, when he changed his clock face, his ghost steps seemed to have fixed it for him.  Not sure, just trying to gather all the facts.

[nitesh2cool]

Thats good. For me I get no ghost steps but yes I feel like the distance it calculates is way more then I cover. I wonder how that works. So, I am really curious how did you calculate your stride length. My current stride length is automatically set to 68.5cm, which looks lower then my actual stride by 5-7cm. If i increase this I am afraid the distance calculated will be even more. I am measuring the distance from the heel of the one foot to the toes of other foot with shoes on. Is that a good way?

[Runtu]

Not sure how to tell you because we use feet and inches, but this is how you do it, we marked a strait path 50 feet, which calculates 600 inches. Then we counted the amount of steps it took from start line to finish, I did it like 5 times to make sure I was accurate with my steps. So it took me 23 steps to go 600 inches. I then took 23 divided into 600 and it came out 23.07, so my stride is 23 and I put that in my dashboard. And it has been quite accurate, and again no site of any ghost steps.

[Bdkrwaker]

Mine counts 289 while I slept.  And yesterday...when it counted my 14,000 plus steps while I painted furniture, it didn’t sync with my phone.  My sleep steps have already been logged?  Why?

[Criable]

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@MarcoGFitbit wrote:

We really appreciate our members's input and feedback and I would like to thank you for yours. As @AlessFitbit mentioned, our team is still working towards a prompt and proper resolution for this issue. 

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@MarcoGFitbit, @AlessFitbit,

Hi, in your last post - you mentioned "prompt" resolution for the step count issue. It has been a while already - the word PROMPT has lose its meaning.

I hope by now you can provide some meaningful (and honest) updates on the issue - not the standard 'we are still working on it', 'we acknowledge the problem' template reply. Thanks. Patience is running out now

[meatburger]

Ive also been getting ghost steps. I just hit 11k steps and i was driving and not doing much exercise today. I shot some hoops (walking around for about 30 minutes). 

I just stood still and moved my wrist and from what i can tell its way too sensitive. I was moving my wrist a small amount and it seemed to be counting steps. What is peculiar is i just tried to test it again and it seemed to refuse to count them. What id like to know is it it a physical problem with the device (accelerometer?) or a software problem? Its not the charger for me as i haven't charged it today. 

If its a software problem i'm happy to wait. Does this also happen to people with the GPS version as well? Mine is the non Gps version.

As my first fitness tracker i'm astounded it cant record my steps properly. Whats strange is i bought it primarily for sleep and its doing a decent job of tracking that. I also had problems with syncing but i bought a Bluetooth dongle and its syncing instantly and perfectly now. 

[slellis128]

Mine is the special edition. I don't think it matters which version you have. I have seen posts that say both versions are giving ghost steps. My ghost steps happen both on and off the charger (if I leave it on the charger too long)

[Nu2_4rum]

I too use my Versa primarily as a way to quantify to some degree the quality of my sleep. I would not have bought it otherwise. It does a pretty good job of reporting my sleep pattern, which ties in with my own perception of my sleep.

Personally I am not all that bothered about recording steps. I notice it tells me I have walked further than I thought, however, as I wear it almost all the time, it records me walking around my house, and that’s not an insignificant amount of activity during the course of an entire day. As for what it clocks up if I go for a long walk, I have observed that that is pretty accurate.

I have not had any problems with ghost steps while on the charger etc, so perhaps I have been lucky. I am curious to know what PROPORTION of Versa users are reporting problems. I suspect it is a small minority. Perhaps there are different revisions of the hardware, and those with the problem have some specific version, or a particular manufacturing batch? As for the software, I would guess that everyone is up-to-date, because the app helps make sure of that.

If I were involved in tracking down the cause of the ghost steps, I would be looking at serial numbers of devices to establish manufacturing dates and batch numbers and hardware version numbers to see if any of that is relevant. If so, the faulty devices could be replaced. If not, the problem will lie somewhere else, probably in the software.

As far as accelerometers go, I have had tablets that had to be shaken to make them switch between landscape and portrait, which suggested to me either that accelerometers (or at least cheap ones) are flaky little things, or that the software drivers for them are buggy. I would presume that, in a fitness tracker, a good quality accelerometer would be an absolute requirement. But perhaps there are manufacturing variances at play?

I notice that, in relation to sleep, there is a sensitivity setting in the app. I have left it as ‘normal’. I don’t know whether this sensitivity also applies to non-sleep activity, but if it does, it would be useful for anyone getting ghost steps to check that setting.

On the whole, I am happy with my Versa, and as I mentioned, I hardly take it off. But I sympathise with those who are having problems.

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

[meatburger]

Yeah mate, i basically have insomnia and i am following a stimulus control / sleep restriction schedule. Its important to get a decent measure of how i am sleeping so i can calculate sleep efficiency and work on my schedule. The only problem is, looking at the time is just about the worst thing i can do. If i look at the time and i have to get up in 2 hours, that's enough for me to not get back to sleep again. For this the versa has been pretty much worth the money in itself. 

I agree i don't care too much about steps, but it is annoying me as its vibrating and celebrating me getting 10k steps for no reason. I also wear it all day but there is no way i have hit 10k steps 4 times this week. That would basically mean that 10k is quite an insignificant number and that the average person could reach it without any effort. It does annoy me that the most basic function of the versa seems broken, when pedometers have been doing it a lot better for years.

I haven't actually had any ghost steps during sleep or charging either. I read that the sensitive sleep setting makes the sleep tracking a lot worse. 

[KB9WNS]

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@Nu2_4rum wrote:
I too use my Versa primarily as a way to quantify to some degree the quality of my sleep. I would not have bought it otherwise. It does a pretty good job of reporting my sleep pattern, which ties in with my own perception of my sleep.

Personally I am not all that bothered about recording steps. I notice it tells me I have walked further than I thought, however, as I wear it almost all the time, it records me walking around my house, and that’s not an insignificant amount of activity during the course of an entire day. As for what it clocks up if I go for a long walk, I have observed that that is pretty accurate.

I have not had any problems with ghost steps while on the charger etc, so perhaps I have been lucky. I am curious to know what PROPORTION of Versa users are reporting problems. I suspect it is a small minority. Perhaps there are different revisions of the hardware, and those with the problem have some specific version, or a particular manufacturing batch? As for the software, I would guess that everyone is up-to-date, because the app helps make sure of that.

If I were involved in tracking down the cause of the ghost steps, I would be looking at serial numbers of devices to establish manufacturing dates and batch numbers and hardware version numbers to see if any of that is relevant. If so, the faulty devices could be replaced. If not, the problem will lie somewhere else, probably in the software.

As far as accelerometers go, I have had tablets that had to be shaken to make them switch between landscape and portrait, which suggested to me either that accelerometers (or at least cheap ones) are flaky little things, or that the software drivers for them are buggy. I would presume that, in a fitness tracker, a good quality accelerometer would be an absolute requirement. But perhaps there are manufacturing variances at play?

I notice that, in relation to sleep, there is a sensitivity setting in the app. I have left it as ‘normal’. I don’t know whether this sensitivity also applies to non-sleep activity, but if it does, it would be useful for anyone getting ghost steps to check that setting.

On the whole, I am happy with my Versa, and as I mentioned, I hardly take it off. But I sympathise with those who are having problems.

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

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I would suspect that a wrong part was placed on the pick and place during board fabrication.

0201 sized parts typically have 15,000 pieces per reel and judging by the number of views on this thread maybe 5000 devices out of 2 miilion + devices made tells me a wrong part on a one-time basis.  3 axis accelerometer 1 capacitor or resistor on a low pass filter on each of the 3 channels would be very plausable.  If it was a design or software flaw affecting all devices this forum board would be lit up like the 4th of July and it has not.

As for parts used, it seems that FitBit has been using decent grade parts based upon published product teardowns. Internally they look rather well built,  not aerospace grade, but decent.

[Runtu]

Day #3, charge last night, it was at 44%, charge fast but no ghost steps reported. This morning however on day number 3, I did my normal walk in the morning, drove to grocery store and back home, defiantly got recorded steps, but somehow my versa logged 9 Floors and I did not do any floors.

To be fair my husband’s Charge 2 that he has had for 2 years has done that time to time recorded floors received when non were completed, as many as 60 flights.

This might be the same thing.

But I can’t yet actually see any ghost steps,  even when it was charging last night.

[Nu2_4rum]

At the understandable risk of being accused of arm-chair diagnosis of a problem, I have the feeling that some of the contributions from users are actually pertinent information for the investigation of the problem and its resolution. It concerns me that there will be a gap between forums and developer input, with filtering by forum moderators etc. This is entirely as it should be, as developers need to be insulated from incoming noise so they can concentrate on their work. (I was a software developer all my career.) However I just hope pertinent clues are making their way to the developers, who would probably appreciate input from users with some technical background who have an intuition about the issues.

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

[KB9WNS]

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@Nu2_4rum wrote:
At the understandable risk of being accused of arm-chair diagnosis of a problem, I have the feeling that some of the contributions from users are actually pertinent information for the investigation of the problem and its resolution. It concerns me that there will be a gap between forums and developer input, with filtering by forum moderators etc. This is entirely as it should be, as developers need to be insulated from incoming noise so they can concentrate on their work. (I was a software developer all my career.) However I just hope pertinent clues are making their way to the developers, who would probably appreciate input from users with some technical background who have an intuition about the issues.

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

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I have done development and design for 40+ years now.  There is plenty of technical experts on this forum who have seen problems like this many times over.

[geepondy]

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I did my best to try to troubleshoot the mystery steps in the limited time I had my Versa before the 15 day return policy expired but the biggest problem I had was repeatability.  One night, it gathered 9K mystery steps on the charger, the next night it was fine and then a third night got 11K steps.  One time, 4K steps mysteriously appeared while I was watching TV but then on another, it would be fine for the entire day.  I wonder if the Fitbit engineers are also having a hard time consistently getting it to fail.  The only thing I was able to conclusively deduce that it happened both before and after the early May firmware update.   

@Nu2_4rum wrote:
At the understandable risk of being accused of arm-chair diagnosis of a problem, I have the feeling that some of the contributions from users are actually pertinent information for the investigation of the problem and its resolution. It concerns me that there will be a gap between forums and developer input, with filtering by forum moderators etc. This is entirely as it should be, as developers need to be insulated from incoming noise so they can concentrate on their work. (I was a software developer all my career.) However I just hope pertinent clues are making their way to the developers, who would probably appreciate input from users with some technical background who have an intuition about the issues.

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

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[KB9WNS]

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@geepondy wrote:

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I did my best to try to troubleshoot the mystery steps in the limited time I had my Versa before the 15 day return policy expired but the biggest problem I had was repeatability.  One night, it gathered 9K mystery steps on the charger, the next night it was fine and then a third night got 11K steps.  One time, 4K steps mysteriously appeared while I was watching TV but then on another, it would be fine for the entire day.  I wonder if the Fitbit engineers are also having a hard time consistently getting it to fail.  The only thing I was able to conclusively deduce that it happened both before and after the early May firmware update.   

@Nu2_4rum wrote:
At the understandable risk of being accused of arm-chair diagnosis of a problem, I have the feeling that some of the contributions from users are actually pertinent information for the investigation of the problem and its resolution. It concerns me that there will be a gap between forums and developer input, with filtering by forum moderators etc. This is entirely as it should be, as developers need to be insulated from incoming noise so they can concentrate on their work. (I was a software developer all my career.) However I just hope pertinent clues are making their way to the developers, who would probably appreciate input from users with some technical background who have an intuition about the issues.

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

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Were did you buy your FitBit from?

[Runtu]

Day #4:  New day and all is working correctly.  Went for my morning walk and choose to do a bit more and all counts are accurate, no extra ghost steps.  I have been writing down steps before and after and because I have done this root a million times, I almost know exactly how many steps I take and the Versa is doing it's job.

The only thing weird about this watch was yesterday, look at Day #3 post.

So, no extra ghost steps at all.  I am also doing all my floors and walking every hour to receive 250 steps, so this Versa is calculating a lot.  I am now on 63% battery and it even looks like the charging time is pretty accurate also, about 4 days, maybe 3.5 but still testing that.

I am going to post 3 more days to show you the outcome of a weeks worth and will only be back after if there are questions for me and only if the ghost steps show up.

So far so good.  Again, I think it has to do with proper charging, updated software for watch and device and dumb luck.  If it does hold out we definitely plan on purchasing another. 

Can I ask some of those that received ghost steps, did you purchase directly from Fitbit online store or Amazon or some other store? 

[geepondy]

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Best Buy on I believe the last weekend in April.  it had been out for a couple/few weeks.

@KB9WNS wrote:

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Were did you buy your FitBit from?

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[Runtu]

From here, Fitbit.com store.  I am just wondering if that matters. Bought it last week in July 2018.

[AlejandraFitbit]

Hey everyone!

I hope you are doing fine. As mentioned in previous posts, our team is aware of this problem and are working to resolve it as quickly as possible, sorry for any inconvenience it's caused and appreciate your patience and look forward to getting you back on track.

Once we have more information to share with you about this situation, we'll make sure to post it here in the official Forums.

Thanks again for your patience and understanding.