What does “run detect” actually do?

[darby3]

I go to the exercise app, start a run, and have the “run detect” checkbox checked. What does that checkbox actually do?

[Rich_Laue]

It looks at the motion of your arm to determine if it should log the time as a run.

Optionally if the phone is nearby,  the Versa will connect to GPS and record the path of the run. The start ans stop times may be off by a few minutes.

[LZeeW]

@darby3It usually takes less than a minute for the Versa to detect that you are running.  Your Versa vibrates with a message, I can't remember the exact words, giving the the choice to record it.  The map will start from the point the GPS connection is made.  You end it like any other exercise.

[james442]

According to settings it takes 10 minutes to detect a run.  And that's the minimum. Not sure how far it goes back to actually capture. IE: does it capture all the way back to the moment it first detected you were running? I chatted with Fitbit support and got no clear answer on any of my questions. Especially my main question which is why there is a run detect setting on the phone AND the watch. Turned the watch on run detect yesterday for a race and it didn't work. 😞

[Rich_Laue]

Hi @james442 the default is 15 minutes, and yes it starts the run timer when the Run begins. 

It will not use GPS or give you the distance of the run.