Option to turn off step count (or add "Driving Mode") to avoid erroneous steps/floors

[MacWade]

I just got home yesterday from a driving 6 hours in my car and I checked my Fitbit. I was really suprised to see it had given me almost 8,000 steps, 3.24 miles, 134 floors, & way more calories thank I burned while I was sitting in my car.  I looked on the forum to see how to easily delete the steps, miles, floors, and calories so my data would be accurate.  The only way people are fixing it is by manually logging the activity "Automobile or light truck (not a semi) driving" and entering in the duration.  I think that is a cumbersome way to fix the issue everytime I drive because I have to make sure I write down what time I get into and out of my car so I know the start time and duration.  And how does it automatically know the calories burned when everyone burns calories when they are sedentary at different rates.

I think they should add a "Drive Mode" feature that when turned on it won't add steps, distance, floors, & will only add calories burned equal to you sitting in a chair.

You could access the "Drive Mode" either on your Fitbit One or on your phone app to turn it on/off.  If you have a Fitbit One you could press the button till the "Drive Mode" icon appears then hold the button down for 2 seconds to turn it on or off.

On the phone apps you would just go to your device under "Account" and there you could turn it on or off.

You could also have the option to give you an alert when you unlock the phone that reminds you that it is in "Drive Mode" so you don't forget to turn it off when you get to your destination.  It would also be cool if you could use Siri to turn it on by saying "Turn on Fitbit Drive Mode" or "Turn off Fitbit Drive Mode".

[NikhilJ]

Let me start by saying that I find Fitbit experience to be amazing and addictive.

I had primarily purchased it to help with my aerobic workouts at gym through heart rate zones, and to monitor sleep. Fitbit does both of these with aplomb. And then, does a lot more.

But not so with pedometer. It GROSSLY OVER-ESTIMATES steps, because it sets off while Driving or Travelling in a motorised vehicle (Mobike, car or anything). This botches the Steps data, Calories burnt, and, if I am right, Vmax data (not sure about it though). Which is kind of off-putting.

When I drive my mobike, it shows up in app as 'Outdoor cycling'. Also, mobiking sets of pedometer, like a horse on steriods. I can delete this event in app, But it doesn't negate the steps data. 

There is an urgent need for an easy solution to Negate any erroneous pedometer data in app itself. 

I read some way to negate steps through 'Driving+' method in community itself, but it doesn't work on mobile browser. Also, if it does work on PC browser, it is a long process.

Until more accurate pedometers are available, it will be an easier method to introduce a method to shave off some erroneous pedometer data. Just like I can delete false 'Outdoor cycling' event.

Much Cheers!

[rainbow4abc]

Even fixing it so that I can take it off and put it on the seat and NOT count steps and floors would be fine.  It added 7000 steps while chargin in the trunk of my motorcycle during a 200 mile ride!   It knows when it is not on my arm - always makes some comment about "lets go" "welcome back" when I put it on after a shower.   

[Rawbee]

Is there any other way to get FitBits attention? I can’t believe this bird has gone 3 years without anything.

[Ton]

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@Rawbeee wrote:
Is there any other way to get FitBits attention? I can’t believe this bird has gone 3 years without anything.

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Hi. You could try tweeting them, as I show in my post on page 19, following Therazo's suggestion myself. But don't hold your breath, as you can read from my lines...

[rainbow4abc]

@Ton

Went back to your tweet results.  "If there is a certain interest"?    I guess they are not reading/following the forums they provide.

So if the forum doesn't work and tweeting gets links and pacifying comments.

We could try asking and commenting on Facebook.   there is a Fitbit Charge 2 page -  I wish they would just take care of this - so we could enjoy accurate stats instead of trying to prove there is interest.  

A thread that is still alive after 3 fruitless years should prove we are interested.

With other questions and issues I have actually gotten reasonable answers from whomever is reading there. -  They did lead me to Feature Suggestion.

I made this post to Facebook:

If anyone out there has a method to prevent Charge 2 from counting steps while I ride my motorcycle - I would appreciate the help. There is no "OFF" button; I tried taking it off my arm and putting in the trunk - imagine my surprise when I still got steps!; and I put it in the trunk AND put the charger on - it still counted while charging. I am also aware that that I can create an activity to delete steps. Has anyone found a "don't count any steps right now" mode Thanks for the help.

I will let you know if there is any response.

[2Paps]

I hadn't looked before but it turns out there is a Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/fitbit/

[Robzki44]

yet another reason to quit fitbit. didn't even imagine that this would be such an issue.

if I use drivebit then it logs the driving as an exercise so skews my results.

This and the fact that you have to be online to sync to the app are 2 reasons that I will be looking elsewhere and recommending that friends and families also do the same. it is such a shame that a 99% perfect device could be made perfect with two simple implementations. been with fitbit for 3 days now and have come to the conclusion that they are a company that really don't care about their customers and strangely about prospective customers too. 

Rob

[qbwbic]

Please add a function to turn off the tracker while driving. My husband drives a crane and it keeps counting steps while he's driving so we are looking for another tracker. Love it but useless without this feature for him.

[3aces4me]

Great suggestion. I am frequent golfer and ride in a golf cart that always adds lots of false steps during a round. Yes, I have attempted to keep track of my cart driving time and then list it as an activity, but it is a hassel. Would be much simpler to just shut off my Alta while driving the cart. Don't understand why fitbit has never included an on/off feature. Leave it up to device owner to decide when to have tracker on or off.

[marina7s]

I'm having the same issue, and honesty I think it's funny how this thread has been going on for three years and they still haven't done anything 

[Angie16]

Ok, so I just posted to the fitbit facebook link above. Let's see what happens next.

[Rawbee]

Right now the only way to negate steps/etc from a bumpy ride is to log it as 'Driving', which is a pretty hidden feature. Currently you have to remember the time you started and ended, which isn't exactly convenient, even worse is that you need to use the app or website to log this activity. 

Seeing as the app can recognize this activity and negate steps already, why not add it as an option for the 'Exercise Shortcuts', so I can simply start and end a driving session from my tracker.

Automatically detecting a driving session might be a lot of work, letting me do it from the tracker manually would be a nice alternative until such a feature is available.  

[SunsetRunner]

Yes I like this idea I know someone who would benefit having been a passenger in their car it explained why they seemed to clock up way more steps than me on any day. They drive a very firmly sprung car and drive on badly maintained roads (lots of pot holes!)

[Tgrinste]

So....Here is another thread I was trying to find out how to get the developers' attention:

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Alta-HR/Step-count-while-biking/m-p/2122569#M7739

Of course this ended with "get a bunch of people to vote on your idea" comment which frustrated me even more. I dont know who that moderator is from AUS but it almost seems like they get some kick back for being vague or unhelpful. I have reached out to Fitbit directly and been sent back to the community forums so I think I am just going to have to live with it unless someone else sees another way forward.

[colliny]

I had a flex a couple years back same problem.  This morning an extra 10,000 steps was logged during my motorcycle ride.  I take the Charge2 off, wrap in cloth and place it in the saddle bag, but it still racks up extra steps.  A PAUSE mode would be great.

[Subhrojeet]

Hi....it is a well know fact that steps and floors are counted during driving or simply during a bus ride. To remove those steps and floors, everyone is logging activity "Driving". This solves the extra steps and floors problem but has another downside....it adds driving as an activity and updates Weekly Exercise. Fixing this shouldn't be a big issue. The App should give an option if Driving should be included in the Weekly Exercise or not...a simple check box in the App setting. This will keep all the users happy as they can activate/deactivate based on their requirement. I have seen many users requesting for this in the community and I believe that Fitbit should listen to its customers and provide which it totally logical....Hoping for a positive response...Cheers...Subhrojeet.

[digibron]

Yes please! Also logging driving time under Exercise negates steps but it still counts towards your weekly exercise goal. Eg say my weekly exercise goal is 4 times but I exercise 1 day and drive 3 days: it will say I've achieved my goal. Is there a feature request for making the "Driving" exercise NOT count as exercise that I can upvote?

[digibron]

Logging driving time under Exercise negates steps but it still counts towards your weekly exercise goal. Eg say my weekly exercise goal is 4 times but I exercise 1 day and drive 3 days: it will say I've achieved my goal. Is there a feature request for making the "Driving" exercise NOT count as exercise that I can upvote?

But as far as the greater picture is concerned it would be GREAT to just be able to activate a drive mode from the fitbit itself (or app as a second preference) so you don't have to do all the retrospective negating.

[digibron]

It's good that we can can negate steps earned while driving by logging driving time under Exercise but it's quite time consuming and counts towards your weekly exercise goal. Eg say my weekly exercise goal is 4 times but I exercise 1 day and drive 3 days: it will say I've achieved my goal. looks like there is a lot of demand for a driving mode so here's hoping one is implemented soon!

[SunsetRunner]

Yes to this! How useful this would be for me!

Last night I took 100 steps whilst asleep! Not bad. 😉

Another way around this would be to be able to 'schedule' when steps are actually being taken OR that they are not measured during a sleep pattern when that is added.

[RetiredRedcoat]

It'd be great if we could have an option to pause steps. I get steps while I'm driving. I get steps in the office while I'm typing. I get steps when I cover my mouth to sneeze. All of these happen while I'm sitting down. I know that I can't expect the fitbit to be TOTALLY accurate, but it'd be nice if I could pause the tracker when I sit down. Can I have that option?

[Tribble2]

My Fitbit flex2 picks up my piano playing, too. Very annoying.

[Leysa]

My mother loves Fitbit (had different models for 4 years), but she's a semi truck driver and it counts tens of thousands of steps. She just got a charge 2 and her 9 hour shift had her coming home with 15k+ steps with maybe (less than) half that activity outside of driving. With the movement of the truck, clutch, and shocks in the driver's seats, there's a lot of movement that is logged. On one of her previous watches, she'd logged 30k steps in one really really long shift.

Charge 2 has GPS capabilities, if it could be updated with a drive setting in the menu items or a speed sensor (like the Pokemon Go app) that would make a huge difference.

She has tried the charging while driving with previous models, but has lost the watches and never found them, not to mention forget to put them on while unloading/on break.

I'll suggest she try following the directions under the article "How do I delete data?" But something that doesn't need to be manually entered multiple times a day would be much better.

[rajeevmist]

Hi

When my mobile phone and car are connected on bluetooth I don't see any erroneous steps being calculated.

Of course the prerequisite is that the Fitbit app is on the same phone.

Surge(or any variation), car and phone Bluetooth should all be enabled and connected.

Try if this works with your truck.

Sent from my iPhone

[CJR80]

Almost four years and there is still no solution? You're kidding right?