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".

[CAM2082]

This 'drive mode' option is desperately needed. 1000s of steps being counted when driving. My Charge 2 would only count a handful of steps when driving. I've had my Charge 3 for 5 days now and as of right now I'd rather have a new Charge 2 on. 

[Stormrayge]

I have been trying to work around this problem, and discovered that the Fitbit does not log anything as long as it's plugged into the charger. Today the Fitbit got dislodged from the charger contacts and logged 8000 steps and 245 floors as I drove. The sad thing is that Google fit knew there was no exercise even though it gets all its information from Fitbit. Fitbit should be ashamed of this. Google fit should not use Fitbit's information better than Fitbit's own app. How smart do you have to be to know there's no exercise with no pulse. 

[GrumpyCyclist]

That doesn't work for me. If I charge my Versa when driving it still registers all the steps, in fact it registers even more steps than if I was wearing it. Even worse, for some reason using Drivebit doesn't remove these steps in that case. And I drive for 8 hours a day so not wearing the Fitbit for that long really defeats the object of the HR monitoring anyway.

Ridiculous they just don't seem to care about this issue

[AlexandraFitbit]

Hello @ocalvete! Thanks for sharing this suggestion, I moved it to this similar post so you can add your vote to it. Please keep sharing your ideas with us!

[GrumpyCyclist]

Hmmm. Not sure if this is coincidence or not, but since Tuesday's app update - once I FINALLY got my Versa to sync again - even using DriveBit isn't working. It's adding as an activity but not removing steps and floors.

[CocoLAsticot]

hello,

I live in a mountained place, need this one to avoid false floor counts while driving, i don't want to manually log my driving hours every day, i don't want to remove my charge 3 from my wrist to put it on its battery charger each time i drive.

I just want to select the driving activity on the charge 3 screen, and stop it when i'm done.

i bought this product last week, first time buying a fitbit product, and i see this suggestion opened since 2014, how many votes are needed to develop this improvement ?

I see that there are dozen of suggestions that have less than a thousand votes that have been released, why not this one ?

[claretmark]

Being a bus driver sometimes Fitbit thinks I’m walking when I’m actually driving due to the bumps and rattles would be really handy to be able to use the exercise app to track my driving.

[Vibhor]

Its so sad, fitbit is not taking any action regarding this issue.
After spending so much amount this feature should be automatic...
I sold my fitbit..

[GailQ]

I agree. I have a charge 2 and it counts on/off ramps on highways and using parking garages as floors.  Perhaps a way to edit the number of floors to what I know I've actually done could be an alternative?

[Devonarosia]

I am a proofer which means I flip through thousands of pages a night. My Charge 3 counts the flipping of pages as steps taken.I remove my charge 3 while proofing but worry one day I may forget to put it back on, leave it at work or worse yet lose it.

[SetxSpyder]

Well Well.   Fitbit just announced a Versa Lite..... Doesnt count floors.   That model probably has the issue fixed that we scream about here for years!!! Too bad we can't let folks at the retail channels for Fitbit what a **ahem** their software is in the VERSA!... 

[LeahLiv]

Hey guys I have some not so good news....someone from Fitbit finally replied on the matter....at first they actually told me to come to this very group and log my suggestions. After I told them I'd done that multiple times they said that they have zero plans to add that feature. 

[LThdwYm4]

Idiots.  I can see more losses in their future.

[SerendipityGCC]

Sadly I’m not surprised

[LeahLiv]

How do I post an image...I took a screenshot of their reply.

[5ergio]

Hey LeahLiv you should see this symbol just over the area where you can type your text:

Click on it and a menu will open that will allow you to select a picture to insert in your message:

You can then drag the picture you want to add to the message onto this menu or click "choose files" to navigate your hard drive and select the picture file.

[LeahLiv]

Thank 5ergio gonna give it a try.

[Stevenew]

Thing is - they are getting away with this because they consider it a feature. i.e. add a driving mode.

I don't want a driving mode.

I consider it a bug that the thing counts steps and floors when I am driving - I do not want a new feature or my name adding to a list - I want them to fix it.

My Iphone does not count steps when I drive - it does not need a driving mode - it is clever enough to know that once I am over about 10 miles an hour that it is highly unlikely I am driving. It also knows the difference between a bumpy road and steps - all in the software.

It's a bug and fitbit is a bit unfit for purpose here.

[Niki3185]

I agree. My Fitbit One didn't have issues accurately counting floors until
an update completely ruined it. If this is purely a software issue, Fitbit
should be able to fix this without adding a driving mode "feature".

[LeahLiv]

You are absolutely right stevenew. They offered me a brand new one. A
replacement. What good it that?

[PheonixBunny78]

Also help on getting the Fitbit to not count steps when I’m eating as well

[PheonixBunny78]

My traceacs stes when I eat food, and when I wash my hair and drive my bus.

i was wondering if the algorithms could be tweaked a. Bit. This would help with counting steps that would be great.

maybe split the algorithms up a little so that when I eat, do my hair, or drive my bus. These activities could be counted towards move minutes or make a new category about just moving period. This wa step counts will be closer to what we do, and it would be harder to “cheat” the tracker.

I also noticed when I push buggies when shopping or pushing anything of any kind I. It’s steps. Because my arm is not down swinging.

also helping to understand which hand it is on. Just putting dominant is not good enough. Knowing dominant and right or left might help with knowing what movements are actual steps.

i hope this is understandable and please free to ask questions.

[rahuljagtap]

Please add this feature! Why hasn't it been done yet?

Bogus stairs and steps are a huge problem in tracking fitness.

[Angie16]

here's the problem we are referring to it as if it would be a new feature. It's actually a bug Fitbit has refused to correct. I have this issue when rocking in a chair. so it's a BIG bug.

[Frogologue]

Hey Fitbit,

Do you know anyone who jogs at 70 mph?

One possibility would be a bluetooth device you leave in/on your vehicle that activates within a certain distance and deactivates the steps.

Another would be an automated alarm reminding you to switch off when:

. a certain speed is reached asking you to confirm type of locomotion

. there is a clear mis-match between heart-rate and velocity

Important point to remember: people use systems to simplify things.