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".

[Harlich]

1. Why are calories being added when adding a driving activity?

2. Why after being told to "add driving activity during driving" then my app is telling me I can't add an activity that is so far in the future? i.e 4 hours.

3. Why after adding a driving activity on a different day for a previous day has my steps been removed off my time graph but not my overall steps?

4. Why isnt there a shortcut activity option on our wrist wear if you expect us to add this everytime we drive.

5. Why are my driving activities being tracked towards my weekly activity?

Surely all this could be resolved by just adding a pause step counting option on our watches/devices. As I also have the issue of my watch counting steps whilst im recording a cycling activity.

[5ergio]

I second every single word @Harlich wrote.

[Harlich]

I've had a Fitbit Versa for just over a week now, and I'm incredibly disappointed with the inaccuracy of data it has been providing, mostly with steps and calories being added whilst they shouldn't be. 

We are being told we can negate steps by adding a driving activity which is then causing other inaccuracies in calories and adding to weekly exercise.

1. Why are calories being added when adding a driving activity?

2. Why are steps being adding when enabling the cycling activity?

2. Why after being told to "add driving activity during driving" then my app is telling me I can't add an activity that is so far in the future? i.e 4 hours.

3. Why after adding a driving activity on a different day for a previous day has my steps been removed off my time graph but not my overall steps?

4. Why isnt there a shortcut activity option on our wrist wear if you expect us to add this everytime we drive.

5. Why are my driving activities being tracked towards my weekly activity?

Surely all this could be resolved by just adding a pause step counting option on our watches/devices. 

[Novicelainey]

Pause feature to stop all tracking whilst travelling via car / airplane.

On a recent flight i racked up 1.5k of fake stepping data whilst sat down. I’ve noticed the same happens in car travel too.

Hopefully this is a fairly easy feature to implement Fitbit? 

[SunsetRunner]

WOW that sounds WORSE the charge HR.. and that says somthing about quality

[LeahLiv]

Please please please implement a software update in the near future that allows us to pause our steps. It is not accurate, when driving or sitting it records steps and calories burned are also inaccurate. Having a 200 dollar tracker that's inaccurate and lacking such a basic feature truly sucks...

[LeahLiv]

Please please please implement a software update in the near future that allows us to pause our steps. It is not accurate, when driving or sitting it records steps and calories burned are also inaccurate. Having a 200 dollar tracker that's inaccurate and lacking such a basic feature truly sucks...

[Jhadams]

Often times when I am playing piano, performing on stage, driving, or working in the garden, I rack up anywhere from 4-10k steps even though I haven’t taken a single step. This significantly throws off my count and makes it practically impossible to actually track my progress. I do like to still wear it during these times to watch my heart rate and also still use the watch/stopwatch functions.

i think it would be incredibly valuable to be able to temporarily disable steps, while still having the other monitoring functions active.

[Lenseye]

As others have mentioned and have been doing so since 2014, it is so difficult for the Fitbit team to provide a Pause option which would stop recording steps and other activities. My Versa tracks steps when I am on a motorbike and also when I am driving a car. It is a no brainer, how can one run or cycle at the speed of 100+ Kmph?

Is this not a very basic function which should have been though much ahead of time?

[sarad.]

I can't believe Fitbit still didn't make this. People have been complaining about it in so many topics and for so many years. They suggested some great things on this thread and still they decide to not listen to their users. It's honestly making me want to return mine i didn't pay over 200 euros for a device I can't use to the fullest. All the moderators suggest is "use drive bit or log it" first of all if you log it it counts as exercise so I already can't use the exercise weekly counter. Secondly even if you log it as exercise it is not taken of the challenge counter which literally makes it useless to even do them. I also tried their method of charging it or putting it in my bag while driving put it still counts floors so that's pretty useless as a "solution" 

[Tarak_King]

Please @Fitbit, Please develope a updated version in solving the problem., We need an answer for all the above questions posted by @Harlich @LeahLiv. 

Fitbit is tracking inaccurately and also driving is logged as activity. This issue is not today's issue it is running from 2016. No update or response from official @Fitbit . 

I hope we will get an update in future. 

Please help us reply us by answering below questions from @Harlich

1. Why are calories being added when adding a driving activity?

2. Why are steps being adding when enabling the cycling activity?

2. Why after being told to "add driving activity during driving" then my app is telling me I can't add an activity that is so far in the future? i.e 4 hours.

3. Why after adding a driving activity on a different day for a previous day has my steps been removed off my time graph but not my overall steps?

4. Why isnt there a shortcut activity option on our wrist wear if you expect us to add this everytime we drive.

5. Why are my driving activities being tracked towards my weekly activity?

Thank you,

Tarak.

[woahdavey]

Come on moderators - what is going on with this? It is clear that your userbase really wants this.

Do you even listen? I'm seriously considering selling my Fitbit and moving over to Garmin.

[Mapex]

Mate thats exacty what i did i sold it...bought a garmin...step up if u ask
me...some se3 fitbit as a fashion accessory...not me i wanted
accuracy...fitbit could not supply it.

[Tarak_King]

Hi,

I'm facing issue while using fitbit. It store my steps while driving for this I do research and find Driving activity, suggested by my fellow fitbit users. I used it and find that it counts the calories in that period of time. Ignored this and here comes major issue. It saves driving activity as workout (exercise). 

This leads showing me incorrect weekly activity goals.

Can you, @Fitbit suggest us a solution to avoid driving store in exercise section. 

I also had idea, add pause button in the device and in mobile. It will be helpful.

I hope, I'll get a positive and helpful solution for this. 

Thank you,

Tarak.

[Ton]

@Mapex

Hi there. Are you saying that Garmin doesn't count false steps when driving or in other activities which are not involving stepping? I was under the impression that someone quite a while ago was reporting that Garmin is not much better than Fitbit with regards to this issue.

[glue]

 I successfully have used fitbit to lose 50lbs and it's a fantastic device.

However, certain activities means I get a false reading.

For example, I often ride a motorcycle and the vibrations mean that I am given a step count when I have simply ridden to work. The only way I can overcome this is to take the fitbit off and store it in the bike, and this means I have to take care to give it protection. Even if I simply place it in my bag, it still reads vibration as step sometimes.

It would be far simpler I there was a way of disabling the step counter whilst I was riding to work. As it is, I have to spend some time trying to calculate steps/ calories- so while the fitbit is good, in this circumstance, it's not really fit for purpose.

I'm sure that this would not be a difficult update to implement, but it would be a useful one for those of us who undertake such activities, and could simply be ignored by any user who doesn't.

[jedi831]

I asked for help on how to delete steps and every time they send me to this link http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1306#steps. Unfortunately, it is not accurate directions.

HOW DO I DELETE STEPS AND FLOORS?

It's not possible to delete steps and floors, but you can achieve the same result by negating them:

1. Log into your fitbit.com dashboard.
2. At the top of the screen click Log.
3. Click the Activities tab.
4. Under Log Activities, type in Driving and enter the date, duration, and start time.
5. Click Log. Your steps, floors, and calories burned will decrease for the time period you specified.

As you can see it says to Click LOG, Activities, etc! This is not on the dashboard on the desktop or on the mobile app! You have to click activities and click the stopwatch icon and select driving! The problem is that it is not negating/deleting the steps! It still shows that I walked 30,000 steps while I was driving! I have tried several days to do this and it does not negate the steps from the daily total.  

[PureEvil]

@jedi831,

It works.  The trick here is on (your) step #4, when you type 'Driving', wait until the UI suggests an activity and select it, like this:

It will definitely delete your activity, here's proof:

[PureEvil]

@jedi831,

Also, it is available on the (Windows 10) desktop app and mobile app:

1. When you launch the app, tap on the exercise tile (the one that shows how many days of activity).
2. At the very bottom, click on the "+" to manually add an activity.
3. Type 'driving', again select their suggestion.
4. Log time and duration.

[TheUrbanSpartan]

As in this thread and in many other comments, we need a function to pause tracking or a drive/ride mode.

[SunsetRunner]

The problem isn't deleting the steps, I know how to. The problem it doesn't
delete them from the challenges.
--
Thank you,
Ferrari

[Ryansammac]

We know it deletes the steps but it's a pain in the butt to do this if
youre in and out of a vehicle all day. Not to mention that it still counts
driving as a daily activity

[SunsetRunner]

Yes even when you delete the steps you can’t delete from challenges and the
floors and so on... it’s a cumbersome way of doing things.
--
Thank you,
Ferrari

[Jennyellwood]

Just got a Fitbit and amazed to see that it adds steps when I'm driving! Even more amazed to see that MacWade wrote a very good post with great suggestions (& very nice graphics!) as to how to solve this problem - and that they wrote it in February 2014  & still the software in 2018 has yet been changed!  Come on guys, this is a big problem for lots of people - it needs to be sorted, please. 

[TRoss1776]

Just today I drove 90 miles and was credited with over 600 steps and 9 floors climbed! Im on a strict diet, and the calories i consume depend on my calories burned each day. This is beyond frustrating, and it's a simple fix for the designers. Do they listen, or are they more concerned with adding new crap to more expensive bands that we don't need or want??


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