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".

[SunsetRunner]

I will likely return my Fitbit as this us just too ridiculous. I see I am not alone!

Sent from my iPhone

[Lilbiddy]

I see the comment from Marcelfitbit is only referring to the versa. 

OI! MODERATORS we want this facility on all your products because they all seem to suffer from this problem.

This has been ignored for far too long. 

[RetiredRedcoat]

Honestly I took the recommendation of somebody else on this forum and explored Garmin watches. I bought a Vivoactive 3 with HR monitoring last week and can now pause activity tracking with two steps on the device that take about 5 seconds to do. Works like a charm. Integrates natively with Apple Health as well.

[Steve_1]

My suggestion is to detect rythum while driving which is not the same as walking or running... And also to detect the speed if it is more than  max human speed limit stop counting steps...

And if a person is riding a cycle or motor bike take the reading of both but before entering a log ask if it is cycle or motor bike based on his/her selection enter the log

Ex.. if cycle is pressed enter the data if motor bike is selected delete the data...

[Vibhor]

Hi there,
I think u r right..we are paying so much for these gadgets..they should
make technology work for us..why we should be inputing data like driving
mode...we still have to make it off and on..this should be automated..i
tried samsung galaxy sports watch which is almost same in price..but it is
amazing..it calculated steps accurately...no extra steps were added while
riding a motorcycle or driving...only drawback is power...it lasts for two
days but its a excellent watch in this price band.
All people in this community are writing from such a long time but fitbit
seems not listening to us.
Throw fitbit or go to consumer forum if there is in your country.
Thanks

[Stormrayge]

This driving problem is frustrating enough that I too am considering other options. Healow, the all-in-one tracking app provided by my doctor, is big on Fitbit devices, but it supports a few others as well. Sadly, Garmin is not on the list. I'll have to look at the others next time I'm home. I like Fitbit a lot, but this driving issue is a serious problem. From this thread, I see that this problem has been known for years and has not been addressed. Given how easy the fix is, that is not acceptable.

[KushGanjaGuy]

Please update software and have a driving mode put onto the Fitbit charge 3 so that watch does not count steps while driving. Just got 100 steps while driving 30 minutes. Suggesting users take off their watches while driving is a non-starter. You’re better than this Fitbit. Do right by your consumers.

[Steve_1]

I wish i had bought amazefit or samsung smart band big mistake ever and
only few watch faces show day of the week!

[Synchro2003]

Your lucky to only get 100 steps, I get close to 700 in my 30 minute drive and a load of flights of stairs 😞

[Steve_1]

I get 4000 step for 20 km vehicle ride

[KushGanjaGuy]

I didn’t even think to look at the stair count..it’s at 25! I maybe went up and down the stair 5 times this morning. I just got my watch through OfferUp yesterday and regretting it. Hope the problem will be addressed...

[LawrenceH]

I’d be happy with that. I get 7500 steps and 100 floors in an hour on my motorcycle. Putting it in my pocket or bag reduces it to about 4000 but for some reason makes it impossible to assign them to an activity so they can’t be removed.

Kind regards
Lawrence Head

[KushGanjaGuy]

I switched the wrist setting from non-dominant to dominant but I’m still wearing on my non-dominant wrist. Hopefully this lowers the sensitivity resulting in fewer false steps...we’ll see

[Endui]

@KushGanjaGuy

If you bought your fitbit recently then return it if you still can. Get yourself a garmin/samsung gear/apple watch. This issue is known for 5 years and it is not being fixed and no steps taken to change that.

Personally I am just saving money for different watch.

[Ton]

@KushGanjaGuy

I'm pretty sure the vast majority of us knows and has tried this "trick"...

Trust me: it's not gonna help when you're on board of a vehicle!

[thisbattymom]

I agree. My husband has taken to leaving his fitbit at home when he rides his motorcycle. If you are about to do an activity that you know will miscalculate, being able to pause step count but still track GPS, etc would be great.

[wshrdskin]

Fit bit must address this in the very next update to the OS for the Charge 3. Incorporate  an icon in the Charge 3 that can be touched to disable all step counts when driving. This isn't rocket science Fit Bit. This is a must have feature or the device is practically useless for what it was intended for.

[Anfa]

I've discovered another issue with adding Driving as an activity (aside from it being annoying when viewing your actual activities). I've linked my FitBit to my Weightwatchers app, so that I can count activity points but it's also counting driving as activity points! Not acceptable. Fitbit please sort this issue!

[LThdwYm4]

Is this for real?  How are you supposed to stop it from counting driving? This makes it an utterly useless fitness tracker if you have to take it off every time you get in a vehicle of any kind. 

[LThdwYm4]

This is insane that this isn't fixed by 2019. I never would have bought this thing if I knew how many problems it had.  Apple phones and many android phones can track steps accurately and automatically detect things like car rides.  Why can't fitbit?  I thought these things were supposed to be great but it seems like 5+ year old technology.  Add to that no Apple Health integration?  Lame!

[wshrdskin]

If you have a USB port in your vehicle you can take off the Charge 3 and plug it into the USB charger while driving. Nothing gets tracked when doing this. Inconvenient I know but it's a cure for this problem until Fit Bit decides to address the issue.

[LThdwYm4]

"If you have a USB port in your vehicle you can take off the Charge 3 and plug it into the USB charger while driving. Nothing gets tracked when doing this. Inconvenient I know but it's a cure for this problem until Fit Bit decides to address the issue."

That's a pretty lame work around.  Does it still track "steps" when you're not even wearing it if it's not on the charger?  Isn't there a "STOP TRACKING" setting?  If not what could possibly be the excuse for not having added it after 5+ years?  

iOS and Android seem to effortlessly filter out car rides from their step counts automatically, why can't fitbit?

I am so disappointed with this thing.

[LThdwYm4]

"Thanks for the feedback! You can always negate any erroneous data by following the steps here. "  

This is a tedious and dumb way to deal with it.  

[wshrdskin]

I tried taking it off and setting it on the seat and unfortunately it still tracks steps. I was hoping if it didn't read a heart beat it wouldn't track but it does. Fit bit says it tracks movement and vibrations to calculate steps. It's not like I was on a dirt road, I was on the street in a 2017 model year vehicle. fortunately for me the step issue isn't a huge deal tho disappointing for the cost. I needed a heart rate tracker and I find the sleep monitoring to be informative. Reading through the other models feedback it seems all their trackers have an issue with step counting. I would assume all brands would have some step issues but the driving in the car seems like an easy fix to me. I was trimming trees for about 3 hours yesterday and went 13000 steps and 3 flights of stairs all with in a 20 foot radius so just moving your arm will count as a step. For me not as big an issue as for most that buy this or any other tracker.

[Survey]

LThdwYm4

Recovery Runner - Yes what a crazy way to delete steps.  It doesnt matter how many times we all post that we need a sensible way to delete steps, fitbit just ignore us. Apparently its the same with the Charge 3 and thats why I didnt upgrade.  Its almost arrogance that we are ignored!