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".

[Allistar]

When I start an activity on the Fitbit it gives me the option to turn on/off the heart rate zone notifications and also the GPS. It would be handy to also allow us to enable or disable step tracking for that exercise. I accumulated 25,000 fake steps riding a dirk bike. It seems that the Fitbit doesn't really track steps, it tracks wrist movement. If I'm riding a bike it shouldn't track steps. If an exercise is tracked by GPS and my speed is more than 10km/h then the Fitbit could be smart enough to recognise I'm not stepping.

[Rich_Laue]

Yes @Allistar your tracker is mounted on your arm, not the waist or leg. 

[Allistar]

@Rich_LaueOf course. But I tell the FitBit app that I'm doing a bike activity. Why would it count steps for the duration of that activity when by definition of what biking is I can't be stepping? I don't expect it to magically know I'm not stepping unless I tell it (like by setting the activity type to "Bike"). A useful change would be:

- don't track steps on activity that are obviously not step related (such as biking).

- allow step tracking to be disabled on other activity types (e.g. I use "outdoor activity" for motocross, but it counts steps. It would be handy to be able to tell it not to).

[Rich_Laue]

My thinking is because we have had suggestions, to have these steps removed, suggestions to have the true pedal count, and suggestions yo convert the bike miles to steps. 

Which group should fitbit listen to. 

The good news now is that bike miles are not added to the total step Mike's. 

While Kyacking last week, in outdoor workout I got a ton of steps. 

[Boogie007]

I carry my Fitbit in my pocket while Golfing, it still counts riding in the
cart as taking steps.

[Glaum]

I am also a truck driver and having a driving mode would be great addition. I know I can log driving as an exercise but then if I want to go back and review a certain day's exercise I'll need to scroll through dozens of logged driving times to find that certain days real exercise. I've also noticed that my heart rate jumps up and down quite a bit when I'm driving, my guess is all the vibrations from the wheel making the sensor read my heart rate faster than it normally is. Its been a while since I've worn my fitbit but I think I remember seeing a max heart rate of 170s once before with 100-120 being quite common.  Just yesterday on my longer driving time period I set cruise control at 60, somehow found my pulse with all the vibrations from the truck and started counting once I hit a mile marker. I found my heart rate was on average in the low 70s.

If the driving mode would not track steps and also keep my heart rate locked in at a certain range so it doesn't record active zone minutes would be nice. I've also had the issue of not being able to delete those active zone minutes. I've tried using my phone's data then wifi to delete the minutes, syncing and restarting the device itself, force stopping the app and restarting/reinstalling it on that end but I still cannot delete those active zone minutes.

I haven't worn my fitbit for almost two months now because of these issues, its a little disheartening to see those extra steps, heart rate spikes, logging endless driving activities and extra active zone minutes that I cannot delete. I can still get by without using the fitbit at all but using it is one of those little encouraging things that reminds me to do better. I see that there was a find phone option that was added in these past two months, aside from being alone without anyone to call my phone for me I don't think that that feature wont be appreciated as much as having a driving mode added. With how much I would use a driving mode it'd be nice to have it right up there before the payments or after the payments and before the DND mode in the menu.

[rainbow4abc]

I have returned from a major charity ride on my motorcycle and no matter what i did - my fitbit counted steps -  I have earned more badges in those 2 weeks than i ever would in reality.   I spoke to support about removing them, but no response from them on the issue.

Why not just make "Driving" an exercise short cut on the fitbit so we can proactivily turn of the counting rather than adding a log entry which does nothing to correct my "recording setting" badges.

3837 votes for this issue and 8 years of complaints should be enough for developers to make a change.

[Rich_Laue]

People have been asking for a driving mode on the tracker. Currently out only option is to manually, after the fact, add Driving or Motorcycle, then contact support to renove the excess badges.

It took me 4 months to get my excess badges removed. 

The problem with this is that both Driving and Motorcycle get recorded as an excersize event. 

[ACDS]

It does this for basically any motorized activity, which is extremely frustrating.  I myself would prefer something like an 'airplane mode' or just a simple step pause option to activities labeled driving, motorcycling, etc. which do not register ANY steps.  Reason being, sometimes I actually bother to get off of my motorcycle or snowmachine and walk around, and I would like the ability to quickly un-pause the step counter.... which is far more convenient than going in to the device and selecting and starting and ending an activity.   Hopefully that makes sense lol 

Is there really no way to implement something as simple as tapping the screen 5 times to pause steps only and 5 times to un-pause? That's all I'm asking for and would resolve years worth of complaints. 

[marky_marx]

People have been asking for seven (7)....count them with me one, two,
three, four, five, six, SEVEN years for this.....fitbit won't
respond.....but in not responding they let every one of us know they don't
care about our business. I keep waiting to hear about fitbit putting on
their big person underwear and add a feature that so many people want.

[Tt11]

It's such a basic feature. This is a STEP TRACKER. Not a FAKE STEPS while
driving tracker. Come on Fitbit. Stop focusing on collecting and selling
our fitness and health data and start fixing your product!!!

[SunsetRunner]

Years of this suggestion being continually commented upon and we still don't have a drive mode accessible via the wearable device. Please add this feature, using a motorbike means I smash my step Count in the 10s of thousands per day! It really can't be that difficult for a Tech Company to achieve, how embarrassing!!

[Boogie007]

I have totally given up on anything FITBIT!

[jayvoigt]

Found this thread today.  It's been. Discussed for 8 years and this can't be done? I'm at a loss for words....

[Boogie007]

Seems like everyone knows about this and has tried to get Fitbit to fix but so
far nothing has changed. And if my conversations recently using their "chat" system is
any indication I am not sure they have the capability to change. Chats were definitely
unsatisfying and my Fitbit's problem went unsolved. Current problem has nothing to do with
the counting steps.

[aarond123]

Fitbit, why have you not addressed this problem yet?

[Boogie007]

Probably do not know how.

[iwantmymoneybak]

How does it feel to scam your customers? A basic feature that is essential.. Even a shut down button or command from the phone's app.. but no... Keep on going with the typical generic and vague responses, copy pasted. it's October 2022 and people complain about it since 2014. Most of those who bought it had no idea that such a common sense feature would be missing. Lots of bad juju on your plate and despite your ridiculous sales, your company won't last for long with this stupid bug and careless attitude. Not to mention my wrists have big irritation from your cheap silicone fabric, thankfully China exists and produces textile alternatives. You have no right to get mad at people complaining for getting scammed. It is clear, as someone else said above, they don't know how to implement this change. What is stupid is that they don't even know how to create it.. here we are at Fitbit Charge 5 for example which was launched last year, and same problem as always. They launched a new product with all that marketing glitter and what not, knowing well it doesn't have the most basic and critical feature, and we the stupids bought and bought. The fix will never come, if 8 years of requesting and complaining and 65 pages of this didn't brought a change, nothing will, except when their sales will one day plummet as competition rises. Fitbit is embarrassing and I regret purchasing it. Can't even give it away, I'll embarrass myself and can't even sell it as I don't want to scam people. Going to smash it with a rock and throw it away.

[Boogie007]

To make matters worse I have just returned my 3rd Fitbit. None of them would stay
on they had to be refreshed by using the mobile app every morning.. Poor quality, poor
programming, and no customer service exists,

[K.Z.]

It would be really helpful to be able to turn off the activity/step tracking, or at least pause the logging of it, on the Charge 5 until turning it back on.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @K.Z., thanks for sharing this suggestion about being able to turn off the step tracking while driving on your Charge 5 with us. This idea was already requested in the Feature Suggestions board, so I’ve moved your post here. This will help us to make sure the suggestions don't get confused, or split a popular vote. Please click on the thumbs-up to show your support.

[GeoffWalsh]

We need to add a button so that the walking sensor can be turned off when driving to stop extra steps being added, particularly if you are driving on a dirt road. I find that I add 6 to 7 thousand steps a day that I don't take...

[DavideFitbit]

Hi @GeoffWalsh, thanks for taking the time to share your feedback about the possibility of adding a driving mode feature to prevent the device from counting extra steps. I noticed that a similar feature suggestion already exists, so I’ve moved your post here, this helps to keeps the boards more organized. Make sure to add your vote as well to support this suggestion, this helps the team of developers to keep track of popularity and demand over time. 

Thank you again for your participation in the Community.

[Boogie007]

From other members in the community this Suggestion has been around for over 8
years, Fitbit does not know how to fix it.

[Chrispy0530]

How has this not been resolved?

I recently purchased my first smart watch, the Google Pixel Watch. I've always used my phone as a step tracker. With the use of this smart watch, I am suddenly breaking 10,000 steps out of no where! My average is roughly 3000 steps. Maybe 9000 if I go to a theme park.

I've searched far and wide, there is no way to disable steps on the watch. Why is this not an option?? All the reports that are generated are pretty much 100% wrong. Calories, miles, any stats that have to do with steps are completely inaccurate making the reports 100% useless. At this point I am only using my watch now for text message alerts and answering calls. The "Fitbit" aspect is completely useless.

The only accurate is when you actually set a workout, or a walk. But outside of that everything is wrong. PLEASE give us the ability to disable steps?? Since fixing it seems like it is never going to happen.