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".

[EliasVA]

Will be great for future Charger 2 editions or upgrade (not sure if the current Charger 2 can be upgraded) to recognize when you are in a moving object be that a vehicle or plane so that it does not ask you to move around and stay active. 

[Ton]

Hello guys. After I tweeted the Fitbit support as suggested by Thehazo a few posts back, I got the 1st reply that you can see below, so I redirected them to both this thread and a similar one. Then I got a 2nd and 3rd message. It appears then that the feature is being reviewed by a developer, but according to the last message they're not sure yet if there is a certain interest???
How about each one of you do the same as I did? I kindly remind you of the link: https://twitter.com/home?status=%40fitbit%20%40fitbitsupport%20We%20are%20tired%20of%20%22steps%20wh...
You never know...

1-Thanks for informing us about your concern! Learn more on how driving can affect your tracker's step accuracy: http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1136/#car

2-Hi! There's a process for each suggestion before it becomes implemented. In this case, it is currently under review by our developer.

3-If there is certain interest, it maybe implemented in the future. Let us know if you have other questions.

[Sherseyva]

Folks, Fitbit is obviously never going to fix this. This thread has been going on for three years. 

The solution is even simpler than a Drive Mode that people would have to enable. The Pokémon Go App will automatically disable steps taken when the GPS detects you are moving faster than x miles per hour.  The Fitbit App could easily do the same thing.  So why hasn't Fitbit done this?

steve

[SunsetRunner]

I don't drive however simple pause/resume option is invaluable. Fitbit has few more issues with counting fake steps and floors ( and for some reason my number of floors after the commute to work by train indicates I climbed a skyscraper ). Sometimes ( like now, writing this post and simply sitting at my desk ), I could just manually stop counting steps to make sure there will be no fake steps logged caused by arm motion. Also, I prefer to sacrifice some steps ( like walking around my home etc. ) with paused mode rather than getting extra steps and floors. At least I would know by myself that by my decision the Fitbit paused counting. I really don't understand how such simple feature was not found even in the very first release of Fitbit devices. I'm new to Fitbit and bought Charge 2 device and it took just a couple of days to start wondering how to turn of the steps tracking. This feature is a must and including other issues I find as I go, I start to regret buying this tracker for myself and my wife. I should have known better and picked something more reliable.

[SerpantTail]

It would be awesome if the charge 2 came with a drive mode to turn on and off so it doesn't count the steps as I am driving.

[Gancho]

This has my vote. I like e in Myanmar and every road is bumpy. I went 6 k yesterday in a taxi and my darn Charge HR tracked 3500 steps. Pissed me off as I keep a very close eye on my steps per day as I have been losing weight from just diet and steps.

Come on developers and programers This should be a tip priority. A pause or driving mode would be so easy to implement. 

The 50 dollar Xio Mi copy of fit bit does better. 

[SunsetRunner]

I have been testing Charge 2 to see if the problem exists whenever I travel by train ( which is about 4 hours a day 5 days a week ). I didn't see any erratic steps added which is good. However still certain random hand movements ( even writing on the whiteboard during a meeting which I noticed yesterday ) may add steps.

@Gancho I'm rather new here but from my observation don't rely on steps if you want to lose weight ( which is also what I am trying to achieve ). Steps just give you big pictures that you are moving at all - it's good, better than nothing :). I pretty much ignore steps and floors ( which are even more erroneous than steps ) and focus on heartbeat, calories counter ( which seems to take a heartbeat in an account, and I'm really hoping steps are not a part of the equation ) and actual time and distance if you do walk/run. Simply do some real planned cardio if you can - Fitbit seems to be good measuring those activities. Otherwise, just relying on steps, you may get a false picture of your daily activities. At least this is just coming from my observations, I'm not any kind of expert 🙂 Sorry for offtopic.

Still, this feature is a must. I'm a developer myself and I understand that simply looking features are not so simple to implement not only from a development point of view but also from the business standpoint ( in other words, developers may want to implement something, but there are always people reluctant to give a green light to it ). But here my understanding ends when I happen to be a user of the product which doesn't provide such a fundamental picture which should pop up during very first design sessions. Usually, I'm quite happy with my Fitbit but things like this or for example, an issue with not reading the heartbeat for the longer period ( and I went through troubleshooting, didn't help ) make me wonder whether I made the right choice. Come on Fitbit, you can do better than that.

[Sunilbasrani]

I have a blaze and it can be shutdown 

Fitbit will not listen so better to shutdown device before driving or boating

[Ton]

Guys, can you please have a look at my post on May 19th (page 18)? I didn't see any reply to it, maybe because it's the last one on the page and people might have easily missed it. I think it may be some help since at least someone seemed to have read my request at Fitbit's home. Thanks

[SunsetRunner]

Thanks for the reminder Ton, I've tweeted again. Let's see if we can get their attention through Twitter.

[ahniwa]

There was a great suggestion in 2014 talking about this, here: https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Feature-Suggestions/Add-quot-Driving-Mode-quot-Feature-to-avoid-erro...

Basically, since we can't turn the Fitbit One off at all, we need a mode we can set, on the device, that will disable the counting of steps until we re-enable it. This could be a driving mode, or a disabled mode, or whatever; you can call it anything you want, but we need something.

Alternate to a manual activation, perhaps the Fitbit One (or any Fitbit, really) could automatically stop counting steps when it realizes you are traveling over a certain speed? I don't know how well the Fitbit can determine speed (I'm guessing the One not so much unless it is checking in with the phone via bluetooth) but it is worth a thought.

This seems like a really basic feature. It is mysterious that it is something we are still missing, especially given MacWade's excellent suggestion nearly three years ago.

[Amaboop]

I I also agree there should be a function to stop counting steps.  I work in an office and use my computer daily it counts those as steps and throws off the weight-management. I am so disappointed that in developing the charge 2 that your technicians were unable to comprehend the need for this function.

[cheese_oholic]

PLEASE add a driving mode - my Charge 2 counts around 140 steps per hour of driving...!!

[RevHiD]

I want this feature too, but with a twist...

I want to pause a specific tracker so I can carry one in luggage or a purse and not have it record steps that overwrite the true ones. I hoped I could take my flex 2 on vacation to wear at the pool, but have my Charge 2 for workouts. But I can only take one on vacation or I lose data!!!

I'm also a drummer, but that wasn't why I came to this board even though I'd like it for that reason as well! ( I've been too busy to play lately.) 

[RevHiD]

Do you have a Charge 2? Pause would work best, no question! BUT while you wait, you could order and XL band and wear the tracker on your ankle while you play. I do this for roller skating because the tracker won't fit under my wrist guard. It still picks up an accurate heart rate if you place it well. Unless you are doing crazy fast double bass drum stuff all the time, you're probably earning the equivalent to the steps it would pick up.

[digfoot]

When I'm playing the piano or riding on a bus, my fitbit is counting steps, even though I'm not moving and it's quite a bit of work to remove those wrong steps. I'd like to have a function right on the device that can turn the step counter off and on (or for a certain time) while you are doing stuff that the fitbit sees as steps. It could also remind you to turn it back on after a few Minutes or so. That would be greatly appreciated 

[Irishsgirl]

I bought the fitbit charge 2. I love it except when I get into my car and go some where my fitbit counts steps. I work in retail so I wanted to see how many steps/miles I walk in any given day. so having a pause button would be really convenient. I sent and email to fitbit and was told to write down my steps before and after a car ride and subtract the difference. all fine and dandy but who thinks to stop and write down numbers before and after a car ride. as a single parent of 2 and the youngest having ADHD I don't find the time because my day is hectic enough without the extra work. 

[JoyJoyfulJoyous]

YES! A driving mode is needed!!!!!!!!

[SunsetRunner]

I got the same response to my tweet from @fitbitsupport as Ton. 

1/2 Sorry to hear this. Your feedback is much appreciated and rest assured that we'll definitely pass this along to our team.

2/2 In the meantime, please have a try with these tips to negate those extra steps while driving: http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1306 …. Hope this helps!

I replied with the following: "Thanks, but that's a lot of hassle and an incomplete solution. Take a look at this thread on your help forums: https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Feature-Suggestions/Add-quot-Driving-Mode-quot-Feature-to-avoid-erro..."

Keep the pressure on people, we may get what we're asking for.

[Sandishmily]

I got the usual suggestion for how to get rid of the steps but no " we are looking into it"  I responded with the link to this thread as well. 


Sent from my Samsung device

[Sandishmily]

I got the usual suggestion for how to get rid of the steps but no " we are looking into it"  I responded with the link to this thread as well. 

[Ton]

That's good, my friends. I hope many others will pick up the suggestion!

[SunsetRunner]

Altough for me it is playing the Piano which generates a lot of steps, this solution will do.

So you have my vote 😉

[FredaJ]

This would also be really useful for activities such as horse riding when I don't want the fit bit to track my horses steps, but still want to track my heart rate etc. It would be so much quicker and easier!!

[Smeads]

Drive mode, while a nice feature to have, is still a manual process. It relies on the user to turn it on and off... which is a major annoyance. I have automated the task by using a mobile app called Tasker. You can find it for IOS and Android. Whenever my phone connects to my car or motorcycle via bluetooth, it opens the DriveBit 3rd party app and enables or disables it. This solved all of my issues with faulty step count. The only way to do better than this, is to add the same time of automation to the Fitbit app itself.