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".

[HP-41CX]

As a School Bus Driver, I need a watch to make sure our Air Brakes (the
thing that stops the bus) do not lose more than 3-psi over 1-minute with
our foot brake applied, lose no more than 2-psi over 1-minute with no air
systems applied, and the number of seconds the pressure rises from 85-psi
to 100-psi (to test compressor function); during pre-trip, bus
functionality testing prior to pulling out of the yard.

I do need to check my watch as I arrive at the Student pick-up stops in the
morning. If I arrive early and the student is not there when I leave then
trouble follows.

Placing my watch in my pocket, so it doesn't count steering wheel
manipulation is a poor option.

We are not allowed to have any electronic devices as a distraction. My
phone is off and my Fitbit is in Do Not Disturb (DND) Mode.


The Modes portion where: DND Mode, Sleep Mode, and Screen Wake Modes reside
is the perfect place to turn off step counting.

Surely there is logic in this and all they need to do is add programming
code and roll it out to the devices. Surely they have programmers, unless
everything is outsourced. If that's the case, then it would cost them extra
money, and a poor business decision has been made.

[SunsetRunner]

I am a truck driver and my fitbit log 15,000 plus steps throughout my day of stopping and going. Getting in and out. It is really annoying to log this manually or having to take watch off and put back on to connect to charger to not log driving hours. Should have a drive mode button to hit while driving, turn on and off between drive and not drivin

[Giampi71]

Hello @SunsetRunner 

Please join this feature request created in the year 2014

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @SunsetRunner, thanks for explaining why you would like to have the option to see a driving mode on Fitbit devices. Thanks for sharing your feedback. I've moved it into a similar request.  A lot of users are asking for this option, I hope we receive updates soon.

[Giampi71]

@YojanaFitbit it's a request made in 2014!!! What about some feedback instead of the usual copy/paste sentence?

[Survey]

I'm afraid you won't get any action from Fitbit on this request.  I made similar request to turn off or delete steps many years ago as have many many users.  All falls on deaf ears!David

[B12have1]

This feature is a need for riding snowmobile too.  I can easily rack up 30,000+ steps for sitting on a seat because trails are so bumpy (and lots of floors with all the hills).  This skews my averages/challenges/etc.  Right now I just have to leave my Fitbit at home on these days and get zeros for all my stats (also skewing my averages/challenges/etc.).  

[Chantelly-Lace]

This would be great for motorcycle. 

[zlatomir]

Hello! I would like to add a car mode option. So it can work like that: you enable it and fitbit stops tracking steps while you are in a vehicle.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @zlatomir, thanks for explaining why you would like to have a car mode option. Thanks for sharing your feedback. I've moved it into a similar request.  A lot of users are asking for this option, I hope we receive updates soon.

[Giampi71]

A lot of users are asking for this option... since 2014.

[Snowman2k]

Only since 2014, wow i knew it was at least 2016 that's when i started, Fitbit don't care or listen to customers this is an obvious requirement, do any other companies with fitness tracking data allow driving mode?

[RachSum]

I agree this really needs to be addressed. I get thousands of phantom steps when driving, cycling and even sleeping! Surely if you've told the Fitbit you are cycling then iy should disable step counting until you've finished.

[ChiefH60]

Here's an idea! Most Fitbits have a clock in them. Some can tell distance traveled. How about you get your engineers to figure out how to compute speed from time over distance and anytime that speed exceeds 30 mph, all step counting stops automatically!! Not too hard, eh? No settings to change, no forgetting to set to drive mode, etc. If your engineers cant figure this out, you need better engineers.

[Dirtbikechk]

It's very disappointing to see that nothing has been resolved with this topic. There are many reasons people need this feature. I've used fitbit for years but it's very frustrating this still is an issue. If it's not fixed by the time I need a new device I'm switching so something else. 

[Tt11]

Please tell me what you get. I need something that won’t give me hundreds of fake steps every time I drive up and down my 2 mile long bumpy driveway! 🙄

Sent from my iPhone

[Dirtbikechk]

Will do, very irritating!

[RachSum]

Indeed. What else could we switch to that would do that?

[Em_Tee]

Yes, I got the same when swimming; the Fitbit told me how many laps I'd
done, so it could see I was swimming, but also counted steps. Every arm
stroke it counted a step. LOL.

[BigDaveP]

Don't know if it's been mentioned (this thread is really big now) or if this is possible (with permission) but let the user specify the name of the bluetooth device the phone links to in the car (mine always connects to my A2DP FM transmitter). If the app knows the time the phone connected to that specific bluetooth device (getting in the car) and when it disconnected (getting out) it can then delete any steps between those two times in the app and on the tracker next time they sync.

Any solution needs to be as automatic and hands off as possible as I know every time I get in the car i'm going to forget to flip an option on the tracker and/or phone itself to turn step tracking off and then back on again at the destination

[Faedrah]

7 years, and Fitbit still hasn't addressed this issue? I mean, you figured out how to track our O2 levels, how in the world is this SIMPLE feature not even implemented?

[kowari]

Ongoing issue is still not on the radar.  Been a loyal pebble then fitbit customer since pebble 1.  This could be the tipping point for me to go to another brand, this is a SIGNIFICANT issue when riding a motor bike.

Having a I'M NOT WALKING or DRIVE, as OP says, feature on my fitbit is not unreasonable.  Given fitbit users have been asking for this now for 8 years you might think it was a feature they wanted.  The workaround (manually add drive via the website) is not acceptable when you have to remember when you actually started and stopped your non walking activity (for me, riding a motorbike, for others, riding on a bumpy vehicle etc).

I'm looking at moving to another brand that has this feature.  I know fitbit don't care about me specifically as I am just a data point, but I'm saying it anyway.

[2Paps]

I jumped ship about 3 yrs. ago and never looked back . . . Garmin!

[Tt11]

i couldn’t agree more Kowari. I am switching away from fitbit because this is a BASIC NEEDED feature. Since fitbit has failed to acknowledge this request for 8+ years it is clear they dont care about their customers. I wish I wouldve known this before I wasted money on a fitbit product!

[Deasun999]

It would appear I am the latest in a very long line to fall into this. Within a day of wearing my first Fitbit device I googled for information on how to negate driving induced false readings, expecting some simple easy to follow settings to alter. Oh dear, how wrong I am. Maybe Fitbit refuses to recognize it's users who own and drive cars, I guess the targeted demographic either jog or cycle to work. At the very and I do mean the very least, add functionality that would allow you to schedule regular car journeys so they can be ignored as I do quite often forget to add them upfront. I have obtained so many badges in my first week, half of which is achieved simply driving to and from work! Bad information is worse than no information in all circumstances, admirably demonstrated by my Fitbit. I would imagine at this rate I am likely also to forget to continue with any kind of paid subscription in the future as the data is so corrupted by this.