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".

[raulgd]

+1 for the Surge as well!

I go on the road a lot because of work, so at least once every 2 weeks I make a 3+ hour drive, and my activity tracking goes insane.

The only thing that helps me keep my tracking more real is because I use the Aria as well, so I base my training on my weight and BMI stats as well, not only calories burned.

[Swinters158]

i have a Fitbit one which keeps on tracking whilst driving intermittently which obviously distorts where you think you are for the day. I have learnt how to track driving to remove this additional activity but it would be great if this didn't do it at all

[sandrshe]

 I drive truck and am in the same boat. I also would like to keep heart rate info to. good for seeing how stressed i get. when doing anything manually you loose heart info.

[sandrshe]

Seeing all these complaints about the subject for a while now. Guess the powers that be don't care about this. Sad

[Josh23]

I've started using the Drive Bit app. It works very good but in order to get accurate steps I need to use it up to a 150 times a day every day. I found out that my Fitbit has been adding up to 10,000 extra steps a day when I drive.

[Kazlina]

Hi Tseeman,

Did you find out how to switch your fitbit off as I too have the same problems when I ride my motorbike and would like to be able to switch my fitbit charge off, any advice.

Kind regards

Kaz

[Kazlina]

Hi All,

Anyone know how to switch off the Fitbit Charge when not using it? I ride to work by motorbike and it give false readings on the steps so I put it in my bag but its still picking up vibrations. Any ideas as I was able to switch off the "Surge" when I had one but can't work out how to switch the Charge off.

kind regards

Kaz

[ChrisJr]

Go vote for this suggestion...

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/ideas/v2/ideapage/blog-id/features/article-id/6260

[Kazlina]

I agree with most comments, there needs to be a way of switching off your Fitbit when riding a motorbike or driving a vehicle that will effect the reading or at least have an easy way to made changes on the recoreds.

[CaptainKurt]

There has to be a way to disable the device for motorcycle travel. I have tried a number of things, including putting the fitbit charge in a ziploc bag, wrapping it in a towel and locking it in my tour pack. It still recorded 200 flights of stairs!

Please improve the Iphone ap to add a travel mode. This will let us riders wear the fitbit when we arrive at our destination.

Thanks.

[harrypottar]

Would like to be able to pause/suspend step and floor count. I ride a motorcycle and over a weekend tour I'm off and on the bike quite often. I have tried the drive bit application which update the dashboard but not the watch. A simple pause function to suspend step and floor count that can be tied to the double tap feature.

User could then simply double tap to pause these count and double tap to enable again. Maybe a little vibration on the hour every hour and pused flash on screen while in pause mode to remind the user that the Fitbit is paused.

thanks

Harry

[jk_34]

I use "driving" to erase steps per their instructions and it doesnt work.  The inaccurate step count (and calories burned) is still there...

This seems to be a huge issues and I dont get why they dont give you a way to erase them without work-arounds that dont work.

I dont have the Driod, so the app doesnt work for me...their product should work on its own without the addition of an app.

[Zimjr]

Ok I noticed a big flaw with your program. You need to set up an easy to access quick tap for driving mode. I am clocking steps while driving. If there was an easy access tap to toggle on/off driving mode from any section in your app that would be great to keep things as accurate as possible. Amazed this late in the game that you guy's don't have this feature.

[Demandred]

I have had this issuse with the Surge as well, I was hoping for a driving activity option on the surge since I drive for a living and can rack up the steps quite quickly. I get in and out of my truck on a regular basis and so the ability to pause driving mode to gather the info when I'm out of my truck would be nice and then to be able to resume when I get back in would be great as well. currently my Fitbit doesn't talk to my phone since it isn't one of the ones supported so it would be nice to keep track of the driving time on the Surge itself so when I sync it the right info is being recorded. As it is, my workaround is to record the times I get into my truck and the times I exit the truck and then I have to log it when I get home as a Driving activity and then it gets rid of the extraneous data for me.

[LinaeT]

Even with the Drivebit app, I am still winding up with tons of steps.

The other night, I started Drivebit at midnight and when I stopped it to
get out of the truck for the first time, I had 4,065 steps and had burned
over 2,000 calories!!

Seriously?

I have come to the conclusion that if you drive for a living, you should
not get a Fitbit.

I now have a $100 pedometer that counts how far I walk and shows me a
really cool map of WHERE I've walked.

Needless to say, I am very disappointed!!

[Tseeman]

I have found a lot of people have the same problem of it tracking steps when it's not supposed to. To fix the problem they should be able to add an on/off switch from the app. This way you could turn it off from your phone when you get on the bike and turn it back on when you get to your destination. Or have a way of deleting those extra steps in the app (which I have tried and they just come back).

[Greg85]

When I'm on my motorcycle, the step and floor counts increase when I am riding. It would be great if I could pause my charge hr to keep the counts realistic. I have tried putting it in my pocket; but it doesn't help.

[DuncanRamsden]

Could you put an inactive button on the app so you can press it when you are sat about or driving so no steps or distance are added whilst you are inactive then when you get up you hit the button and it reactivates. Mine continuously counts hand movements as steps when I am sat down doing nothing and there seems no fix is available. I have a charge.

[SunsetRunner]

I never knew driving effected steps and stairs in this way. It would be useful to select a driving mode.

[palomino698]

Agree wholeheartedly with all the complaints re floors.  It is just not good enough.  I like using my One to count steps but none of its other features are of any use and that makes it a very expensive pedometer.  When the floor count goes completely haywire every time I step outside in a breeze, or drive, or cycle, what 's the point in including it as a selling point?  The sleep tracker is equally silly - I can tell it my head has hit the pillow but I can't tell it precisely when I'm about to drop off to sleep.  Just a pedometer, nothing more, and very disappointing.

[cjb256]

I'd like to be able to adjust my step/floor count so I can eliminate all the miles i log while driving. Just as i can edit my food log, i should be allowed to eliminate steps.

"logging" it on an activity page from the computer is usless and having to log in on a computer to do so is at best an "annocance"

[Tingababoo]

Please consider the ability to remove Badges and re-earn them, as well as clear out data from older days. I purchased a brand new ONE from Bed Bath and Beyond for Mother's Day but it was previously used and its discouraging to have a 10k badge when my mother didn't actually earn it. Thank You! 

[vjvl51]

I totally agree.  I bought the Charge HR with the idea that towards the end of the day, I could use the stairs in my house (less than 9 ft high) reach my daily goal.  Even starting with my fitbit at shin level at the bottom of the stairs and raising my arms over my head and walking in a circle at the top of the stairs does not register a flight of stairs. 

Most houses built in the last 50 years or so does not have 10 ft floors and most people are not climbing only industrial stairs.   Stair climbing in an exercise that I can do in my home without any other equipment but I need an accurate count for it to mean anything.  I'm very disappointed with the accuracy of this device.  Using two bowls with marbles at the top of the stairs would be more accurate and less frustrating.

[Jean_Petitclerc]

I support this request. Sometimes your device incorrectly record a high number of climbed floors ( especially on windy days ). One day I earned a badge for 75 floor climbed when in fact I may have climbed 20. Could not get rid of neither the incorrectly recorded floors nor the badge.

[ChristysOdessey]

I also would love a pause feature. I ride a motorcycle and can pick up over a thousand steps in a quarter mile. When I ride I also do a lot of walking, so I want to keep it on me. Would be awesome if it can be paused for such things.