Turn On Background GPS for SmartTrack Workouts

[Crafty42]

I don't remember to start an activity when I'm just going for a walk. Furthermore, sometimes my walks take hours as I go around visiting places or people.  Would love a way to turn on the option to track GPS when an automatic walk is detected.

Moderator Edit: Edited suggestion title.

[MarcelBK]

Good idea, thanks for taking the time to share it with us. Keen to hear what others think?

[SantiR]

Hi everyone, thanks for sharing this suggestion. We're always striving to enhance Fitbit products and services, and we appreciate all of the input we receive from our customers. We do not currently have plans to release this feature. You can learn more about how Fitbit decides what suggestions get released in our FAQs located at the top right box of the Feature Suggestions Board screen. For now, we will leave this suggestion open for votes (and closed to comments) so that we can continue to track community demand over time. Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback with us and we will let you know if anything changes.

[jamie1430]

For auto recognized activities, it track your route if you are connected to your phone's GPS. I am always forgetting to select the activity when I go for a walk or bike ride since I know it will recognize the activity. I wish it tracked my route though. 

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @jamie1430 thanks for taking the time to share your feedback with us, this feature suggestion already exists so I’ve moved your post here as it is not currently planned. You can keep adding your votes to this suggestion so we can keep tracking this request overtime. Learn more about how Fitbit decides what suggestions get released in our FAQs. I hope to see you around.

[Clo111]

Please could you have an option to turn on the gps mapping with smart track exercise (ie a walk)?  It currently only creates a map when you manually start an exercise. I know some people may be concerned about battery but could we at least be given the option so we can turn it on it off? 

[EdsonFitbit]

Hi @Clo111, thanks for taking the time to share your feedback about activating GPS mapping with SmartTrack. This feature suggestion already exists so I’ve moved your post here as it is not currently planned.

[Jsnkc28]

I would like to be able to have the GPS turn on for selected auto-detected workouts. Its frustrating that the watch can detect when I am doing a workout, but cant also turn the GPS on to record the workout on a map if I want it to.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @Jsnkc28, thanks for explaining why you would like to have automatic GPS connection when using SmarTrack on your Fitbit. This feature suggestion already exists, so I've moved it into a similar request. While we don’t currently have plans to release this feature, we always appreciate the passion and creativity that comes out of this Community. Since we know this idea is important to many of you, we have left voting open to continue tracking interest and will post another update if anything changes. To learn more about how Fitbit decides which suggestions get developed, visit our FAQs.

I hope to see you around.

[Boondon2587]

For some reason the auto detected workouts don't log using GPS because it only turns on if you manually start a specified workout on the device, but it would be nice if there was a setting that would allow the GPS to turn on if/when an auto detected workout starts and logs.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @Boondon2587, thanks for explaining why you would like to have the option to turn on background GPS for SmartTrack workouts. This feature suggestion already exists, so I've moved it into a similar request. While we don’t currently have plans to release this feature, we always appreciate the passion and creativity that comes out of this Community. Since we know this idea is important to many of you, we have left voting open to continue tracking interest and will post another update if anything changes. To learn more about how Fitbit decides which suggestions get developed, visit our FAQs.

I hope to see you around.

[hulaworks]

Using Charge 4, the battery drains quickly when using GPS. When using the exercise function, you have to turn GPS on before starting and then remember to turn it off when you finish. It would be very helpful to have an option to have this done automatically when you start/end an exercise.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @hulaworks, thanks for explaining why you would like to have the option to track GPS automatically when tracking your exercises. This feature suggestion already exists, so I’ve moved your post here. While we don’t currently have plans to release this feature, we always appreciate the passion and creativity that comes out of this Community. Since we know this idea is important to many of you, we have left voting open to continue tracking interest and will post another update if anything changes. 

To learn more about how Fitbit decides which suggestions get developed, visit our FAQs.

I hope to see you around.

[FUB168]

As it stands, the Fitbit app will only start tracking the GPS location when manually starting an activity through the exercise app. This seems inconsistent with the app's smart-activity feature, which automatically detects activities and adds them to the log. I want the app to, optionally, automatically start tracking the location.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @FUB168, thanks for taking the time to share this suggestion about turning on GPS when an automatic workout is detected (SmartTrack). This feature suggestion already exists, so I’ve moved your post here. While we don’t currently have plans to release this feature, we always appreciate the passion and creativity that comes out of this Community. Since we know this idea is important to many of you, we have left voting open to continue tracking interest and will post another update if anything changes. 

To learn more about how Fitbit decides which suggestions get developed, visit our FAQs.

I hope to see you around.

[Queen.B]

It would be great if fitbit recorded a map of your cardio exercise that could be viewed with the app. Also if possible the tracking and displaying your pace would be great.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Queen.B. Thank you for sharing your Product Feedback with the Fitbit Community. Let me share that the Fitbit app will show the heart rate and pace recorded during your activities, such as run or walk, on the GPS map. However, if you're referring to something different, please reply with more detail or specifics on how this idea would work or what problem this is trying to solve. This will help us to understand and categorize this idea better. We look forward to your response.

[Queen.B]

I am not sure what you are referring to. Can you provide additional details? My fitbit has never recorded a map of my runs, walks or hikes. It will show me distance but only in steps not in miles or kilometers, duration and heart rate. The Garmin watches for example record a map of your activity that you can view to see your route. They also provide you with the distance of your activity not in steps and they show your pace per mile or kilometer. If there is already a way to do this with fitbit I'd love to know. 

[mikey_pdx]

@Queen.B there's nothing special you should have to do to see a GPS map or have your pace/duration/distance/zone minutes/heart rate/etc. appear in the app. The app is sometimes a little slow displaying some of this information, but it's there. Just tap on the exercise you want to view. You might not get a map for certain auto-recognized activities (I know "Sport" and "Outdoor Bike" don't show a map for me), but you'll get the other details including the heart rate graph. 

What version of the app do you have? There were some early 4.x versions that did not display the map or heart rate for auto-recognized runs or walks, IIRC. The latest is 4.14.

[Queen.B]

Thanks for the information @mikey_pdx. 

@LizzyFitbit to clarify my original suggestion it would be great if these features were available for all auto recognized activities. 

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Queen.B, thanks for taking the time to clarify this product feedback about being able to track GPS map for all SmartTrack activities with us. I noticed this product feedback was already requested on this board, so I’ve moved your post here. Please support this product feedback by adding your vote, this helps our developers to keep tracking its popularity and demand over time.