GPS Informaiton

[ksrobins]

I have spent hours with tech support trying to figure out how to disable gps during golf activity and no one has any solution.

Using GPS for five hours of golf literally uses up half the battery and there is absolutely no reason for gps to be used for golf.  GPS is not activated for tennis or weights and it is completely asinine for it to be used for golf. If anyone from tech is monitoring perhaps this can be changed. Otherwise, i guess the only solution is to return surge and downgrade to a blaze when it comes out since that doesnt use gps on tracker.

Moderator edit: Subject for clarity.

[Julia_G · Accepted solution]

Hi, @ksrobins , if you choose "golf" on your Surge screen it will automatically launch GPS -- that's just how the program is written.  If you don't want GPS, choose "exercise" instead, and then under "exercise" choose "workout" and go!  Play your game of golf.  When you are done, sync your Surge and your "workout"  will appear.  On your app or computer you can then "categorize" your exercise.  Type "Golf" into the search box and choose that.  (On your computer click on the pencil icon and search for golf.). You will find your activity is correctly listed as golf, your game is tracked, and your calorie count is based on the effort your Surge detected during your game. 

I hope this helps!

[ksrobins]

Great solution, thanks! Too bad the various reps at fitbit didn't have the knowledge to provide your 'workaround'. By the way, after further reflection, I do understand why they have included gps for golf as it is interesting to see how far you walk during a round of golf and gps does that. But in my opinion, it is at too high a cost in terms of battery usage. I can get the same information from various apps on my phone without having to use the fitbit gps and waste the battery. So with that in mind, I will definitely use your excellent suggestion. Again, thanks for sharing your expertise.

[Julia_G]

Really glad that helped! Enjoy your game!

[ksrobins]

Hi Julia,

I played golf yesterday and used your insightful tip and it worked beautifully! It tracked everything including steps, miles, calories etc without burning hardly any battery and I was able to convert the 'workout' to 'golf' with no problem. So thanks again. Unfortunately it didn't help my golf score, what tips do you have for that! By the way, upon further reflection, I can understand why gps could be helpful for golf as it can be interesting to see precisely how far you walk during a round (about 6 miles). However, I have a couple of gps apps on my phone that can accomplish that without burning my fitbit battery. Once again, thanks Julia.

[MikeF]

An alternative would also be the Fitbit app on the phone since that should integrate the GPS data with the Surge data giving you a more accurate distance while still retaining the step count etc from the Surge.