Surge steps count issue

[Wako8]

Hi,

I jus thought my surge 1 weeks ago and find that when I am in bus, subway, surge do counts steps and extremely fast as well ?

Is there anyway to solve as it makes extremely inaccurate for steps count.

Thank you

[shankardevraj]

I too have the same problem. The steps count goes nuts when travelling in a car or bus! Needs urgent resolution by Fitbit!

[Wako8]

I just find someone's post to suggest that to wear surge in your
non-dominant hand and set dominant in mobile setting which can improve a
lot the false steps counts while in bus or cars.

I will try and hope it works.



B.rgds,
Jacko

[Redmoonstar]

There is an app called drivebit that you can download from the app store either android or iphone that syncs with fitbit while driving . Press the start when on a bus or in a car and press stop when finished drivebit will upload to fitbit and those steps for the trip will disappear.

[MikeF · Accepted solution]

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@Redmoonstar wrote:

There is an app called drivebit that you can download from the app store either android or iphone that syncs with fitbit while driving . Press the start when on a bus or in a car and press stop when finished drivebit will upload to fitbit and those steps for the trip will disappear.

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Beware, since these apps also affect the calorie burn for the period so be sure that you understand all that they'll do to your data before using them. (Last time I lookd, the Android and iOS versions actually behaved differently in this regard).

[Redmoonstar]

I have been using Drivebit for about 4 yrs with my fitbits and find it still gives you calories the same as if you were sitting, as even though your not walking you are still burning cals and most times when in a vehicle your not completely still for the trip but moving around to get comfortable.

[wizard1969]

You should try playing Piano for an hour. It thinks you ran a marathon. I think there is something fundamentally wrong with this product. Whatever lifestyle you select (I selected sedentary) it starts adding credit for steps, and thus calories, FROM that point. For example, I had my RMR tested and its 1600. Using the calculation, of 1600 x 1.2 (for sedentary) = 1920 calories a day. If I want to lose two pounds a week that means 920 calories a day to eat (if I remain sedentary). The fitbit STARTS with 940, so thats pretty close to correct for me. In theory if I exercise, say running , or bike or whatever I get more calories, so if I bike 500 calories, that means I should be able to eat 1420 calories that day and I will still lose two pounds a week.  If i DONT EXERCISE, and just lead a sedentary day than I can only eat 920 calories. Problem is , it does not do that.  The problem is if i don't exercise Fitbit is crediting me for steps and thus saying I can eat more.  I sat at the computer all day, definitley a sedentary day, but the fitbit is adding more calories I can eat. How off is it by doing this? Remember , if I don't exercise, I should only be eating 920 calories, well the fitbit said that day I could 1450. 500 calories extra a day. That will double the time it will take me to lose weight. Obviously I want to turn off calorie credits for steps, and just have it log exercise, but it does not do that. 

[VivisFitbit]

Hello there @Wako8, @shankardevraj, @Redmoonstar and @wizard1969! Thank you for taking your time to share your experience. If you're still having issues with your steps count, I recommend switch fro non-dominant to dominat hand, this will decrease the sensitvity of your Surge. To delete that info, you only need to do the following: 

1. Sign into your Dashboard and click the 'Log Activity' icon from the menu at the top of the screen.
2. Select the date or dates in question.
3. In the activity menu, type in "Automobile or light truck (not a semi) driving" and enter the time and duration of time that you were driving.
4. Click "Log Activity." You will see the steps, calories burned, and other data decrease for the time period specified.

Good luck! 

[Julian1]

I recently upgraded from the Fitbit to Surge.  I have been very good about making the 10,000 step goal with both devices.  All of the sudden a couple weeks ago, my Surge has stopped consistently logging steps.  In fact, unless I conspicuously swing my arms it doesn't log them consistently.Was there an upgrade or something?

[shankardevraj]

Hi Julian,



The Fitbit devices are not good at counting steps at all. Mine counts also
when I am driving a car when it ought to stop counting. Someone told me to
install another app and then turn it on when I am moving, turn off when I
stop and then it would tell fitbit app to not count steps in that period..
too much of a hassle. Life cannot be that complicated, I thought..



Shankar

[Padgbury]

i needed to walk 1400 steps to meet my daily 11000 target. As I've had issues with undercounting before I counted my steps. To record the 1400 I needed I actually walked 2350!! This is hopeless. This is about 16.5% down, not a million miles from the 20% down other people have reported. This is a replacement surge as the strap on my original one bubbled up (thanks for the replacement). I had the same counting issue on the original one. Doing 11000 steps a day (almost every day since Christmas, and yes it has helped my weight plunge) is enough without doing possibly another 1800 or so. I did notice that while walking it did seem to stop recording for 10-20 steps at a time and then jump exactly 4 steps each time it started again. It also decided not to record my heart rate and when it did record it measured 151. It was actually about 100.

[Julian1]

As you might have read, I had a similar issue and through this and other websites I found recommendations to "reboot" it by turning if off and on.

I did that and found that it is effective. On average I find the need to do that every 8-12 weeks.

Generally I've found my cell phones to be the same way. I guess it's the cost of "smart" watches as it is for "smart" phones. It just isn't yet intuitive to think one needs to reboot a watch.

[Padgbury]

@Julian1, tried restarting it and then a small test around the house. Walked 205 steps, recorded 162 (80%).

[Julian1]

In my case it took multiple restarts, maybe leave it turned off a minute or so when doing it to assure that all the capaciters and whatnot have fully discharged.
Otherwise i have heard that some of the surges are just plain defective and you might just have to get it replaced.

[SunsetRunner]

@Padgbury Welcome aboard! As @Julian1 mentioned restarting the Surge ( as @SunsetRunner mentioned) can really help with the step counting being back to normal.

Also make sure that the all of the information is correct, in some cases the stride length can affect the step count as well as the distance. Check on your dashboard that your height is properly set and if you used a custom stride length be sure it is the right one. 

Let me know if you still have issues with the step count afterwards. See you soon!

[shankardevraj]

My fitbit Surge counts steps continuously when I drive cars! Except for
sleep tracking and heart rate monitoring I don't find much utility for the
device so far. Since it wrongly counts steps while driving cars I can't
rely on that information... Right from Day one... Will be glad if a remedy
is available

Shankar Devraj

[SunsetRunner]

@shankardevraj welcome aboard! Driving can indeed cause steps to appear on your device. This is due to the way the trackers detect steps.

You can check out conversations on this matter on the community. You can also check more information on our help site. 

In the meantime you can remove your steps by following the steps provided by @VivisFitbit. 

Let me know of anything else you might need. See you around!

[UMTiger]

Help!  My surge is undercounting steps.  I have tried all of the options i have found to soleve this.  I have restarted my surge, I have verfied my stride length and I have done multiple 100 step count comparisons.  For every 100 steps I take, my surge only counts 65-70.  Any other options to correct this?

[SunsetRunner]

Hello @UMTiger and welcome aboard. If all of the parameters of your account are properly set and you are walking normally the tracker should not be giving you such a a difference. When performing the test where you walking normally or looking at your tracker. Arm movement can affect the step count on your tracker this last one is taken into account. When performing tests it is important to maintain a natural arm movement.  

Otherwise it's always a good step to restart the device to re calibrate everything. Remember you can also reach out to customer support to look at your tracker more thoroughly. 

Let me know of any updates!

[Padgbury]

Thanks for the reply. The surge works perfectly on my right, dominant, hand (not the natural arm for a watch). It doesn't matter if my arm is hanging strait down, swinging or I'm looking at it, the results are the same. Changing the dominant arm switch also has no effect. So the end result is provided I wear it on my right arm everything is peachy.

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