New Fitbit app won't show my Active Zone Minutes accurately

[foxberryfarm]

Just finished 3 mile walk.  Watch reports 42 moderate zone minutes and 34 cardio zone minutes.  App fails to 2X the cardio minutes as advertised and records 76 total zone minutes. Furthermore when I open the exercise profile I see Peak=8 min, Vigorous=48 min, Moderate=9 min, Light=2 min.  That adds up to the right number of total minutes but how does that relate to Zone minutes?

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[Triletics]

Moderate is former Fat Burn zone, Vigorous is Cardio, and Peak is Peak. AZM formula then is 2x(Vigorous+Peak)+Moderate.

[foxberryfarm]

by that formula I should have recorded 121 zone minutes rather than the 76 I see in the new app

[Triletics]

@foxberryfarm can you show some screenshots for this? In my runs, this adds up. I can imagine what the problem is but not quite sure which sections of the app report which numbers.

[foxberryfarm]

Below is what I see on the phone using new app or 2x(8 peak+48 vigorous)+9 moderate should =121 zone minutes.  Under that is what is recorded in the Fitbit website activity log for the same exercise or 2x17 cardio + 42 fat burn = 76 zone minutes.  It looks like there is a disconnect on where the zone thresholds are between the app on the phone and the website

 

[Triletics]

@foxberryfarm yes, now I see that inconsistency appears also in my activities. The web dashboard hasn't been updated for ages and probably isn't going to be so I would ignore it. Using TCX files and running it against my own tools it comes up with the AZM you can see on the Fitbit app (using HR zones setup from the app). Not the first, not the last time such inconsistencies appear on the Fitbit platform.

[Paolov80]

Very odd.I don t understand why u have new charts like heart rate in exercise mod and I don t.My app is updated and is the new app but some charts look exactly like the old charts🤔

[Triletics]

@Paolov80 let me guess - you use iOS app? iOS is behind the Android app. Yet, both apps seem to be unfinished.

[foxberryfarm]

nope android running on a Motorola 5G stylus phone.

[foxberryfarm]

the problem is the zone number I see in the FitBit app is the same as on the website - 76.  The phone time shown in each zone using the new zone definitions is apparently not being used to calculate total zone minutes, or the 2x is not being applied to vigorous and peak, or the app is using older definitions of activity levels that I don't see any more to calculate total zone minutes.  I'll check this again next time I exercise in a couple of days.

[Triletics]

@foxberryfarm Strange, that works for me in the app. My zone minutes in the app are based on what I see as in the app and match 2x(Vigorous+Peak)+Moderate. For example:

This app has million bugs and issues and probably it will take several months before it will reach any point of stability.

[Triletics]

@foxberryfarm just discovered another bug 🤦 I tried to see whether custom Max HR could be an issue (for example used in the app but not on the web). I've been using custom HR because my zones are defined by a high anaerobic threshold. So I did this:

And now, I can't bring my correct zones anymore 🤦 The Custom Max Heart Rate option is gone.

[Paolov80]

Yes!Ios app here

[foxberryfarm]

I think I partially figured out what is going on with Zone minutes.  Various displays in the new App are labeled "minutes in zone"  and "zone minutes".  "Minutes in the zone" is just the total sum of the various intensity levels while "zone minutes" should be using the 2x factor for higher intensity zone minutes. I don't know that the programmers have been consistent in keeping these two measures separate.   I think I see on my summary display "minutes in zone" rather than calculated "zone minutes".  I don't have the phone with the app with me when I do my route (I have data that shows GPS is wildly off on the high side, so I use strike length) I will look more carefully next time I exercise to see what the watch display shows at the end of the exercise before synch with the app.

[foxberryfarm]

Notice the top part of the new app display (on left) says 60 zone minutes.  The bottom of same display (on right) says 9 peak, 32 vigorous, 13 moderate 2 light minutes which equals 56 total minutes. According to the documented exercise zone calculation method and assuming “vigorous” is a substitute for “cardio” and “moderate” is a substitute for “fat burn” the exercise zone minutes should be 2x(9+32)+13=95 not the 60.  Am I missing something?

[Triletics]

@foxberryfarm I'm not sure how to reproduce similar behavior. In your case, numbers indeed don't add up. I can't see that in my runs. Run yesterday, everything adds up:

I'm curious whether the problem is related to the type of activity (I don't track walks) or maybe something during the activity is causing the problem. For example, do you track it automatically or manually? Do you pause during the walk (maybe paused minutes go into the chart but aren't included in AZM?). Hard to tell. There is definitely a bug. I may try to see whether it occurs for other activities in my case.

[foxberryfarm]

when I look at my same activity as I posted on the website I see below - 13 cardio x2 + 34 fat burn = 60 which matches the total that was reported and still uses the old nomenclature.  So the problem must be the bottom of the lower part of the app screen where it divides things into moderate, vigorous and peak - maybe it is using different thresholds than the old system which is still producing the total zone minutes per algorithm.  I might guess since your activity (ave 153 bpm) is much more intense than mine (ave 118 bpm) differing thresholds wouldn't matter as you are well above both thresholds, whereas I might fall in an area where the thresholds are different.  Just a guess.