Counts steps while driving

[Asmith09]

I just upgraded from the Blaze to the Versa for the waterproof/swimming feature and have already noticed that it counts steps while I am driving. My Blaze was really good about not counting steps while I drove. Anyone else have this issue or know a fix for it?

Thanks! 

[MarciM]

Hi @Asmith09, Was the road you were on particularly bumpy? I ask because I have seen this issue with ALL of my Fitbits. For example on the road to Hanna in HI our entire group had very high step counts that day because the road is so bumpy it mimicked the motion of steps. I have also found that if I'm moving around on my own (embarrassing car dancing) I will get steps as well. Again, I found this to be true with my Flex, Flex 2, Alta, Charge 2, and Ionic. 

[Asmith09]

Hi @MarciM, yes, some of the roads are bumpy and I completely understand that although my Blaze didn't do it. My very first FitBit the Charger 2 did this even while at my desk as well. My Versa is mostly doing it while driving and it's counting stairs as well. I guess just disappointed my Blaze wasn't like this but the Versa is. Maybe I will just need to shut my Fitbit off while driving?

[craigk4]

You can try restarting by pressing and holding the left and bottom right buttons in until the FitBit logo appears. 

[LongIslandSailr]

I create an activity for the duration of the drive, activity=‘Driving”.  It takes some time but mostly works.  Keep in mind that driving actually uses mor calories than resting.  I’ve started to log tge activity prior to the drive (when I know how long) and this seems to work well.  I often have 4 hour drives.  Short ones don’t matter nuch.

[dianeofarcadia]

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@LongIslandSailr wrote:

I create an activity for the duration of the drive, activity=‘Driving”.  It takes some time but mostly works.  Keep in mind that driving actually uses mor calories than resting.  I’ve started to log tge activity prior to the drive (when I know how long) and this seems to work well.  I often have 4 hour drives.  Short ones don’t matter nuch.

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That is interesting. I work as a cashier and have mine on my dominate hand to avoid hitting it on the bag grids, I noticed that recently my steps have almost doubled. I wonder if I should also set up a feature like that. Mind sharing how you set that up? Thanks. 

[craigk4]

My new Versa goes crazy adding steps, floors and various categories of exercise that my Chage 2 ignores. Over 10,000 steps, 73 floors and 2 exercise periods all while I drove to California and back. I make this drive up to 5 times a week and I would have noticed with the Blaze which never confuses driving with steps, floors, etc. 

[Asmith09]

Sounds like you are having the same exact problems I am. I have a total of 1 hour commute everyday for work and it's counting thousands of steps and 40+ floors and my Blaze didn't do this. 

[Asmith09]

@LongIslandSailr how do you create an activity?

[Asmith09]

@craigk4 Since you are having very similar issues like me, did restarting it work for you?

[LongIslandSailr]

Asmith09...in the app, go to the Exercise tile, then click on the "stopwatch" in the upper right.  If you don't see "Driving" in the list to select, search for it and then select it from the results.  Enter a start time and duration that corresponds to the time driving.  Calories will be set automatically, but you can override it.  

By the way, my previous Fitbit (Charge HR) did this as well and I used the same method.

[DDac]

Hi, just bought thr new versa yesterday mainly for the fitness and health reason. Though the interface looks like the first even colored camera phone of nokia, it doesn't bother me. Im on the fitness and health side rather than the smart watch thing. That is the reason why I returned my gear sport because it continuously running my workout (walking) even when Im driving and stops when the car stops. Sounds weird right? Now with versa, i noticed that when im driving, my steps increases as if I walk... It looks good by the numbers but it is like cheating myself. I hope fitbit can fix this issue. Other than that i have no major complain.

[LongIslandSailr]

DDac, see my note, above.

[DDac]

LongIslandSailr, does it automatically detects the activity "driving" just like how it automatically detects if your are running or doing other exercises? Because I find it odd to tap and start on driving activity everytime i hit on the wheels. 

Btw, the variations on steps while driving is not too high but of course we expect some accuracy specially fitbit specializes on fitness.

[craigk4]

Sadly, no it didn’t. I think it is something that will be fixed through an update. Hopefully sooner than later. In the mean time, I’m leaving it home and wearing the Charge 2. 

[DDac]

I hope so. Thank you... I'll wear my gear fit2 and versa at the same time for a day. We'll see the difference. Lol

[cactusjack]

There are several threads on this. But I have found using the iOS app Drivebit or if you are android Travelbit. They will help to log a drive and remove the steps added

[LongIslandSailr]

DDac, I've not seen it detect driving yet, although it could.  I only do this for long drives (the ones I do this for are 3-4 hours).  I don't think it would make much difference for drives of 30 min or less, but I haven't tracked that.

Btw, it used to be that the fitbit wouldn't track while it was charging (I don't think the Charge HR did) but the Versa apparently does.  I plugged it in for a long drive and it tracked steps anyway.  So I think if you are IOS, logging a "Driving" activity is the way to avoid this.

I use Fitbit with the Loseit app and so I cannot afford to have my calorie burn artificially inflated.

[cactusjack]

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@LongIslandSailr wrote:

DDac, I've not seen it detect driving yet, although it could.  I only do this for long drives (the ones I do this for are 3-4 hours).  I don't think it would make much difference for drives of 30 min or less, but I haven't tracked that.

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I can assure you it does count these fandom steps on short drives. My commute is 30 mins and it doe it all the time. That’s why I use Drivebit

[LongIslandSailr]

CactusJack, it will do it for even shorter, but I was just saying that the number of steps (and therefore calories) were not significant at that level.  I would guess that 30 minutes would give you maybe 200-300 steps.  Of course, your mileage may vary 🙂

In any case, it's fairly easy to manually add an activity.  I do a lot of bike riding and I will have to add (not replace) an activity to bring the calorie burn up to what it should be for that.