TCX export without GPS data

[bbarrera]

The API documentation for API-Get-Activity-Log-TCX has an error:

https://wiki.fitbit.com/display/API/API-Get-Activity-Log-TCX

"TCX requires GPS data and heart data points are tied to GPS data points."

^ That is not true. Here is a Garmin page with TCX examples:

http://www.garmindeveloper.com/schemas/tcx/v2/index.html

There are two examples without any GPS info:

- TCX Fitness History Directory

- Forerunner 50 #1

Note that Forerunner 50 #1 file is for a run. Yes, a run without GPS and the TCX file has trackpoints with only the following info:

- distance

- heart rate

- cadence

- speed

No GPS data.

I routinely generate TCX files from Wahoo Fitness app for treadmill and stationary bike rides. The trackpoints in these files only contain heart rate (treadmill), or heart rate + cadence (stationary bike). They import without issue into Strava, TrainingPeaks, MapMyRun, etc.

[JeremiahFitbit]

Thank you for the info. We're not planning to support this at this time. For heart rate only, we have the Get Time Series endpoints.

[bbarrera]

Thanks

[laffen]

Hi,

What does this mean? Is it possible to export heart rate from activities wo/gps info using this Get Time Series? If yes, how do I do this? I only find two options for export; tcx (heart rate when GPS) and csv (no heart rate option) 

If not, I seriously hope you will reconsider to add this into the tcx-export as done by most other vendors.

There are multiple forms of activities where it is not suitable to bring a phone for gps-tracking, while the heart rate still is relevant for your training plan/monitoring.

Being able to import data into other systems is a key feature, as your users might be forced to or just prefer another frontend for viewing their activity data.

Please reconsider.

[jmsrpp]

My goal is to retrieve the lat/log coordinates for an exercise activity (or to invoke/extract that from the TCX export already available in the FitBit dashboard) and to (optionally) embed the google map for the exercise in an external application. Is it possible to do this via the existing API?

Update: appears this is possible using the https://wiki.fitbit.com/display/API/API-Get-Activity-Log-TCX API? I should be able to process the response body containing:

<LatitudeDegrees>20.95308828353882</LatitudeDegrees>

<LongitudeDegrees>-156.53247618675232</LongitudeDegrees>

[RB.]

Hi a few years later,

Is there any progress on this case i'm also looking into a way to export a TCX file without gps info.

[SunsetRunner]

Same here, the data is there, why not make it able to export?????

[LostEchoes]

I was always wondering how come my friends with Garmin hardware could always upload non-GPS activities to Strava while I couldn't !
I really hope Fitbit engineers think about this seriously and implement / resolve it, so that we can all (auto) sync everything to Strava. 

Everyone who would like to have this feature (non-GPS activities sync to Strava) please go here and vote for this Feature Suggestion !

[JohnFitbit]

@jmsrpp @RB. @SunsetRunner @LostEchoes Downloading TCX files without GPS data being present is a supported feature.

Please add the "includePartialTCX=true" parameter to your URL request so that it looks like this:

https://api.fitbit.com/1/user/-/activities/{log-id}.tcx?includePartialTCX=true

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

[LostEchoes]

@JohnFitbit 
Thanks for the reply, but as far as I'm concerned, I have no intention to spend valuable time after each and every non-GPS activitiy I log, to go and manually download the TCX file with that URL parameter you posted and then upload it to other platforms like Strava.

Garmin and other platforms' users do not have to do such thing. They only setup the auto-sync procedure between e.g Garmin and Strava and every logged activity is automatically uploaded to Strava, even when it does not have GPS info.

This suggestion here states very clearly what we want, what we need. 

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Feature-Suggestions/Allow-all-workouts-recorded-with-Fitbit-to-Strav...

"I know Fitbit's current integration with Strava only includes GPS-related activities but the Garmin/Strava integration proves that this does not need to be the case..."

 And @ this topic here it is clear that Fitbit has chosen NOT to implement what we need, what other platforms have, what the standard for the API is, for no reason...(?)

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Surge/Syncing-Non-GPS-activity-with-Strava/td-p/1100001

[Dr_Röntgen]

The API already exists so why not make the functionality accessible to the normal users via a button? Now that Fitbit is backed by Google this should not be a problem resource-wise. a

[groves152]

Is it possible to get GPS coordinates in the JSON response?

[JohnFitbit]

Hi @groves152,

Welcome to the forums!

Unfortunately no,the GET Activity TCX endpoint only returns data in TCX-XML. See: https://dev.fitbit.com/build/reference/web-api/activity/#get-activity-tcx

I hope this helps.

[GravelGrinder]

@JohnFitbit 

Any working updates yet?

I have seen requests here for functionality that many other trackers support and these requests has been here for many years, and still no updates! What is going on? Why does the Fitbit team treat their users this badly? If you could at least give an valid reason to the absence of these functions but not even that... Fitbit seems to treat their users with no respect. How do Fitbit expect the users to promote this device??? Just asking, but of course I do mot expect to get any useful answers, but one can always try.