Losing steps when syncing multiple trackers.

[MarySMatt]

I have an Alta and a Flex 2, and I am having the same issue of losing steps as reported at the link below which was marked as resolved in July - but it is reoccurring after the August app update.

Just got off a chat with Lilia J and have case number 21067646.  Temporary 'work-around' I've been given is to turn off all day sync.  That work-around didn't work before, but that is all they know to suggest.  Anyone else out there?

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/iOS-App/RESOLVED-Lost-steps-when-syncing-multiple-trackers/td-p/2032...

Moderator Edit: Clarified Subject.

[MarcoGFitbit]

Hello @MarySMatt, thanks for joining the Fitbit Community, it's great to have you on board. 

Thanks for bringing this to my attention, it seems that when you try to sync 2 devices and one of them is the Flex 2, the other tracker is having priority over it, which explains why the steps are being removed instead of merged. In this case I would like to suggest you to to always sync your Flex 2 first, making sure your other tracker is far away from the phone and the Flex 2, afterwards sync your other tracker and check if the step count is correct. 

Having All-day sync enabled on the Flex 2 will also help, just remember to keep the All-day sync of the Alta disabled. 

Thanks for your patience and understanding, if there's anything else I can do for you, please feel free to reply. 

[PirateDeathRay]

Hi!  I'm having this, too.  I have a Flex and a Flex 2 and also experienced the multi tracker step lose issue a few months ago, but that was resolved.  Yesterday I had 5 lights on my Flex, so I knew I had 80% of my goal.  When I synced using my Android app, the dashboard said I had stopped moving at 3.45pm and hadn't stepped again until a few minutes before I synced.  My 5 lights also dropped to 4 lights.  I knew that wasn't right, as I had been quite active, so I synced again.  That sync caused me to lose all the steps since 3.45pm, removing steps that had been there in addition to not logging steps.  It later began tracking steps again after 7.30pm, but I never regained any of the lost steps for that period.  I had switched from my Flex 2 to my Flex earlier in the day.  It might have been around 3.45pm, I can't say for sure.  I immediately suspected another dual tracker syncing issue.  I don't wear both at the same time and certainly haven't started doing anything fishy when I'm syncing.  I don't have all day sync on either device as that drains my batteries.  The whole idea of making sure one tracker is synced first and keeping certain trackers away from the phone was stuff that was suggested during the last multi tracker step lose issue, but ended up not being the problem at all.  It was a software problem that had to be fixed by the engineers.  Is that what's going on now?  Is this an issue that's being worked on?

[magicsbaby]

This has been my issue for months and months, and today i will give it a go again... they keep saying they have solved the issue but so far i have not seen this is the case.

Basically each time I use my flex 2 it syncs fine, but the second the charge 2 syncs after it wipes away all the steps of the flex 2 to either zero or very low number... and the chart shows me as dead for several hours as I have not moved a step.

I will report back when I try today, but going by the fact that 5 days ago you still have the issue I do not hold out much hope. So annoying as I want one for nera or in water, but basically I think fitbit cannot support multiple trackers and it was claiming this incorrectly to get us to spend more on more products...

[magicsbaby]

This has been my issue for months and months, and today i will give it a go again... they keep saying they have solved the issue but so far i have not seen this is the case. 

Basically each time I use my flex 2 it syncs fine, but the second the charge 2 syncs after it wipes away all the steps of the flex 2 to either zero or very low number... and the chart shows me as dead for several hours as I have not moved a step. 

I will report back when I try today, but going by the fact that 5 days ago you still have the issue I do not hold out much hope. So annoying as I want one for nera or in water, but basically I think fitbit cannot support multiple trackers and it was claiming this incorrectly to get us to spend more on more products...

[magicsbaby]

Well today it kind of worked, and I only lost 200 steps..no idea why I lost 200 steps and there was a lot of going from one area to another to sync iwth one then the other (while leaving one still at reception) but will try again and report back

[MarySMatt]

Unfortunately, my experience is still the same - for some reason the Flex 2 has 'less seniority' than all other Fitbit versions or something - and despite all the supposed workarounds, my Alta overwrites it. EVERY. TIME. I've pretty much given up wearing the Flex2 as a result.

I hope you have better luck - maybe they *have* fixed it this time.

M


Mary Matthesen
Alt email: matthesen@verizon.net

[magicsbaby]

What I did today was, go to gym... go to locker and sync the charge 2 while it was sitting on my back in the locker, then sync the flex 2... then i turned off bluetooth...

I then went and did steps with flex 2 (I do steps in a pool hence need for flex 2) and then once i was dressed i went out with my phone to reception and synced up the flex 2.. I then left the flex 2 at the reception and went back to the locker and synced up the charge 2 and continues to wear that one..

For some reason, it took away around 200 steps, but it left the rest.

Now this is a real fiddle and daft having to work like this, but at least it worked.. I will now retry on Thursday and if it still works I will try syncing them together in same area and see what happens.

Annoys me though, as if it does not work for you, they are still saying clearly that you can have multiple ones.... and that is misleading marketing and if they are aware it cannot be done legally should remove this slogan

[grrrrrterrid]

I am having the same issue.  So mad.  I just came back to Fitbit from Garmin.  I bought a Charge2 and a Flex2.  I have been trying to figure out the trick to sync and now I finally found this post.  Geez Fitbit!

They sold me on the "multiple trackers" can be used on the same account bit, and my data IS NEVER accurate.   I guess I'll give it a little more time and see if I can get a system figured out or I'll take them back.  I even bought that freaking bracelet for my Flex 2 so I can wear a regular watch again.  GRRRRR. 

Nothing ever works out the way they claim it will work.  

[magicsbaby]

I am sorry to hear this, I was glad when mine actually worked the other week.. but will try again.

The only way I have ever got it to work is to ensure that the charge 2 is not moving one little bit from time you swap to time you sync.. and preferably do the flex sync away from the charge 2 and turn off bluetooth while you sue the flex unless the charge is nowhere near.

Yes a complete mess and does not do as they state. They need to move this suggestion that it works until it does

[grrrrrterrid]

Yesterday I did my morning exercise using the Charge 2 and used the Flex 2 all day at work.  I synced Flex 2 BEFORE I got home, left the blasted thing in the car and turned OFF bluetooth on the phone.  I then went in the house and put on Charge 2 to get ready for workout #2, walked around a sec or two and then turned on the phone bluetooth (in the farthest corner of my home from the carport) and synced Charge 2 without missing any steps. After I was certain everything was where it should be, I invited Flex 2 in the house and we all lived happily ever after.  That is most insane thing, but if I want to keep Flex, that will be my process.  Sad but true. 

[olegdulin]

This is happening again.

I had Flex 2 in the charger over night and Charge 2 on me as I slept. Had about 100 steps on the Fitbit app till it synced with flex 2 - reset to zero.

I took Charge 2 off and went downstairs to exercise with Flex 2 . All the steps from Flex 2 got wiped out when I synced with Charge 2 again. 

I am a a developer and I can help (for a few). This is ridiculous. 

[PirateDeathRay]

You can help?  That would be amazing!!

I know this was definitely still happening for me a month or two ago.  I had days where I was over 10,000 steps, but when it was time to go to bed, I would be down to only a couple of hundred.  Challenges are not any fun when there's no consistency and all the steps I've taken might be erased on a technological whim.  I've stopped paying attention to my steps since then because I was getting super frustrated.  I've been looking for a new product with a new company, but I've become so dependent on the 8 silent alarms that I haven't found a suitable replacement.  I love the alarms!!  And that's all my Flex and Flex 2 are at this point:  Wearable alarms.  Which is cool, but it's not the product I thought I was purchasing.

I've sent so many emails to customer service and the replies I get back are just ridiculous.  I got a link to an article explaining the difference between wearing my device on my dominant versus non-dominant hand.  Another time I got a link to an article explaining why I should only wear one device at a time.  The replies I get back have nothing to do with the emails I wrote; it's as if my emails weren't even read.  One email I got proceeded to tell me there's no problem because, while my dashboard only shows a few hundred steps, the back end shows over 7000!  Which doesn't actually help me any and is literally the problem that I'm having, but I'm told it's not a problem??

I felt pretty good about the last email I got from Fitbit on October 12th until I took a closer look at it.  It was full of vague wording such as, " in-depth analysis regarding the issue," and, " improve more on the durability of our products."  I realized there wasn't anything specific in there regarding what my issue was, what symptoms I was having, or what they were doing to fix it.  It could have been copy/pasted from any help request email.  I emailed again on Halloween and just never heard back from them.  I guess they got sick of me.

[PirateDeathRay]

At some point I noticed I had about 6k steps on Monday, Christmas Day. Later it dropped to 9. Nine. I clicked on the daily graph to get a better look and WHILE I WATCHED, the total hung for a moment near 6000 then dropped to 9.

I was wearing my Flex and walked near my charging Flex 2. I think that's the trigger. It looks like in order to have multiple trackers, I need to rent an apartment for each one so they don't come near each other.

I emailed about this issue and also sent another email pointing out that no one ever responded to my request for help on Halloween. I haven't hear back about the Christmas issue yet, but I got an apology about Halloween and an explanation on why I SHOULD ONLY WEAR ONE TRACKER AT A TIME. No one is even reading the emails I send, are they?

[PirateDeathRay]

Hi, Marco. A lot of us are still having the problem of losing steps when syncing multiple trackers. Is anything being done about this? Do you have any suggestions? I'm getting useless emails from customer service. I think the problem I'm having is that my charging Flex 2 overwrites the Flex that I'm wearing, leaving me with no steps or a greatly reduced number. This is quite frustrating. Can you help?

[magicsbaby]

Well really this is a serious issue, I purchased my flex 2 for the very reason to do this without issue with my charge 2 being worn most the time. Months and months later it is still not resolved adn really FITBIT are responsible from selling items that are not fit for the purpose they sell and claim.

They have not resolved this issue and despite many times wirting to me saying it is now resolved it looks like it is not, I have foudn ways to jup through hoops to get some steps calculated but it really takes a lot of work.

Firstly youmust say sync with the Charge 2, and then the flex 2, amking sure flex 2 has the steps from the Charge 2. Then (and this is the hard bit) the charge 2 must not do 1 step at all, now no steps, which is hard as if you move it, it can log a step. So if at say a gym and planning a swim or aqua step you need to lay it in the locker to do first sync.

Now turn off bluetooth on phone so it cant synce while you are away in pool etc.

Thenwhen you get back, take phone and take it far away from charge 2 and sync to flex 2... screenshot the steps you have now.

Now you can go back to the Charge 2 and sync that... only then can you move it at all. Now it is possible you will lose some steps I find I lose say 600 steps or so, but I usually get some increase allowed, but not the full truth.

So does that sound like a nightmare of steps?? Well I think it is, and actually wonder if we need a worldwide movement of folk who all bought 2 trackers on FITBITS promise and need to bring a case against this. We need full refunds on our second trackers and also our other ones if we care to try a different tracker system if we purchased them all on their promise.

Either that or they need to fix it, it is not hard... the graph sees all the steps, just does not report on them... they need to programme correctly and not allow one tracker to rule out all steps on another. Or we need a button to turn one on and off on the app, so we are saying from now say 3.45 we are suing the flex and all steps on charge 2 are ignorerd until i switch again...

[SunsetRunner]

My solution is to disconnect my Flex 2 and only use my Alta. If my Alta gets broken or something I'll switch over to the Flex 2, but the concept of switching back and forth isn't going to happen. This means that the concept of not worrying about taking off my device if I casually go swimming, not worrying if my kayak tips over (which is why I bought the Flex 2) is gone, which is a drag. It's not the end of my Fitbit usage, but it is a drag.

[SunsetRunner]

So four months later, is there any hope of a fix for this problem?

[Chidz]

I lost 6k steps tonight. I had on my flex 2 while my blaze was charging. Towards the end of my hour elliptical workout I looked it said 15k steps. After I stopped working it read 9k. What gives???

[hiachiro]

I'm wearing the One at work and the Charge 2 other times since I can't wear a wrist tracker at work and I noticed last week that I lost from 200 to 600 steps a day for 3 out of 4 days. I may have been routinely losing this amount but those are days when I specifically knew what my count was then saw it was changed. Yesterday I only wore the Charge 2 and everything worked perfectly.  I posted on another thread that I had intentionally paced to hit a specific goal before midnight then noticed the next day or days later that the steps my tracker showed had been erased.  While losing hundreds of steps doesn't compare to the thousands that others have lost I did want to post to show this is still happening and to encourage fitbit to keep working on a fix.