Missing steps

[Alexepto]

I just did a 4 mile walk, but my steps have disappeared. They briefly showed up on the app, but then when the sync was over they disappeared. You can see them in my activity minutes chart, you can see them in my activity minutes icon on the dashboard, but my exercise log has nothing for today, even though before my walk I had mowed the lawn. Ugh. I did use two devices today but that is never a problem. Normally I wouldn't care, but I am in a step bet and you can't manually log steps and have them count.

[Julia_G]

Hi, @Alexepto, unfortunately this can happen if you switch between devices before all the steps have synced through.  It is not enough for the dashboard to show your steps and for the status to be "connected" -- the steps have to show on BOTH devices as well as the dashboard before you switch or you are lkely to lose steps.  Sometimes this means you need to force sync several times before the information syncs through to both trackers.  

Once the steps are lost I am sorry to say that the only way of recovering them is to make a manual log -- and those steps will not count towards challenges, as you have noted.

[crystallyn]

I'm having the exact same problem. My activity dots show up and my tracker will show the steps but if I sync on my phone then I lose 400 or so steps at a time both on my tracker and my dashboard. My dashboard also will only show 30 steps consistently across the day (even showing them up til 8PM when it's only 5PM!!!) except for the places where I went in and tried to manually add some steps. 

I do have two trackers. I switched from my Flex to my One early this AM so, in theory, your explanation makes sense for the initial switching. In fact, while the new One is showing that I'm making steps, and showing the numbers, the dashboard doesn't seem to be registering any steps I have taken with the One, only what I have manually added in after the switch. And any steps I make on the One are dropped when I sync... if I look at my tracker then sync my One via my phone to update my dashboard it shows a loss of steps. Repeatedly. I can watch the steps go backward. And it doesn't explain the 30 steps every increment on my dashboard, for hours past the time it actually is.  And yes, my timezone is correct. Yes, I've reset the tracker multiple times. 

If this is a problem with sync when switching devices, when will my One reset? At midnight?

Flex 

One 

Windows 10 desktop

ios 9.3.2 (but going to try and upgrade to 9.3.4 in a few min)

This happened on my Flex previously and customer service, when I called, was pretty much unhelpful (they couldn't even tell me how to manually add steps...I had to figure that out on my own) and I ended up just buying a new Flex because I was so frustrated. I'd prefer not to buy a new One this time around.

What is the ETA for a fix on this? If Fitbit wants to have people using multiple devices, this shouldn't happen.

[Julia_G]

@crystallyn, each time you sync your app will check all trackers on your account within range.  Any tracker that has moved at all during the same time period will contribute to the step calculation.  If only one tracker has moved the steps from that tracker are the only ones that will be recorded and you should have no loss of steps.  If the other tracker has moved (and therefore counted steps) even only a little bit, the program will try to reconcile the two counts and that can result in the loss of some steps.

[crystallyn]

I updated my post with some additional data and questions...can you look at that and respond again? Thanks.

[Julia_G]

@crystallyn, your One will reset at midnight, as usual.

The way to avoid these problems happening with multiple trackers is to make sure that only one tracker detects steps during any single time period between syncs.  Also, when you switch between trackers make certain that BOTH trackers show the same number of steps before you make the switch (it is not enough for your dashboard to say "connected" and show the steps).  Unfortunately this is difficult to tell for sure with the Flex, because it doesn't show the exact number of steps on the device itself, but only on the dashboard, and this may be what is causing your issue.  You may be switching before all the steps have actually synced through, without be aware of that fact.  It might help to force a sync a few times before switching trackers.  Also I would suggest checking your device on the app and checking the exact sync time to make sure it really has synced (not just "connected").  

Once you have fully synced both trackers, as long as only one tracker detects steps before the next sync, you should not have any further step loss.

[crystallyn]

Thank you, Julia. I'll be more thoughtful when switching and I hope that will fix the issue.

[Alexepto]

I must say that even following these steps I've continued to have problems. I had another glitch today, and my charge HR couldn't have tracked steps because it was on the charger. I've noticed this problem since the update with iOS. Today I lost over 1000 steps.

Sent from my iPhone

[crystallyn]

Me too. When switching I synched in a different room to make sure to capture the steps on my flex. I walked to where the One was, took off the Flex and set it down. Then I resynched again. Several times to be sure before I picked up the second device. At first I thought things were fine but when I picked up my One, walked a little then resynched it took away steps back to what the Flex was. 

I had this problem before I updated the iOS and I upgraded last night hoping it would fix it, but no.

Just tested it again. Lost about 50 steps I had just put on it. Basically it makes having two devices somewhat useless. 😞

Or maybe I keep them in different rooms when I sync? I'll try that next, sigh.

[crystallyn]

That seems to be the fix for me. I can't have the devices anywhere near each other when I sync. I sync before I take it off, then I move my phone elsewhere, switch to the other device (which I keep in a different room), then go to my phone, making sure the previous device can't be picked up by the mobile app sync. Sure enough, that seems to be what does the trick. I think I still lose a few steps, but it's more like 4-10 vs. thousands.