Fitness tracker that’s smart enough to know when I’m *not* wearing it... does one exist?

M

mool

New member
I’ve been scouring the interwebs and Reddit, but I just can’t find a solution to my use case. Much of this has to to with the lack of detailed information as to how a lot of these fitness trackers interface with your phone (in my case, iPhone).

I would like a fitness tracker so I can get some basic data, but I only plan on wearing it when I work out and, if it has sleep tracking, sometimes when I sleep. The problem is that, as far as I know, fitness trackers will think I’m totally sedentary when I remove them, rather than just “merge” the data with my phone.

As I go throughout the day, my phone will track steps. What I don’t want is for my fitness tracker to override my phone with zero steps when it syncs back up with my phone. I’d also like to avoid double-counting steps from the phone and fitness tracker.

Would this be possible? If so, which devices are capable of this? It’s not really advertised or mentioned in any reviews. Most people don’t really take off the trackers, so reviews just assume you’re not taking it off.

Thanks in advance!
 
@mool The key point here is how the data is merged.

I have a Mi Band that tracks my steps and imports the data into Apple Health. I also track my steps via the built in pedometer. In Apple Health you can change the order of your data sources to prioritize them. The Mi Band data (imported via the Mi app) is on top, built in pedometer data is used as a fallback when nothing is being tracked.

This results in me being able to track all my steps as long as I am wearing the tracker or phone. It does not yet calculate the used energy yet. For that purpose I installed „Pacer“ which is allowed to read my steps and write active energy data to Apple Health based on my combined step data.

Finally, I allowed my nutrition tracker (cronometer in my case; imo the best nutrition tracker out there) to read the active energy data. I don’t know if your Fitbit App can do that because it might be confused with tracker vs Apple Health data. But there are other options at least.
 
@starfish63 I’m not following what you’re saying. Are you saying I need to disable the phone’s pedometer in the health app? What happens if I don’t?
 
@mool Yes. If you don't then during the time you have the Fitbit off your wrist but your iPhone is with you, it'll be accumulating steps with its internal pedometer.
 
@mool I have a Samsung phone & watch. They are seamless in counting steps, sleep etc.

I started just using the Samsung watch instead of my fancy triathlon watch for most workouts. When the watch is recharging the phone kicks in & counts steps etc.
 
@mool You could look at other fitness trackers besides watches. The other option for what you are looking for would be going with a OS specific watch either Apple or Android with specific apps.
 
@mool Wear it on your other wrist? Fitbit has a setting to choose whether you’re wearing it on your dominant or non-dominant arm.
 
@mool You'd think in 2020 they would be smart enough to know you aren't "dead" so it must not be worn for durations. Sounds like they still haven't arrived at this..

I'll continue to pass. Seems like a basic function they should be able to figure out.. can't understand why I'd rely on any accuracy from them otherwise.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
F/37/5'5/205lbs- I need a fitness plan
2
Replies
33
Views
145
tamtamrod
T
K
intelligent fitness
Replies
0
Views
39
katyonline
K
S
Multi fitness machine
Replies
1
Views
38
mommajulesberry
M
N
25(f) - 5'6" - 110 lbs...Workout routine to get strong *and* build endurance (x-post from r/fitness)?
2
Replies
24
Views
147
jim123
J
T
Stuck in a hotel room for 2 weeks. No equipment, only food options are takeout/microwave. Review my fitness plan?
2 3
Replies
45
Views
183
h4wk
H
Back
Top