FitBit Data Does Not Sync
Comments
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my syncing now works but activity is all wrong too, so no way is problem resolved! In fact, my Fitbit activity started really high when I woke up this morning, and has been decreasing each time I walk by about the amount of energy I would have been burning?! (so weird!). I wish they’d issue some kind of statement so we know what’s what instead of being left in the dark - must admit I’m not impressed with the customer service 🙁
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I put in a support ticket yesterday and recieved this response from Holly at Cronometer this afternoon:
Thanks for getting in touch!
Fitbit is currently encountering an issue that is creating data discrepancies and syncing issues between Fitbit and apps such as Cronometer. They have not released a timeline for a fix, but status updates on the issue can be found here.
In the meantime, we recommend stopping the import of Activity from Fitbit and setting an Activity Level in Cronometer that most accurately reflects your daily calories burned through activity.
You can turn off the import of Activity from Fitbit by going to
More>Connect Apps & Devices>Devices>Fitbit>Toggle off Activity Import
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You can set your Baseline Activity Level in Cronometer by following the below steps:
- Go to the More tab
- Tap on Targets
- Tap on Energy Settings
- Use the drop-down box next to Baseline Activity Level to select the Activity Level that best applies to you.
You can choose your activity level from the following description:
Sedentary (BMR x 0.2)
Little or no exercise. You will burn some additional calories over and above BMR for light activity such as watching TV, working at a desk, etc. Use this setting if you are synced to a device that tracks workouts only (not tracking general activity).
Lightly Active (BMR x 0.375)
Basic daily living (sitting, eating, walking around the office or house). Light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week
Moderately Active (BMR x 0.5)
Moving frequently through the day (construction work, stocking shelves, cleaning, etc.) and/or moderate exercise 3-5 days/week
Very Active (BMR x 0.9)
Intense activity throughout the day such as manual agricultural work or competitive athletic training.
Custom
You could also set your own fixed daily value for calories burned based on the average values you are seeing in Fitbit.
Please let me know if you have any questions!
All my best,
Holly
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Shoulda known it was a google problem.
Actually, it may be fixed now. Cronometer has a much more realistic calorie burn now and isnt too far off from my fitbit calories burned.
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I can't seem to even connect Fitbit to the app anymore. I assume that's Cronometer trying to solve the issue.
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How is it supposed to work? How does Cronometer reconcile the BMR value with the imported FitBit activity? I have currently have my BMR set to 1450. Should I set it to '0'? Not sure...
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Mine seemed to be fixed yesterday but having issues again today. Cronometer is showing all calories from Fitbit instead of just activity calories. Seems a web service is out of whack. I'm sure they will get it fixed they always do. For how i am just manually calculating activity calories.
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apjohnson- I’ve kept my Fitbit and crono app connected but disconnected just the activity, so crono is all day only showing RMR. Then I look at how many miles of activity and calories Fitbit says I’ve been doing throughout the day (checking it with other days of similar activity and calories) and adjust crono accordingly - I created an exercise in crono called “not syncing” and put it in the uncategorized area at the top of the crono app and it then adds on approximately what calories I must be burning through Fitbit. If your Fitbit has HR then it will base your activity calories on all movements (like cleaning up, going back and forth in the kitchen to make dinner etc.) , and not just walking and “active” exercise. Hope that helps. And hope they fix the problem soon!! I ish they could provide a timeframe - where are all the computer engineers?? 🧑💻 good luck!
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I understand this is supposed to be an issue with Fitbit - but does Cronometer know about the progress of fixing this problem???? This problem is now several days long...
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I’m having same issues. It is still not fixed and shows I burned 1K plus calories when I wake up. I’m about to give up with this.
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yep, still problems here too!! I keep checking to see if there’s an app update for crono or Fitbit and nothing comes and no word from anyone. I find my activity syncs now but then I have to turn it off in the evening as around 8-9 in the evening crono starts to say I’m burning less and less calories the more I move around?? Looking at old history it looks like Fitbit is over estimating a tad since the syncing started “working” again, but that if I leave it to crono and don’t turn off the syncing in the evening then it tells me definitely a number that’s too low - it’s messing with my head!!
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I don’t think Fitbit is going to do anything.
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I gave up waiting on Fitbit and purchased a new garmin watch. Still learning it, but pretty happy with the stats and no issues with my calorie import.
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Trying to stay optimistic, But…am also realistic as to Google’s acquisition history.
I Am wondering if those of us loving our Fitbits now have inherited the traditional Google issue of acquiring an app, stripping off the features it can to enhance apps of their own, then having Fitbit (for ex) ending up a stepchild scheduled for neglect?
Google has a negative history of this or else the app acquired ultimately just vanishes or degrades in function.
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I'm going to bump because I am curious if this has resolved for other people or not.
Since August 30 I've had no transfer or incorrect transfer" of TDEE information from Fitbit to Cronometer.
The change is from a few calories difference each day before August 30 to a fairly consistent ~579 daily TDEE difference since. With a few days where the difference varies. That probably correspond to days I've been connecting/disconnecting/or otherwise messing around with the accounts.
The one big difference was when I switched from a Fitbit to a Google account in order to connect a Charge 6. I also redid the integration that day. End of day was within 6 Cal. But the next day was back to 579.
Is everyone else still having issues? Are your "differences" generally a set amount of Cal or do they vary wildly?
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Yep. Been working for several weeks for me now. I’ve got my baseline activity level set to None and just import activity from Fitbit. Sync works fine bar t’s always 92 Cals under. I just manually add those. Cron and Fitbit then match.
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pav888 - I’ve now been allowing my crono and Fitbit to stay synced like before the problems all started. It is consistently showing me (when I wake up the next morning) that each previous day has been exactly 153 calories less burnt according to crono, than what Fitbit says. I’ve been going with fitbit and manually adding 153 calories of exercise burnt on the crono app to make them equal. But trying to stay at maintenance, so not really room for error so I do worry a lot that I’ve going 100-150 over each day. (The reason I’m choosing Fitbit over crono calories is because the Fitbit ones are consistent with what they always used to be back in the old days when I compare how active days are). It’s always 153 calories difference, regardless of whether Fitbit says I’ve done 3 miles or 8 miles. That’s what’s so odd!! I can’t use the tracker on Apple phone as weirdly I can walk 3 miles with the phone in my hand it it says i haven’t walked any steps - and don’t tend to have the phone glued to me anyhow. Not sure how Fitbit and other platforms like my fitness pal work, and also don’t know any other tracking watches that aren’t smart watches (expensive, heavy and far too chunky for my petite frame - I wear the slimmest band Fitbit make). I don’t trust Fitbit, google or crono anymore! Now I’m boycotting everything google that I can - I certainly won’t reward them messing with Fitbit by buying one of their own devices.
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My wife was having issues we tracked down to permissions. I’d selected Allow All when setting up the sync but she’d selected a subset. We reset and did it again, this time she selected Allow All and it worked.
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8woodcoj - your 92 under per day: which do you mean you find is under, the crono app or Fitbit app?
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When I look the next day, total burned in Crono is 92 under Fitbit. So i add a 92 calorie walk to Crono to get the burned the same in both.
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So it sounds that for all of us who have responded so far today @8Woodcoj and @Bambi81 (and myself) have a continuing issue with individually consistent deviations.
Sounds like 92, 153, and 579 Calories respectively.
Sure, we can always manually adjust but before August 30 my differences were under 10 Cal so I didn't have to adjust
I've tried different permissions (some missing or everything selected) and I've tried toggling from BMR only on Cronometer to lightly active per a support suggestion. But things remain... consistently off.
Since you're asking @8Woodcoj , it is Cronometer that seems to be showing less total calories burned at least for myself.
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Yes, same for me. Crono always under. It was better before the end of Aug (I think it used to be spot on or just 1 out). Interestingly, my wife was way out before end Aug and is now just 6 out each day. Win some, lose some.
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pav8888- with such a big difference of almost 600 calories (wow, sorry about that - what a bummer 😬) I’m sure you’d be noticing which one was more accurate by how your clothes fit/hunger levels/the scale or something (600 cals over or under is 4200 a week) so what’s your take on accuracy of the new Fitbit versus crono discrepancy?
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@Bambi81 I don't view this as an accuracy of calories issue just a consistent transmission of information issue.
Neither Cronometer nor Fitbit can KNOW what calories I've spent today. All they can do is GUESS based on population averages.
But Crono's guess is decided by myself when I select a physical activity multiplier. If my activity is consistent this guess is likely to prove workable. But it does not change dynamically and it is based on my own self evaluation of my activity and on my ability to follow through at that consistent level of activity, especially if I choose something above sedentary.
On the other hand the Fitbit (or any other device) tries to guess from my movement and heart rate (which presents its own set of problems) how hard I'm working and what sort of activity I'm engaged in.
Because my activity varies AND I am actually fairly active (at the 1.7 level looking at my multi-year averages) a device that adjusts dynamically has a much higher chance of capturing my variable TDEE.
And, in fact, over the years, Fitbit has done a pretty good job of doing so. When I am logging my food accurately and look at multi month averages scale results seem to indicate a significantly less than 5% error by Fitbit when it comes to guessing my overall caloric expenditure.
So... I have no reason to believe that Fitbit's numbers when fully transferred over are any more inaccurate today than they were on August 29.
All I am looking for is to get back to having them transfer over in full to Crono once again.
