[Updated] Fitbit inaccurate stats after Daylight Saving (time change)? Here's the official word

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

Original story (published on November 7, 2023) follows:

We recently saw the phenomenon of Daylight Saving Time being practiced in certain parts of the world.

It involved setting clocks forward by one hour in the spring and back by one hour in the fall.

So, it was quite obvious for various gadgets to implement the same including the smart wearable-product company Fitbit.

However, it seems that the recent change in the time zone settings has somehow impacted its data tracking.

Fitbit inaccurate stats after Daylight Saving

Some Fitbit users (1,2,3,4,5) are reporting an issue where the recent Daylight Saving Time has altered certain functions and tracking algorithms.

Hey @fitbit @FitbitSupport why can’t your fancy sleep tracking software cope with turning the clocks back? It’s not like it was a surprise or anything!
Source

@FitbitSupport It’s time change day and the same problem is happening again on the iPhone app. The bug is in the dot labels for the hours with 250+ steps. Hourly Activity page. On time change day, instead of 10-5, it says 9-4. The data/dots are right; the numbers are wrong…..
Source

Apparently, users have been unable to keep track of their sleep, heart, and other important stats after the standard time change.

Some users are also struggling with issues related to the mismanagement of the new time zone as it is either set to incorrect hours or won’t let users change time at all.

In other cases, the saved changes keep going back to the previous settings.

Official word

Fortunately, Fitbit is aware of the issue where the stats appear inaccurate after Daylight Saving.

The team suggests that some settings may need manual adjustment. So those affected can try modifying certain stats themselves till a permanent fix is out.

That said, we’ll keep tabs on the issue and update this story to reflect noteworthy developments.

06:25 pm (IST): Once again Fitbit users are reporting inaccurate stats after the Daylight Saving time change (1,2,3). Fortunately, we have come across a potential workaround:

Step 1

1. Go to your app. From the front page click on the person photo/icon to take you to the account page.
2. On the account page scroll down to app settings and check your timezone.
3. If the timezone is incorrect, turn off auto timezone, and choose the correct timezone and then sync.

Step 2

1. If your timezone is CORRECT, but the time on your Fitbit is still incorrect, then turn off the auto timezone and choose any INCORRECT timezone and sync your Fitbit. Makes sure it really does sync.
2. Next return to the timezone setting, and this time choose the CORRECT timezone and sync again. That should force an update and the Fitbit should now show the correct time.
3. Once it is showing the correct time, you can turn auto timezone back to ON if you like.

Note: You can check out our dedicated Fitbit section for more such content.

Featured image source: Fitbit

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