A recent update to the Fitbit app appears to have introduced a significant bug affecting how exercise data, specifically pace and lap information, is displayed. Users have taken to the Fitbit community forums to voice their frustration over wildly inaccurate metrics showing up after their workouts.

The issue gained traction last year in a thread titled “Pace/Lap display in Exercise”, where the original poster described a confusing discrepancy:

From Jdmcb66: “I have a Charge 6 and Iphone and within the past few days my laps/pace on my exercise details page has gone crazy. I walked tonight, 2.23 Miles at average 19' pace. The detail at the bottom says Lap 1 - 11'41”/mi = 3.63 miles. I know my laps are set at 1.0 mi. I have gone back and earlier exercises that had lap1, lap 2, etc… now have similar one lap with ludicrous distances and no individual laps. This makes me nuts, as a runner I want to know what my lap times are for training and improvement."

Investigating the forum thread reveals this isn’t an isolated incident affecting only one type of device pairing. Comments pour in from a mix of users, including longtime Fitbit device runners using iPhones and newer users pairing Pixel Watches with Pixel phones. The common denominator is the Fitbit app exhibiting incorrect calculations, consolidating multiple laps into one inaccurate entry and misreporting distances and paces.

This problem was highlighted to me recently within the Pixel Superfan community. One member expressed their disappointment quite directly:

“So the fitbit app is now useless for tracking exercise because they are doing incorrect unit conversions."

For users who rely on detailed lap splits and accurate pace information for training purposes, this bug renders a core function of the Fitbit experience unreliable. While Fitbit moderators have acknowledged the issue and yesterday said for users to update their Fitbit app to the latest update available (4.38 or higher) to receive the fix, but users are still seeing the issue and are eagerly await a fix to restore accurate exercise tracking. For Google to position the Pixel Watch 3 with pace and laptop tracking to be the device for runners, Google needs to get this right before users switch to competing fitness trackers.