Tips on Activity Syncing

How do Count.It and Fitness Trackers Work

Oliver Ryan avatar
Written by Oliver Ryan
Updated over a week ago

On Count.It you earn Count.It points for being active as reported by your fitness tracking app(s) and devices. With just a few exceptions, all of the supported fitness tracking apps can track all of the supported activities. Below are some tips to help you avoid sync problems, as well as a "deep dive" into how Count.It and your fitness trackers actually work!


Syncing Tips

  • Some apps will attempt to "auto-detect" certain other common activities beyond steps, such as cycling, though this logging is not always accurate. If you're going for a bike ride, we recommend explicitly logging it on your app by clicking "start" and "stop."

  • "Strength Training" is the same as "Weight Training!" Different apps use different terms for strength/weight training. Either "strength" or "weight" training will work.

  • If you log an activity like "Gym Workout" or "HIIT," Count.It will not recognize the activity. To get credit for non-supported gym workouts, you may want to label your workout as "strength/weight training," or, if part of a PRO group with Manual Entry turned on, enter it into Count.It using "Bonus Points."

  • You can absolutely have multiple trackers connected! Count.It simply takes the best score for a given activity for a given day from whichever data source supplies it.

How does it work?

Your phone and/or wearable device can "log" your activity in one of three ways:

  • Motion Detection: With motion detection, the phone or wearable uses a hardware sensor to detect the pattern of your physical motion, and then logs the amount of time you are moving in this way. All modern smartphones and wearables are designed to "auto-detect" your steps using motion detection, and you should never have to input your steps. For other activities, you will either need to select the activity (i.e. cycling, yoga) and then click a "start" and "stop" button to log your activity.

  • GPS: Some fitness tracking apps use a GPS sensors to track your activity based on the distance you cover, and how long it takes. A good example of this is Strava, which is a favorite among cyclists. When using GPS, your tracking app will typically require you to start your run or ride (or other activity) when you get going, and then stop it at the end -- it will then calculate the distance traveled, time, calorie burn, etc. GPS logging works primarily for outdoor activities, and isn't useful for treadmill running, or stationary biking, etc.

  • Manual Data Entry: Virtually all fitness tracking apps will allow you to create a manual entry. In this case you simply select the activity, and input the time, distance, or other relevant data.

Count.It will accept activity data coming from your fitness tracking app regardless of how it's logged!

Did this answer your question?