[KNOWN ISSUE] Google Pixel 2 Watch losing GPS during activities

[VincentFR]

As a former paying member of Strava, I'm highly disappointed with the way many WearOS users have been left out for 6 months now.

Many issues have been raised regarding GPS tracking and we've been promised a fix since the topic was raised in October 2023. 

6 months later, still no fix, and Strava becomes more and more unusable for anyone that needs an app' that is reliable. 

Here are the links of my last 3 activities with a huge amount of data missing : 

https://www.strava.com/activities/10927848132

https://www.strava.com/activities/10920712096

https://www.strava.com/activities/10907877591

In each case, GPS stops tracking after a couple of minutes to restart sometimes 40 minutes later. Sometimes it doesn't. 

Exemple on the last activity posted above : total distance is 14.5kms but if you look at the graphs it's only 6.8kms. And within this 6.8km, data is missing for more than 2kms.

In short, out of a 14.5kms run, barely 5kms were properly tracked. 

Do better, Strava. Not all your members are Garmin fanboys.

[lstelie]

Hello Vincent

There is an easy workaround I explained it here :
https://communityhub.strava.com/t5/devices-and-connections/google-pixel-watch-2-sync-issue-from-watc...
Short version, if the ride or run is recorded in Fitbit bit but is incorrectly synced to Strava, in my (ok limited) experience it is beacuse th sync is done VERY quickly, and sometimes TOO quickly (so, I'm no developper, but it's not impossible that the problem is on Google/Fitbit side and not on Strava side)

With my Pixel Pro 8 and Google Watch 2, Strava is synced Before Fitbit....(funny no ?)

If a problem occurs, use the free service : https://www.fittostrava.com/

1- check with https://www.fittostrava.com/ that the ride/run is well recorded in Fitbit. If it's not.. well you're **bleep**ed, if it is... go to point 2
2- delete the incomplete sync in Strava
3-Click on "export to Strava" in https://www.fittostrava.com/

Note : I am a paid Strava user but i don't use the Strava app on the watch, just the default recorder
Hope it helps

Luc

[krroller]

Same issue which just started happening after using Strava on Pixel Watch 2 for 8 months.

[marcbaechinger]

Yeah, it's frustrating and I think people blame Strava for this which isn't good for your app's reputation. However, I had the same issues with Fitbit on Pixel 2. The app correctly tracked duration and distance, but the actual track data was lost or stopped after a few minutes.

For Fitbit this is fixed since a while on my Pixel 2. I haven't tested on Strava given the frustration for which you expressed your understanding. 🙂 So to remove the blame on Strava, your engineer could quickly repro this and then test with the newest build of the Pixel 2 watch that's available? I guess Google is keen on working with you to remove issues of the world's top runners app on Pixel 2? Contact Google developer relations?

[BenMark]

Pretty sure this is a Fitbit issue because it only occurs with their app, not the Strava one. I always know when it's going to happen because when I hit the end exercise button I don't get an immediate response. Like it's taking it's time to process the data...it just hangs. Fitbit have acknowledged this is a problem and say they can't give a timeframe on a fix. They even replaced my Pixel Watch with a new one and the problem carried on happening. Despite selling a defective product they won't offer a refund...very poor!

[KingSquash]

Are there any updates for this issue? Yesterday I tracked a 1hr 50m / 24mi bike activity and my Pixel Watch 2 tracked 0 distance. Incredibly frustrating.

[ChristianK]

No update to fix this sadly

[ThorvZ]

Same issue here. An average of 100mtr per 25 minutes...

[marcbaechinger]

Another example: https://www.strava.com/activities/11133835254

[marcbaechinger]

Same issue here with Pixel Watch 2.

Sample activity: https://www.strava.com/activities/11062946707. It stopped after 39 minutes. I noticed that FitBit did start auto-tracking the last 54 minutes of my run which is about the time taht is missed in Strava. Do two apps compete with each other?

All looks good during running/cycling but then when synced to the servers only a fraction of the route is tracked. Out of 5 attempts with the Watch only, I lost all gps data for all 5 attempts.