Can't turn off M8 step counting for Health.app if you are using a wristband

[rodknocker]

It seems to be impossible to turn off the internal M8 coprocessor for step counting if you are using a wristband.

You can rearrange the sources in Health.app:

I tried this, but the internal M8 coprocessor is still counting steps. Also the counting is now mixed with the data of the internal M8 coprocessor plus the data of the wristband.

And you can only disable the wristband in sources, but not the the internal M8 coprocessor

In this Apple Discussion Board Thread they are describing the same issue:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/26877591

i also found this in a description of a Health.app sync app for FitBit (Sync Solver). They write that it isn't possible to disable the internal M8 coprocessor, you can prioritization of the sources and that this should avoid double counting, but they write "SHOULD"

Anyone else there outside with this issues?

 

[ZEEN0j]

Hopefully Apple can fix it. Don't think they can turn off the m8 chip as I think it's on all the time to calibrate all the sensors. What they could do though is a switch to not show the data in the health app. Send feedback to Apple.

 

[rodknocker]

Hopefully Apple can fix it. Don't think they can turn off the m8 chip as I think it's on all the time to calibrate all the sensors. What they could do though is a switch to not show the data in the health app. Send feedback to Apple.

So u got the same issue?

I'm curious how it will be with the Apple Watch ;-) I'm sure you will be able to turn off the M8

 

[ZEEN0j]

I don't use the health app. But I'm assuming it's a widespread issue since it says so in the app description. The Apple watch will probably be better integrated and override the phone data. Maybe they'll fix it for all wearables with 8.2 when the watch releases.

 

[lint2015]

I recently got a wristband for Christmas and started using it in place of the M8 for step counting.

My experience is that when I prioritise the wristband over the iPhone in the Data Sources, it will always use the wristband when it has recorded data, but reverts to the iPhone's M8 data for instances when there was no data from the wristband.

In other words, it works exactly as advertised when it says "When multiple sources are available, one data source will be chosen based on the priority order..."

Are you guys actually getting double counted steps or are you guys just mad that the M8 continues to count steps with no way of turning it off? Just because it continues to record into the health app doesn't mean it's actually double counting in the actual stats that it gives.

 

[byke]

I find that the step counter that is integrated into the iPhone seems very questionable. I suspect that my steps used are high over calculated. I wouldn't be surprised if my real steps was less than half of what is reported.

 

[rodknocker]

Are you guys actually getting double counted steps.

Yes, as i mentioned before and as they other guys wrote in the Apple Discussion Board. It is indeed double counting.

I calculated all steps of the M8 (from 18:00-19:00 h) and it is almost the same amount then the wristband steps.

Do you also see one entry per hour from the wristband (like in my screenshot) or do you see many entries like from the M8?

 

[lint2015]

Yes, as i mentioned before and as they other guys wrote in the Apple Discussion Board. It is indeed double counting.

I calculated all steps of the M8 (from 18:00-19:00 h) and it is almost the same amount then the wristband steps.

Do you also see one entry per hour from the wristband (like in my screenshot) or do you see many entries like from the M8?

Are you basing the assumption of double-counting on the raw data on that screen, or does the Steps graph also show roughly double the what your wristband reports through its display or companion app?

If it's the first, I think it's important to distinguish between the data that is collected by the Health app, and the information that it presents on the graph.

My wristband also logs steps by the hour, unlike the M7/M8 which seems to log in realtime, so my data looks pretty similar to yours. That's not really relevant though.

The Health app will collect as much data from all the sources as it can, but that raw data is unprocessed. If there's four sources of data for the same metric, it will collect them all. What you're looking at on that screen is before the app has done any meaningful processing of that data.

The Health app looks at that data but only uses data from one source, based on their order in the Data Sources list. It will only use sources further down if the previous ones did not log any data for the period. That gets rid of the double-counting in the information it presents in the graphs.

So what you should be looking at is what the information in the graphs say. That's the data, processed and made relevant and it should be roughly in line with the wristband so long as the wristband is first on the Data Sources list and it has been active all day.

Hope that clears it up a bit. The Apple discussion is a bit vague on where or why each user is claiming aggregrated data. Some seem to be the fault of the companion app not managing data correctly, some may be looking at the raw data rather than the graph as well.

 

[rodknocker]

Are you basing the assumption of double-counting on the raw data on that screen, or does the Steps graph also show roughly double the what your wristband reports through its display or companion app?

If it's the first, I think it's important to distinguish between the data that is collected by the Health app, and the information that it presents on the graph.

My wristband also logs steps by the hour, unlike the M7/M8 which seems to log in realtime, so my data looks pretty similar to yours. That's not really relevant though.

The Health app will collect as much data from all the sources as it can, but that raw data is unprocessed. If there's four sources of data for the same metric, it will collect them all. What you're looking at on that screen is before the app has done any meaningful processing of that data.

The Health app looks at that data but only uses data from one source, based on their order in the Data Sources list. It will only use sources further down if the previous ones did not log any data for the period. That gets rid of the double-counting in the information it presents in the graphs.

So what you should be looking at is what the information in the graphs say. That's the data, processed and made relevant and it should be roughly in line with the wristband so long as the wristband is first on the Data Sources list and it has been active all day.

Hope that clears it up a bit. The Apple discussion is a bit vague on where or why each user is claiming aggregrated data. Some seem to be the fault of the companion app not managing data correctly, some may be looking at the raw data rather than the graph as well.

You are still going to say that i am don't experiencing double counting?

 

[Stuke00]

Mine still counts my steps but they aren't used in the display total. I have my Fitbit syncing (using sync solver) and iPhone 6 both counting steps. But the Dashboard display only shows what it actually on my Fitbit, the iPhone 6 step count is ignored.

 

[rodknocker]

Mine still counts my steps but they aren't used in the display total. I have my Fitbit syncing (using sync solver) and iPhone 6 both counting steps. But the Dashboard display only shows what it actually on my Fitbit, the iPhone 6 step count is ignored.

Maybe you could make a screenshot from "Share Data"?

 

[Stuke00]

Maybe you could make a screenshot from "Share Data"?

Attached some screenshots

 

[lint2015]

You are still going to say that i am don't experiencing double counting?

No, everything I've seen in this thread and the Apple discussion thread is extremely ambiguous and seems to stem from reading the raw data rather than the graphs. I was just trying to explain that.

That said, it's not clear what's happening in your screenshots without context either. I assume you're comparing two days with the exact same schedule, but in any case, you didn't really take up my advice on comparing the graph to what your wristband or companion app reports, so, eh.

It's also possible that the companion app you use is timestamping the logged steps, but isn't telling HealthKit that the steps it's logging are for a duration of one hour, so Health thinks all of that logged data was performed at say 6pm instead of 6pm-7pm.