series 3 (GPS) lacking elevation data

[Grasbak]

i compared outdoor walk results with a friend who has the cellualar model (not using cellular data) and i noticed i was missing elevation data in the activity app. I got onto apple support who directed my to the settings on the watch app on the phone. True enough, for outdoor walk the elevation metric was not in the workout view so i added it. On walking today, still no elevation data for that activity. Any ideas? I did wonder if the issue could be related to the fact that when setting up the series 3 it was from a previous back up from a series 2?

ps i did have my phone with me on the walk, an SE - i have read elsewhere people thinking elevation data didnt work when they had their phone with them.

 

[JackieInCo]

I would restore your SE and set it up as new, same with the watch. The Series 3 watch is perfectly capable of tracking elevation to the SE so that the SE will display that info for any workout, walks included. It will even track flights climbed and display that on the SE.

I had a very similar problem as you. I restored a backup from my SE to my 6S+ and had many issues with what my Series 2 watches were sending to the 6S+ afterwards. I finally had to restore the phone as new, losing everything I tracked since March including my turkey day award.

Yesterday, I went out and bought a second Series 3 watch and wore two watches, one paired with my 6S+ and the other paired with my SE. I wanted to make sure that the elevation and flights climbed would display on the SE and they did.

 

[Grasbak]

thanks for that - interestingly. i do get flights climbed info but the elevation data just doesnt seems to get transferred.

 

[JackieInCo]

thanks for that - interestingly. i do get flights climbed info but the elevation data just doesnt seems to get transferred.

Pretty much the same problems. Like I said above, I restore my 6S+ using a backup from my SE. When I restored one of my watches using the watch backup which was made originally on the SE, it caused problems. The watch simply wouldn't communicate half the time with the phone. I even tried restoring the watch as new and the same problem happened. Only restoring the phone as new and then pairing the watch again solved the problems.

I think it's just because the hardware on the SE is so different and the SE not having some of the same sensors as the regular iPhones that causes the problem. I wasted so many days last week trying to figure out what was going on.

 

[Nozuka]

is elevation data only collected when you start a training? because all i can find is data about stairs climbed... or where would this data show up?

 

[Grasbak]

is elevation data only collected when you start a training? because all i can find is data about stairs climbed... or where would this data show up?

not totally sure, think its just when you start an activity - then it shows (or should show) in the activity app on the phone.

 

[JackieInCo]

is elevation data only collected when you start a training? because all i can find is data about stairs climbed... or where would this data show up?

Yes, it will only show when you start a workout whether it's a walk or run or any other workout. This screen cap is from my SE from yesterday.

 

[Grasbak]

OS 4.2 out now - updated and seems to have sorted it. Will test out properly tomorrow.

 

[michaelb5000]

I don't get elevation gained in the activity screen shown above, and upgrading to 4.2 does not seem to have changed that.

 

[JackieInCo]

I don't get elevation gained in the activity screen shown above, and upgrading to 4.2 does not seem to have changed that.

Are you sure that you have a series 3 watch? If you have a series 2 or lower, it will not show the elevation since the watch is missing the necessary sensor to do so and the SE does not have it either.

 

[Grasbak]

did a short outdoor walk this morning and got a reading on elevation, and it shows in the activity app. Must have been 4.2 that fixed it for me. I had reset fitness callibration data and motion callibration & distance - but neither of these seemed to sort it.

 

[michaelb5000]

Are you sure that you have a series 3 watch? If you have a series 2 or lower, it will not show the elevation since the watch is missing the necessary sensor to do so and the SE does not have it either.

Yes, I have a series 3 with LTE. I upgraded from a SO watch. Looking back at activity since I upgraded, I don't see elevation ever listed so this has been since the beginning for me with S3. I do wonder if the issue is related to having multiple sources listed for stairs and/or multiple apps writing to this data. So I use Pedometer+ to track steps, and that is mostly tracks stairs climbed, but there are times I climb stairs and don't get credit for that (which is mainly the mystery I have been trying to figure out lately).

 

[michaelb5000]

Yes, I have a series 3 with LTE. I upgraded from a SO watch. Looking back at activity since I upgraded, I don't see elevation ever listed so this has been since the beginning for me with S3. I do wonder if the issue is related to having multiple sources listed for stairs and/or multiple apps writing to this data. So I use Pedometer+ to track steps, and that is mostly tracks stairs climbed, but there are times I climb stairs and don't get credit for that (which is mainly the mystery I have been trying to figure out lately).

Elevation shows on the watch and in iphone summary for "Outdoor walks" but not for "indoor walks". So this part was as simple as that. Not sure if there are other differences. I still have an issue with not getting credit for all the floors I climb, since I did an outdoor walk that shows 129 feet of elevation gained and got credit for 1 floor (which probably occurred before after the walk).

 

[coldwaves]

i compared outdoor walk results with a friend who has the cellualar model (not using cellular data) and i noticed i was missing elevation data in the activity app. I got onto apple support who directed my to the settings on the watch app on the phone. True enough, for outdoor walk the elevation metric was not in the workout view so i added it. On walking today, still no elevation data for that activity. Any ideas? I did wonder if the issue could be related to the fact that when setting up the series 3 it was from a previous back up from a series 2?

ps i did have my phone with me on the walk, an SE - i have read elsewhere people thinking elevation data didnt work when they had their phone with them.

I reviewed my 0.91 mile outdoor walk on Dec 4, with watchOS 4.1, and the elevation gain data are not shown in the activity app. The watch was just paired to my phone, which was just restored to the factory setting (i.e. it is the first workout I did on this watch). I don't think any software glitch is likely in this case as everything was restored to factory setting right before the walk.

Is it possible whether the elevation data are shown depends on whether there is enough elevation gain? Maybe the altimeter cannot measure sutlbe changes in elevation accurately enough. Thus it is not reporting these elevation data when the watch thinks they are not accurate?

I just updated the watchOS to 4.2. I will test it again with walking routes that has a lot of elevation change or quite flat. I will report back what I found.

 

[Grasbak]

one of the things apple support first said was you need to select the elevation metric in the watch app/my watch/workout/workout metric

wasnt the solution for me, as my watch was simply not registering elevation data until 4.2 (once you add the metric you can observe on the watch as you are doing the activity).

Not sure if selecting the metric is just for the watch view, or the activity view on the phone app or both!

 

[JackieInCo]

one of the things apple support first said was you need to select the elevation metric in the watch app/my watch/workout/workout metric

wasnt the solution for me, as my watch was simply not registering elevation data until 4.2 (once you add the metric you can observe on the watch as you are doing the activity).

Not sure if selecting the metric is just for the watch view, or the activity view on the phone app or both!

That setting will only show what is displayed on your watch while you are doing your workout and will not change what is recorded on your phone. Apple just likes to cover all bases when they are trying to help you with a problem.

 

[coldwaves]

That setting will only show what is displayed on your watch while you are doing your workout and will not change what is recorded on your phone. Apple just likes to cover all bases when they are trying to help you with a problem.

GPS only watch series 3. WatchOS 4.2.

I did a short (0.8 mile) walk today. The elevation gain shows up in the activity app. I did not have elevation gain shown as a metric. I guess it is either watchOS 4.2 or the walk route today has more elevation gain than what I did a few days ago.

 

[Grasbak]

GPS only watch series 3. WatchOS 4.2.

I did a short (0.8 mile) walk today. The elevation gain shows up in the activity app. I did not have elevation gain shown as a metric. I guess it is either watchOS 4.2 or the walk route today has more elevation gain than what I did a few days ago.

out of interest, did you upgrade from a previous watch and restore from it?

 

[coldwaves]

out of interest, did you upgrade from a previous watch and restore from it?

Not sure what exactly you are asking. I just got the watch a few days ago and set it up as a new watch. It has watchOS 4.1 when I set up. Then I upgrade through the watch app on iPhone to watchOS 4.2 when the OS update was released. Does that answer your question?

 

[michaelb5000]

Elevation will show up as a data field on the watch, if you select outdoor walk, as soon as you start. It is the last field if you scroll down. It will show at my desk inside, so is not dependent at all on how far you go or if you have had elevation change. It will sit at 0 elevation until you start going up (I walk down a hill first).

But: elevation gained is related to GPS in some way; at least to start. I started an outdoor the other day, and it showed 164 feet gained right off the start, and I think this was because I had just driven home, so that elevation is the difference between work and home. the starting reference may be GPS related then. I can't tell if the elevation gained during the workout is also influenced by GPS, since GPS may undercount small changes or hills, particularly going up and down (like climbing up and down stairs).

 

[Grasbak]

Not sure what exactly you are asking. I just got the watch a few days ago and set it up as a new watch. It has watchOS 4.1 when I set up. Then I upgrade through the watch app on iPhone to watchOS 4.2 when the OS update was released. Does that answer your question?

yes - i had previously used a series 2 for a week (which didnt have the altimeter), when i set up my series 3 i used that back up to set it up. Wondered if somehow that was the cause of the bug. I guess it wasnt - or a least you are evidence that wasnt the issue!
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Elevation will show up as a data field on the watch, if you select outdoor walk, as soon as you start. It is the last field if you scroll down. It will show at my desk inside, so is not dependent at all on how far you go or if you have had elevation change. It will sit at 0 elevation until you start going up (I walk down a hill first).

But: elevation gained is related to GPS in some way; at least to start. I started an outdoor the other day, and it showed 164 feet gained right off the start, and I think this was because I had just driven home, so that elevation is the difference between work and home. the starting reference may be GPS related then. I can't tell if the elevation gained during the workout is also influenced by GPS, since GPS may undercount small changes or hills, particularly going up and down (like climbing up and down stairs).

there is an altimeter in the watch which records the elevation, rather than the GPS - i think!