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I was having issues with Fitbit’s auto workout detection — until I changed this one setting

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I was having issues with Fitbit’s auto workout detection — until I changed this one setting

I just reviewed the Fitbit Edge and the Fitbit Air, and they are easily two of the best fitness trackers of 2026, and devices I’ll likely be recommending for the foreseeable future.

However, one key criticism I had for both: Unreliable auto workout detection. Less of an issue for the screen-sporting Fitbit Edge than the screen-free Fitbit Air, I was hopeful Google would be quick to address this complaint with a firmware update.

And sure enough, the Mountain View Mammoth did just that, announcing improvements to Automatic Activity Detection not just for the latest Fitbits but also the Pixel Watch 5 and older Pixel Watch models.

The update expands the list of trackable activities from just a handful, like walking and bike riding, to over 100, with lots of popular and nuanced exercises covered.

However, even without the latest firmware, there's a quick and easy way to improve auto activity tracking on the Fitbit Air and Fitbit Edge that's buried within the menus of the Google Health app.

This fix addresses one of the two key conditions needed for workout tracking to kick in. You see, Google wearables, by default, require a sustained heart rate and a minimum workout duration of 15 minutes for auto-detection to work.

However, users can manually lower the minimum duration to ten minutes, a change I've found tends to make auto-detection more reliable than the default settings. Here's how to change it.

To improve auto activity tracking on the Fitbit Edge, Fitbit Air, or Pixel Watch 5, first, open the Google Health app on your smartphone and tap on your profile picture in the top right corner of the screen.


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