Automatic time zone setting

JoshMaz

I'm wondering if anyone cares to share their experience with letting the FitBit automatically set the time zone. I am going to be traveling all over North America for my new job, and it seems like this is something will want to have turned on. The app does come up with a warning about gaps and/or lost data when the "local" time changes, but I'm not sure if this is a significant concern or not. Have you tried it, and if so, how has it worked out for you?

kimberlydgarcia

I was wondering about the same thing today!

JoshMaz

Doing a little theorizing on this one...

Let's say one flys from Boston to Chicago. It's roughly a 3 hour flight with a 1 hour time zone change. A flight leaving Boston at 7am local time would arrive in Chicago about 9am local time. Since 9am Central time is 10am Eastern time, when the FitBit changes to local time in Chicago it would essentially lose 1 hour of data when it rolls back at the flight's destination.

That hour of lost data from the change was, however, spent sitting on an airplane and didn't account for much anyway. (So any significant walking done in or before arrival at the airport is not at risk.) Similarly, Boston to Los Angeles would be a 6 hour flight with a 3 hour time zone change, so 3 hours of sitting data would be replaced.

So going the other way... Leaving L.A. at 7am on a 6 hour flight to Boston lands about 4pm local time with the 3 hour time zone change. When the FitBit adjusts to local time there will be a 3 hour gap from 1pm to 4pm. (The Chicago to Boston flight, for the record, would leave a 1 hour gap.)

All considered, the gaps are not really a concern and the overwrites are of minimal loss. Given that I'm probably going to want the silent alarms on my FitBit to be running in local time, I think I'm good with the minor complications.

heybales

You don't lose any data - your day becomes longer or shorter.

It still ends at midnight local time.

Data is logged as UTC time anyway.

For viewing it is when your actual local time zone becomes important, and when to end the day.

For instance your device without syncing to something that has the time zone - will of course maintain whatever time it's on.
Not until a sync with something (phone or computer) that gives different time zone will the device update it's time to display.
But it's still logging data in UTC timestamps.

JoshMaz

That seems like a fair description of data management. It could certainly affect data graphing, but perhaps not affect the total calorie count? The pop-up warning when I turn the option on does use the term "loss", but that could be a layman's description of the displayed affect.

"Timezone changes may result in data loss when the clock is rolled back, or gaps in data when the clock rolls forward. Automatic timezone changes only take effect after tracker sync."

I do use all-day sync against the phone, so I expect it will keep local time as I travel. It will be interesting to how it all pans out. Maybe I'll spend a flight pacing up and down the aisle "for research".

heybales

Tell them you need to do some jumping jacks and lunges too.

Do you have device with floors, that should be interesting too.

JoshMaz

heybales wrote: »

Tell them you need to do some jumping jacks and lunges too.

I'm 6' 3" tall. There will be no jumping of any kind on the airplane for me, jacked or not!