Complete Guide: MFP, Gear Wearables, Gear App, & Samsung Health

I am always looking for the best "Eco-System" and with my Samsung Note8 Phone, Gear S3 Frontier/Gear Fit2Pro, and MFP....here is what I have gathered and learned by tweaking. I hope this helps others. It is long, but full of helpful information.

What I needed: A food diary tracker(MFP) that utilizes activity that only comes from a Wearable device and to keep the phone pedometer from adding more steps/movements in. Since I have two trackers I wear at different times, I need them to be easy to switch out, yet keep my steps totals in the Samsung Health (SH) and MFP App consistent.

WHAT IS NEEDED:
MFP App installed
Samsung Health (SH) App installed
Samsung Wearable...Gear S2, Gear S3, Gear Fit2, Gear Fit2 Pro. There is a way to AutoSync if you have more than 1.
Samsung Gear app (for your Wearable device(s) to sync).

PAUSE PHONE STEP/MOVEMENT TRACKING:
I have two Wearables... Gear S3 Frontier and Gear Fit2 Pro and only want the Wearable(s) to feed steps to SH and MFP and NOT from the phone pedometer sensor, so here's how to do that.

Go in the SH app to Me>Steps>Mobile Phone>...Menu(Top Left)>Pause Counting Steps.

This will stop the phone's pedometer from counting steps and movement. BIG WIN! So, with the two Wearables (S3 and Fit2 Pro), I can now select "All Steps" and it will show me all steps knowing it's just feeding from the Wearables and not the phone pedometer counter. This also helps MFP to not read steps made on the phone via SH as well.

WHY?
I want to see the steps I'm earning to come only from my Wearables. While I do understand that Samsung has tweaked the phone sensor to cancel out steps that are also reported by the Wearables, I don't want any accidental steps to count.....and I tend to want my Wearable steps and app steps(SH & MFP) to all match. For those using their Wearable with MFP, this will also stop the dual step counting so what your Wearable shows, MFP shows...If you swap out Wearables during the day, the steps already earned won't be synced back to the replaced Wearable, but SH/MFP will continue to count what you've already earned with what you're about to earn. So your daily total stays intact.

AUTO SWITCH
Using 2+ Wearables, there is an option in the Samsung Gear app to activate that auto-switch so it can sense which wearable you have on and will begin to track steps from that one. This negates having to go in and pick which device you want data from every time you swap them out. It simply knows which one you are wearing and pairs to it. Unfortunately, the steps that are on your SH app may differ if you didn't start/end the day with the same device. However, the SH app will have the total from both Wearables so you aren't losing your daily step grand total.

To enable AUTO SWITCH, open the Samsung Gear app and go to SETTINGS>Top Right Menu>Auto Switch and tap ON. The Wearables you have paired with the phone up will show in this screen as well.

Ok, so we have paused Step Tracking on the SH app and learned how to activate the Auto Switch for those who have 2+ Wearable Gear devices. Onto the SH app settings.

SAMSUNG HEALTH & MFP SYNC SETUP

In SH:
1. Go to SETTINGS>Data Permissions and tap MyFitnessPal.
2. Tap the information you want to sync across. For best experience, tap ON and then select all the options.
3. On the SH Main screen, tap the Steps area. If you have 1 Wearable, select it. If you have 2 Wearables, select ALL STEPS.
4. While you are in the Steps screen, tap the top-right menu and select SET TARGET and enter in your daily steps goal. This allows the Wearable to vibrate when you have reached your goal for the day.

In MFP:
1. Go to MENU and tap APP AND DEVICES. Select SAMSUNG HEALTH. For best experience, tap ON and then select all the options. Tap DONE.
2. Go to MENU and tap STEPS. Select SAMSUNG HEALTH and ensure the checkbox appears.

Now you are set up. To make the sync happen, open SH and swipe down to sync steps....then I open MFP Home screen and pull down to sync, then open my diary Diary. Once I see the white spinning circle in the task bar, it takes a few moments to a couple of minutes. The step count on your Wearable, SH, and MFP will be in-sync and MFP will add exercise calories based on your activity.

It took me almost a month to find all of this and I hope it helps anyone with a Samsung Wearable who wants to use MFP instead of SH to track food and activity.

If you have questions or others tips/steps, please do share! If this was helpful to you, click on one of the post buttons and let me know this was worth 30 days of digging.

-Glenn