Manual and nightly syncs
How does my tracker sync with the Moves+ app?
There are two ways that Moves+ gets data from your tracker/wearable device. The first is a nightly sync and the second is a manual sync.
Nightly sync
Each night at around midnight, the Moves+ app will automatically pull through data from your tracker. It will pull through data from that day and populate your app. The data that is pulled through will then appear in the ‘Recent Activity’ log on your home page. If you have not manually synced your tracker, the new data that is pulled through in the nightly sync will add to the total number of points that you have and these points will show on the graph in your profile page.
Manual sync
Moves+ offers a manual sync option which allows you to sync Moves+ with your tracker and pull in points from the current day. These points will show on your ‘Daily Activity’ log on your homepage and the number of total points you have will increase accordingly. If you have completed any challenges, the bonus points will be pulled through when you manually sync.
Remember: You will only receive points for activities that you completed after you connected your tracker.
Remember: Users connected to to Strava will be unable to manually sync. Strava activity will come through during the nightly sync.
How does the manual sync work?
If your tracker does not update to the cloud, you may not receive points for the activity that you do. Therefore, when manually syncing your data, please make sure you do the following:
- Open your tracking app before you manually sync and ensure that your activity has updated. For example, if you just went out for a walk and you open your Fitbit App, make sure that the steps have updated on the app
- Aim to wait at least 20 minutes after you have completed your activity before syncing with Moves+. Note that this can take up to one hour, depending on your tracker
Step. 1
Track some activity with your app or wearable, such as going for a run.
Step. 2
Sync your tracking app or wearable on your phone, e.g. open Fitbit App and ensure your activity is updated and showing.
Step. 3
Wait for your tracking app to update the activity you just did. This is a sync from your tracking app (e.g Fitbit) to its own database (e.g. Fitbit Cloud)
Average length it takes each tracking app to update their database with the activity you tracked:
- Google Fit: 45 mins
- Withings: 20 mins
- Strava: 10 mins
- Apple Health and Fitbit: Instant
Step. 4
Manually Sync your activity on Moves+
Once you have waited the recommended time for your tracker to update, you can sync this activity with Moves+ by pressing the ‘Sync’ button on the homepage. Once we receive the data from your tracker, Moves+ will send you a notification. This can take between 5mins – 1hr depending on the tracker
I am using Google Fit, how can I ensure that I get points using manual sync?
In our experience, Google Fit can take a long time to complete a sync from your Google Fit app to the Google cloud. You can check that your device has synced to the cloud by going completing the following actions:
Go to your phone Settings
-
- Select Accounts and choose the gmail account linked to Google Fit
- Click ‘Account sync’ and scroll down to ‘Google Fit Data’
- Check the that Google Fit last synced
- If the sync was recent (and completed after you last did some activity) you are ok to manually sync Moves+
- If Google Fit has not yet synced since your last activity, wait at least 20 minutes and then check again.
Do I need to manually sync my data on Moves+?
No, you do not need to manually sync your data . Each night Moves+ Sync with your tracking app log all your activity. Just make sure that you open your tracking app each day so that the activity data is updated and we can pull it through to Moves+.
Why is the manual sync taking a long time?
Each time you manually sync, we need to pull through the data from your tracker and this can take some time as there may be a lot of data in a queue from other users. Close your app and wait for a push notification which informs you that the data has come through. This could take between 10 minutes to an hour (Google Fit). If you still do not have data, you may wish to check our troubleshooting guidance as there may be a problem connecting your activity to Moves+.
What happens when I first connect my tracker and sync?
The first time you connect your tracker and sync, we will only provide points for activity that was completed after the tracker was connected. For example, if you connect your tracker at 4pm, we will not provide you with points for any activities that were completed before this time; you will receive points for all activities you log after this time and beyond.
What happens when I disconnect my tracker?
If you disconnect your tracker, we will not be able to pull through any data so please ensure that you have synced your data before you disconnect the tracker or you will lose points for the activity that you have done.
Why did I not receive the correct points when I synced or after the nightly sync?
There are a number of reasons why points might have come through. These are often related to one of the points below:
- Your tracker did not sync the activity to the cloud before the Moves+ sync and therefore the data might be lost (check back the following day and if you have not received the points contact your university administrator)
- You disconnected or newly connected a tracker (see points above for how we provide points when disconnecting and connecting a tracker)
- You need to update your tracking app
- You should ensure that you have opened your tracking app, check that the data is updated and wait 20 minutes before manually syncing
- Bluetooth or auto-syncing for your tracking app is turned off (see Troubleshooting guidance)
- You are not logging activities correctly (e.g. you did not track a run with a distance associated)
If you believe you should have received points but you have not received them, please send your university administrator an email with evidence from your tracking app to support your claim and they will help you to resolve this.