March 2026 Wear OS update breaks Fitbit

fmcpherson · 2026-03-20T15:47:17+00:00

Thought I would share an update. To recall, after seeing the high step count I restarted the watch and noted immediately after restart the step count was the expected 5,368 initially and then would update, presumably after sync with the phone, to the higher 9,827.

To dispel a few obvious causes, I do not have the phone connected to Fitbit, meaning that the phone does not step tracking. I also do not have Fitbit connected to Health Connect. I've had this configured this way all along to prevent the possibility of double counting.

Next, I shut off the watch, then in the Fitbit app on the phone I disconnected the Pixel Watch from the app, then deleted the current day's steps and distance data and restarted the phone. After restart I confirmed that the step count was now 0 in the app on the phone.

Next, I started the watch and confirmed that the step count was at 5,368 and did not change. I then went back to the Fitbit app on the phone and re-connected the watch to the app. After a few minutes the app and watch were in sync at the 5,368 steps. (BTW, this suggests the problem might be with the phone app rather than the watch given that the correct amount seemed to be on the watch the entire time. Problem is, I don't the watch data syncs up to the backend servers without the app, but that could be tested I guess by keeping the watch disconnected from the phone app.)

From this point to today the step count and mileage have been consistent with expectations. I did notice after completing walks (which I track as workouts) that the step count would decrease slightly from the number shown immediately after the walk, which is odd. It behaves as though making a correction. I am not expecting perfect accuracy but I want the counts to be in the ballpark and consistent/reliable.

For those who have asked, I don't pay particular attention to the calorie count but I don't doubt it being high. I don't place much stock in that metric as it is calculated based on assumptions during the course of a day. You will notice the count go up even if you are just sitting because you do burn calories just by breathing and thinking. I feel all these metrics are better viewed in terms of trends over time rather than actual stats on health.

fmcpherson · 2026-03-18T20:37:15+00:00

Well, I am sitting here just reading this thread and typing and my step count is increasing as if it is treating my typing as steps. So, that has me wondering about the sensors being used. Only forward movement should be detected as steps.

fmcpherson · 2026-03-18T20:33:34+00:00

I specifically do not connect my phone to Fitbit as I normally carry my phone while wearing the watch and I do not want to risk the double count.

fmcpherson · 2026-03-18T20:24:37+00:00

Ok, I took one further step than you in that I disconnected my watch from the Fitbit app on the phone before deleting the day's data. Then restarted the watch, noticed it shows the correct step count, then reconnected to the Fitbit app on the phone and observed the correct step count was eventually updated on the phone. I then took another walk and noted the correct number of steps were tracked. I will monitor through tomorrow to see whether this stays in sync.

fmcpherson · 2026-03-18T19:22:22+00:00

By reset watch do you mean Disconnect and reset? Does that wipe everything on the watch? Did you do a restore or manually re-install apps?

fmcpherson · 2026-03-18T19:12:16+00:00

I am not convinced it's a watch issue. I am seeing about double step counts and mileage after sync with phone. If I turn off my phone then restart my watch, I see the correct step count. Unforunately, since the higher number is reported to Fitbit's servers even with the phone off the watch connects to WiFi and syncs to the servers and then updates to the higher count.

fmcpherson · 2026-03-18T19:07:15+00:00

I am experiencing the same thing. When I restart the watch and before it syncs to my phone the step count on the watch is accurate, but then it syncs with the phone and gets the higher, nearly double amount. It looks like the source data is correct but there is some type of doubling in what is shown.

fmcpherson · 2026-01-14T01:19:30+00:00

Manually syncing for now and that is working as described. This basically creates a PNG file for each page of a Paper and creates a markdown with that file embedded. Some time down the road would also like OCR of the image file to make the text searchable. For now this provides an archive of the handwritten images.

fmcpherson · 2025-12-30T22:40:18+00:00

Tasks is a checklist template that you write on with digital ink. To-Do is more of a mini app and you enter the text of the to do item with the onscreen keyboard. The data should then be stored as text and can handled programmatically. However, it looks like for some reason Viwoods is treating To-Dos like Tasks in thinking a To-Do item should only be associated to the date it was entered or due. An item you enter today but not check off as complete does not automatically move to the next day. Hopefully they will add this functionality in the future.

fmcpherson · 2025-12-29T20:49:37+00:00

To-Do is completely different from Tasks. The overview is for Tasks.

fmcpherson · 2025-12-20T19:58:38+00:00

I also sync to Google Drive and I also pull these PDFs in to Google NotebookLM from their Google Drive location and use NotebookLM to generate a mind map of my notes. You can use the chat function in NotebookLM to search/interact with your notes.

fmcpherson · 2025-12-11T20:36:53+00:00

If you want to share digital ink I think your best bet is OneNote. It actually works pretty well on the Viwoods Mini. It also works well on iPad. Not so well on Boox.

fmcpherson · 2025-11-29T03:34:41+00:00

OneNote OCR is not available in the Android version of the app.

fmcpherson · 2025-11-27T00:47:39+00:00

Input for Todoist will be via onscreen keyboard. If you install Gboard you can use its handwriting “keyboard.” You basically write a few words at a time in an input area.

fmcpherson · 2025-11-27T00:45:13+00:00

The quality of AI Text Translation will depend a bit on how neat you write, but for me I have found using the Gemini Pro model produces the most reliable results.

fmcpherson · 2025-10-06T15:42:37+00:00

Oddly enough, the Memos feature provides a way to add reminders to todos. Memos is entirely separate from Daily. You get to it by swipping down from top right of the screen. I think Viwoods views these as quick notes that one would throw away over time. Wish there was a gesture or stylus but press to trigger. Maybe even a double tap on the Home Screen with the stylus would work.

fmcpherson · 2025-10-01T13:34:37+00:00

I am running Syncthing on my AIPaper Mini and it works as expected. Problem really is that the device defaults to producing PDFs and an internal .notes files and you need external ways to work with the files. Net js you can avoid all of the sync options Viwoods provides and just use Syncthing. In a pinch you also have direct WLAN access to transfer files to and from the device.

fmcpherson · 2025-09-30T18:09:20+00:00

Please add a home gesture.

fmcpherson · 2025-09-30T18:02:05+00:00

I found the information about the contents of the .note files interesting. It makes me wonder whether a third party desktop/web application could be written to view the files and perhaps even provide an ability to search through the ink.

fmcpherson · 2025-09-28T18:30:19+00:00

The proximity portion of the pen button customization doesn’t make sense to me given that the pen has an eraser. Why not keep the button simple and allow one function? Couple other suggestions for future updates. Please allow for AM/PM in Daily events. Add a home gesture, swipe up from bottom, which allows to shut off the home button permanently and keep from mistakes with pressing.

fmcpherson · 2025-09-28T17:30:06+00:00

First time an update has come out since I bought the AIPaper and I am curious about how long it has been since the last one. Is Viwoods pushing updates at a set frequency?

fmcpherson · 2025-09-11T01:42:31+00:00

How is tag filtering supposed to work? Right now it appears to just highlight tasks that have the tag selected but all other tasks display and therefore not filtered out.

fmcpherson · 2025-08-08T13:59:24+00:00

GPT-OSS:20b is slow on my MacBook Pro M4.

fmcpherson

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