Health kit: Remove phone as datasource for steps

I am having the same problem using a Polar Loop with my iPhone 5S.

The prioritising function doesn't work as the iPhone continuously adds steps for a certain period of time (a couple of minutes) whereas the Polar Flow app, which communicates with the Polar Loop activity tracker only syncs only when you command it to.
I think this shouldn't be a problem if the Polar Flow app also gives a time period to the synced data, because then the Health app will probably recognise that for a certain period of time there are multiple data sources and it will prioritise using the priority list.
However, the Polar Flow app doesn't define a time period for the synced steps (it does, but just 1 second at the time of the sync).

I think this is the main problem with tracking with both iPhone and a Polar Loop, resulting in double counted steps. Which is, I think, a problem with the Polar Flow app.

The double counting can be solved by:

• Changing the Motion & Fitness Privacy settings (in iPhone settings) so the internal iPhone motion sensor may not write data to the Health app. Disadvantage is that this also prevents other data apart from steps to not be synced, like walking and running distance and stairs climbed etc.
• Delete the step data provided by iPhone manually in the Health app, as suggested by Barry. This is tedious.

In my opinion, these workarounds are not satisfying. Ultimately you do want the iPhone to count steps in case you forget or choose not to wear you activity tracker.

I will try to contact the Polar Flow team, to hear what they say about the problem.

But it's not so simple! I have this chosen for my Apple Watch to be priority but for some reason I'll have a log at 11:51 from the Watch then 11:53 from the phone. Yes, they won't log at the same time but they are both still logging.

I, too, would like to remove my phone from step counting only.

This is true! The issue I've had over a year is getting the step conversion into distance. I have the Polar Loop and I've upgraded to the Polar A360. For some odd reason when adding "Polar Flow" as a source, there is not an option to write data for distance. I don't understand that, since the Plow Flow app has distance walked/ran km/m available on the app. What is allowed to write to the Health App as followed:

Active Energy, Heart Rate, Resting Energy, Sleep Analysis, Steps, Weight, Workouts. No distance.....

I can't participate in any distance challenge on StrideKick or inKin due to the lack of distance data being wrote to the apple health app. I'm not sure if this should be a Polar or Apple update.

in the settings section of the UP app, go to HealthKit sharing and untick the option for UP to "read" steps and sleep from healthkit. With an UP band you'll only want to share the data out, not import the data in.

But that is so the app does not send data to Health Kit, but I want to use only the data from the apps to calculate the steps, and not the phone.

I am using the Withings Health Mate, where I track the steps tracker and not the phone, and when I transfer the data, I get everything double.

There is a way in Healthkit to delete the steps that Iphone is counting. But I am having to go in manually, daily, and do this. I haven't figure out a way to turn of the counting and reporting of the Iphone steps into Healthkit either.

Preventing data from being duplicated in the UP app

First in the health app select sources, then UP from the list. Turn off the "Allow Up to read data" for sleep analysis and steps.

This will prevent the data from being duplicated in the UP app.

Preventing data from being duplicated in the Health app

Next go back to the dashboard and tap on the "Steps" pane. Tap "Share Data" then the edit button on the top right.

Drag the Up row so that it is the first in the list under "Data Sources." This will prioritize the data from the UP band as opposed to aggregating the data from the UP band as well as the iphone's step tracker.

Hope this helps.

You can only have one data source in the health app. See my previous comment about how to prioritize the data sources to select the source you want the health app to receive data from.

I have the same problem. I can delete all the data that has been gathered through the iPhone as a source and the iPhone disappears in the Share Data screen (I am using Edomondo to track distance of walking and running) However once I move the iPhone it again automatically becomes a data source and adds lots of data that corrupts the data coming from the Edomondo app. Moving the Edomondo app to the top in the Share Data screen does not seem to have any effect. The iPhone source still affects the results. How to get rid of the iPhone 6 as a source?

I have the same problem. I use Wristband Manager to sync my fitbit data to healthkit (at least while I'm exploring other options given fitbit's unwillingness to integrate with healthkit directly), and I'm basically getting double counting for any times I'm carrying my phone around with me unless I go in and manually delete the iphone data from each data feed (steps, running, etc.). I'd like to just turn off the iphone as a source, since it's both duplicative and completely inaccurate - I don't carry my phone with me everywhere the way I wear my fitbit on my wrist. When I'm home or at work (i.e., most of the day), my phone generally sits in a charger on my desk. In addition, it seems to pick up "steps" when I'm doing things like sitting at my desk checking twitter.

I believe the problem with Wristband Manager is that it puts in a daily total for each of the measurements it syncs. This total is dated at midnight at the start of each day. The iPhone 6 source is adding steps detected as they happen with a total for each time. If the times matched exactly, then whichever source had the highest priority order for that exact date and time would be used. Since the times do not match you end up seeing both.

I think that we will need an option to check/uncheck different data sources, including Health or iPhone, in addition to using the priority order.

I have the same issue with my Garmin Vivosmart. There is no way that I can see to stop the Health App from adding data. I want my Garmin to be the only source the Health app pulls from but there is no way for that to happen. It just keeps adding data on top of what Garmin wants to post. Even if you set the preferences to pull from Garmin first it still posts. Apple needs to step in here. There should be a way to have the app not pull data from the iPhone altogether if requested.

Is it not a matter of turning off the Motion and Fitness tracking for Health app under Privacy settings?

I turned off the Privacy motion stuff, but then it stops recording all information the iPhone would log - instead, I want to use the iphone for distance and stair counts, and my LifeTrak R450 for steps, heartrate, sleep, etc. I don't want to completely unplug the iPhone, just not use it for step counts.

I originally came across this thread while looking for a solution to the same problem listed here. While not ideal, I believe I've found a reasonably easy workaround for this. Note that I am using a Garmin Vivosmart that is tied to the Garmin Connect mobile app on my iPhone 6 Plus, so I can really only vouch for that particular combo.

In the Health app, go to "Steps". There's an item there "Share Data" - click/press on that to go to the Share Data page. Then, under "Data Sources", you should see both your phone and your external tracker - click on your phone. Then on that page click "Edit", then click on the "Clear All" link. That will remove all the step data the Health app has accumulated from your phone, leaving only the steps contributed by your fitness tracker.

Of course this will have to be repeated every so often... so it's not a great solution. But it does seem to accomplish what I want.

ON a side note... the reason I cared about this at all is because my iPhone consistently registers 25%-50% more steps than I've actually taken! It probably has to do with the loose pockets of the cargo pants I generally wear rather than a flaw in the phone itself; but it is annoying.