I REALLY don't like GWF's new software!

morningstar

morningstar

Cathlete
  • My display is always 200 calories or more greater than the armband upload figures by the end of the day for the calories burned figures
  • It's harder to find basic foods, like vegetables, in the food searches because they're hidden in all the processed foods
  • My frequent foods are no longer displayed first in searches
  • My display is not in sync way more than it is in sync
  • Sometimes the so-called automatic sync ain't so much
  • Sometimes a meal doesn't save - last night I tried 6 times to enter my dinner and it wouldn't save it. I gave up.
  • It doesn't always save my entered foods or recipes, even if I try 10 times
  • Customer Service is NOT returning my emails regarding these issues

Is anyone else having these issues?
 
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I never use the display (just not necessary or practical for me), so I can't compare that.

I also don't like that it's harder to find the basic food among all of the processed foods. That doesn't even make sense.

I also don't like that My Foods don't show up first and I have to go looking for them.

I haven't had any problem with saving meals.

I haven't had any problems with my armband syncing and I like that I can just plug it in now and it connects and syncs automatically. I am having trouble, though, launching the Activity Manager occasionally from the main page. It asks me again to log in and when I do it takes me back to the main page and when I launch again I get the login screen. I can log in directly from the synching icon in the tray by right-clicking and selecting View Data. Frustrating and odd.

I like how there are so many more measurement choices for the foods and I no longer have to do conversions to metric. I do miss the "item" and "slice" selections on many of the foods that used to be there.

I like the graphics better now. I do wish that they would add the fiber listing to the individual food entries. It is listed in the summary, so it makes sense that the information is available and could be added as another column for each food.
 
Hi Morningstar,

I haven't had the problems you've listed. When I sync my armband, the AM usually gives me a slightly higher caloric burn than the display....by maybe 30 or so. How long have you had your GWF? They reiterate frequently that the longer you wear it, the more accurate it becomes; it gets to know you better. If you've had yours for a while, perhaps the AM is adjusting the numbers, based on all the information it's thus far gathered about you? I'm just taking a guess. I've only had mine for a month.

I haven't had any problems saving meals or anything. Could that be because I'm running it on a Mac, not a PC? I can't remember what you're using?

I agree that mixing the plain food in with the processed foods is annoying. That was a bad idea.

My display remains in sync always, unless I take it off.

Their customer service is veeeeery slow. It took me 2 days last time just to get an acknowledgment of my email and a case number. This is definitely an area requiring improvement.

HTH,
Sandra
 
Does anyone notice how low the calorie burn readings are for straight weight lifting? This is the workout I did the other day, using heavy weights, and it said that I burned a grand total of 137 calories, and didn't even register moderate activity:

  • Warm Up
  • 182 pushups
  • 100 Wide Squats
  • 100 crunches on the ball
  • 42 one arm rows
  • 52 bicep curls
  • 52 skull crushers
  • Stretch

Today's workout was straight strength, full body again, 2.5 hours, and it said I burned 300 calories. I really think it relies heavily on step count to get its figures, because obviously I don't do a lot of steps while doing push ups or squats, etc. I guaran-freakin'-tee that 182 pushups is vigorous activity!

I'm having issues with the Activity Manager log-in too. I'm on a PC. Since you were my enabler, Sandra, I've had my Gwoof about two weeks less than you! :eek:

I tried calling them yesterday, but they were closed for Black Friday. Guess they had shopping to do.
 
I'm also diasppointed with the new 'upgrade' morningstar. :( My display (same as always) is now about 15-20% HIGHER than the online. It used to be in the <5% variance range. But like you my differences are 200+ calories/day. :eek:

I've also asked customer service and I just got a form response stating they were looking into it. Their site doesn't state ANYTHING about this either.

Honestly I almost feel betrayed. I've used is religiously since May and I've counted on it being fairly accurate. At least within itself. I got used to the low calorie burn for weight lifting. I used a different food logging program to get around their site deficiencies. But now their own system doesn't agree with itself?!?! :mad:

I will continue using it. For now. But I'm hoping the fitbit (without the monthly fee) will be 'good enough'. I used to think this was the cadillac of devices and service. No more. :(
 
I've had mine since May as well and I'm now seeing a 200 cal. diff. between what my display unit shows and what the armband upload shows.
Frankly, I believe the display unit as it's consistent w/ what I was seeing before GWF changed their software.

Since nothing else is off (steps, activity, etc.) my guess is they did some recalc. of the default body mass calorie burn somewhere in their programming and that screwed up everything.

I also sent them an inquiry so we'll see what they say.

Morningstar--My GWF never shows a high calorie burn for weight lifting even if I'm sweating buckets. I do see a higher resting calorie burn afterward though. It's not a heart rate monitor so it's not going to be as exact as a polar for a specific activity. :(
 
I like the looks of the new software but am also not crazy about how the foods are listed now. Though I bought the display, I don't use it, so I haven't noticed any discrepancies.

I had had some tech issues before but found the customer support to be responsive and helpful. Maybe they are overloaded with support requests at the moment.
 
Those of you who were having problems, have they been resolved yet? I don't notice any new discrepancies between the display watch and the software. There's always been small differences between the 2 (maybe 20 cals, 50 steps) and that hasn't bothered me at all.

I just started using the nutrition software this past week and I really like it. I've had to enter a lot of the foods I eat, but I've had no major problems. Of course, it's can be a challenge to find an exact match for something, and I do hope they improve it.

I remember back in the summer there was an update that caused my display to constantly fall out of sync. Shortly after there was another update that fixed the problem.
 
pixiesis said:
Those of you who were having problems, have they been resolved yet? I don't notice any new discrepancies between the display watch and the software. There's always been small differences between the 2 (maybe 20 cals, 50 steps) and that hasn't bothered me at all.
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Nope. no resolution. No contact from customer support. I WISH my difference was only the 20 calories or so. Mine is still 200+ calories difference. This is NOT an acceptable difference in my opinion. I've stopped recommending the device to others. :(
 
Same problem here!!

I had only been using my GWF for about a month before the upgrade, but I too am seeing about a two hundred calorie difference between the display and arm band (the display is higher and consistance with the numbers I showed prior to the upgrade). My step count and activity times don't seem to be affected. I did contact customer service and below is the response I got (alot of BS if you ask me!! :mad:)

"We are currently investigating the situation.

The website runs complex statistical algorithms that take the Armband data and compute your calories. This algorithm also uses the historical data on your account to personalize this calculation even further. If you have a Display you will have seen up to the minute calorie values displayed. The Armband contains a miniaturized set of algorithms that can calculate calories and send them directly to the Display every minute. Because the website servers are many times more powerful than the Armband, small differences can occur in the calories they compute. If you wear the Armband on the left arm, the right way up, then the daily calories shown on the Display and website will match within 5%. The total minutes of physical activity should match closely between the Display and website. The daily step counts will be identical. The "right way up" has the logo closer to your shoulder and the lights closer to your elbow.

Yours in Health,
The BodyMedia Customer Service Team"

The difference I have been seeing between my display and the armband upload is more like 15%!

I urge everyone who is having similar issues to contact Body Media. The more complaints they get the more likely they are to look into the problem. I look forward to hearing more about everyone's experiences and hope to get some sort of resolution soon.
 
pmb0602 said:
I had only been using my GWF for about a month before the upgrade, but I too am seeing about a two hundred calorie difference between the display and arm band (the display is higher and consistance with the numbers I showed prior to the upgrade). My step count and activity times don't seem to be affected. I did contact customer service and below is the response I got (alot of BS if you ask me!! :mad:)

"We are currently investigating the situation.

The website runs complex statistical algorithms that take the Armband data and compute your calories. This algorithm also uses the historical data on your account to personalize this calculation even further. If you have a Display you will have seen up to the minute calorie values displayed. The Armband contains a miniaturized set of algorithms that can calculate calories and send them directly to the Display every minute. Because the website servers are many times more powerful than the Armband, small differences can occur in the calories they compute. If you wear the Armband on the left arm, the right way up, then the daily calories shown on the Display and website will match within 5%. The total minutes of physical activity should match closely between the Display and website. The daily step counts will be identical. The "right way up" has the logo closer to your shoulder and the lights closer to your elbow.

Yours in Health,
The BodyMedia Customer Service Team"

The difference I have been seeing between my display and the armband upload is more like 15%!

I urge everyone who is having similar issues to contact Body Media. The more complaints they get the more likely they are to look into the problem. I look forward to hearing more about everyone's experiences and hope to get some sort of resolution soon.
Click to expand...

This is EXACTLY what I received weeks ago from my inquiry. I responded the same as you - my difference was in the 12%+ range. Totally not acceptable. I've not heard from them since. :(
 
FWIW and FYI

I was experiencing the same discrepancies between the GWF display and the Activity Manager. Yesterday I downloaded the new Body Media Sync version 1.0.7. Now I am only 2 calories different instead of 188-200.

I am happier with my Gwoof.
 
Janis said:
FWIW and FYI

I was experiencing the same discrepancies between the GWF display and the Activity Manager. Yesterday I downloaded the new Body Media Sync version 1.0.7. Now I am only 2 calories different instead of 188-200.

I am happier with my Gwoof.
Click to expand...

I just got this message from them today (AFTER I uploaded of course) Crossing my fingers.

Did the auto-upload go away? I sync'd using the button/old method. Perhaps that sync was the problem? Or my system just blew it out. :confused:
 
Brenda and others, will you let us know if the sync update makes a difference? I was afraid to do any new updates since I HAVEN'T been having the problems others are having. Why mess with it if it's working right?

And FYI, I've still not experienced any problems since the software update. So strange. I wonder if it has to do with the fact that they replaced my original GWF after I contacted them to let them know that it stopped beeping like it used to. They replaced it over the summer. Hmmmm...
 
Yeah, I downloaded the new update about a week ago and after a few days, it started to be in sync again- and I was really happy to see that the numbers were back up high! Now if only they could get all the rest straightened out. Pixiesis, I doubt that's it, as my Gwoof was new.
 
My Gwoof was new also, received it in November. Sold and shipped by Amazon, how old their inventory is, I don't know. My display and the Activity Manager were never in agreement until now.

:D

I burn a lot more calories at rest than I thought, which I attribute to weight lifting. Even though I don't burn much while doing the actual lifting, the increased muscle mass has increased my BMR. Win-win.

Surprisingly I burn a lot of calories doing dishes! Burning a lot of calories with kickbox was another surprise. In both cases I think it is the arm movement involved that registers as vigorous effort with the Gwoof - it is my hope that this is actual calorie burn and not a gwoofy over calculation.

Edited to add: I never received an email notification either; an update tab appeared one day when I logged in to sync the data.
 
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Yippee! My numbers are MUCH closer now :D The auto-sync feature no longer works. But I can start the sync manually. So that works.

It was still DEPLORABLE customer service. Still is. :(
 
As of last Thursday it appears my GWF stopped working right. The display was working fine, but I went to upload today and saw that since mid-day on Thursday the upload makes it look like the unit was off body. I know better because my display was reading right. I just did the upgrade to 1.0.7 so hopefully the next time I sync everything will be back in order. :mad:
 
Ffte said:
As of last Thursday it appears my GWF stopped working right. The display was working fine, but I went to upload today and saw that since mid-day on Thursday the upload makes it look like the unit was off body. I know better because my display was reading right. I just did the upgrade to 1.0.7 so hopefully the next time I sync everything will be back in order. :mad:
Click to expand...

As of today I can't sync my armband at all. It was working fine last night. I uninstalled and reinstalled the software, and checked to make sure the USB connection is working (works fine with other things). And I can't usually even get into the Activity Manager unless it's through the syncing because Launch sends me into an endless login loop. I am not a happy camper today, needless to say. No response from GWF about either of these problems, although the syncing problem was just reported to them today. I haven't checked my paperwork yet to see what the warranty time is.
 
So sorry for your frustration Nancy. That can't be right. :mad: Hopefully there will be another 'magic' fix. Their communication is horrid. I'm looking forward to my fitbit - if it ever arrives :p
 
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