Integrate with iOS Health

[so-rich]

Hi there,

I'm really excited about Apple's announcement of the Health App in iOS 8 to be release this fall.  I'm looking forward to seeing a product announcement by Fitbit for a successor to the recalled Fitbit Force, and I'm really hoping to hear some exciting news about Fitbits intigration with Apple's new Health App to be released alongside iOS 8 this fall.  

This is a huge oportunity to make your devices even smarter and more integrated - Please support these APIs!  Thanks!

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity and labels.

[JohnBez]

Another great response from @PKDaba!

Thank you for so eloquently factually and honestly stating what all of us here for the most part I believe feel since we are dedicated iOS users and have been duped by fit bit to buy their "iOS compatible" products. This thread is tired, sad and to the point of not only being frustrating but downright infuriating and taking my displeasure with being lied to by fit bit to a whole new level of this taste and honestly hatred for a company which is really sad considering I was very excited to get my charge HR when I first bought it... Only to find out it's data was not going to be automatically sync with health kit.

Like you stated I have suspected all along that this guy, rich_laue, can't possibly be such an arrogant, purposefully giving out inane comments but acts like he really believes these things and must be a Fitbit Shill, employee or maybe even the president of the company... ironic that I thought the same thing that you actually stated.

All of this just defies logic on so many levels and while I have only stayed active on this thread just to see if they actually would ever change their tune and stop lying to an entire iOS user base, (and admittedly, my charge HR is sitting discharged in my desk drawer it's band disintegrating, ) maybe this man's work is is accomplishing something by frustrating all of us with his stupid comments so we will all just give up and stop monitoring this thread. I don't need the frustration. And he's not even in iOS user so get the hell off this thread you don't belong here.

A friend of mine gave me a gift of a Microsoft band 2. And while I certainly will admit that I drink the Apple Kool-Aid and have been using Apple products since the original Macintosh was invented in 1984, and that I really don't care for most Microsoft products at all, since it was a gift and it allowed me to put my Fitbit in the drawer and ignore this company, their false, misleading advertising on their packaging. And continuing to dupe people into buying their products thinking it's going to sync with health kit because they can say they have an iOS app which people don't understand doesn't make it truly iOS compatible.

Anyway, just wanted to say thank you for still "feeding the troll" with clear, honest and actual facts and the true story behind all this nonsense with a 2+ year-old thread and 11,000 posts from people wondering what the hell is going on.

I so wish I saved my $150 to put towards Apple Watch 2 instead of buying my Fitbit... I'd be that much closer to owning one now. But I will soon!

As many others have said if you've been pointed to this thread by the company when you ask about iOS health kit integration... return the device as soon as possible they lie.

John

Sent from my iPhone

[BrentBenn]

Please make Fitbit compatible with iOS Health App!

[Rich_Laue]

You guys sound like those reviews that are really marketing tactics

[Nisse]

@prwood Thanx! No refund possible, the Fittbit is used and the store has no real reason to take back a product just for the producer is set to make ios users to hate them.

The box should contain a warning label "If you are a iOS user, we support iOS in form of an app, BUT we don't like Apple users and we're just after your money and we want you to feel like an idiot afterwards for buying this product"

And furthermore, after replying to a post I received a message from a moderator of the forum saying I was crossposting and my post was deleted. This is my third post to this forum. How come Rich_Laue can have like 100 posts?

FITTbit seems to have set their mind to piss me and iOS users of.

[Rich_Laue]

So after going to https://www.fitbit.com/compare or reading the specs on the store.fitbit.com it was decided to by a product knowing full well I'd doesn't do what it says it doesn't do.. The solution is to complain. 

BTW: cross posting is not only unhelpful but against the rules of every community board on the internet, it's been this way since the BBS days back in the 80's and maybe even longer. 

[PKDaba]

@Nisse, sorry to hear that. The reality is that Fitbit as a company operates in a most counter-intuitive fashion from how it treats its customers, how it's trying to compete with the Apple Watch with its subpar Blaze even though the CEO claims that it's not, to how trolling is permissible by someone who has posted over 11000 posts (not 100s) with less than helpful posts to the community. That's Fitbit logic for you.

I hope that you can channel your frustrations by spreading the word on social media about your experience with Fitbit. Leave your 1 star ratings and honest reviews on Apple's App Store. Write reviews on Amazon, BestBuy, etc. Any one who landed here with a negative experience should be doing the same as well. Fitbit's mishandling of this one request has in effect created a negative sales force of 3000+ and growing. So be it. Thankfully it's still a free market and Fitbit is not a monopoly it delusionally wished it could be (seatbelts and airbags anyone?).

And yes, as I suspected all along, the existence of a resident pet pest troll in this thread has been 100% confirmed as he continues to demonstrate his inability to respond and debate in an intelligent manner. Please do not feed! It may actually be a troll with hidden Fitbit superpowers and privileges. So again, do not engage!

[Lizzy88]

There is no reason for Fitbit to not allow the integration. Get with the programme!!!!!!!

[Rich_Laue]

@PKDaba, care to post your stat of 500+

marked solutions. I keep saying to myself, I'm unsubscribing from this thread but posters keep pulling me back in. 

[Amiroo]

I'm on iOS 10 now. Looking for HealthKit integration. What's keeping you guys up? You are trying to compete head on with Apple?

[hollygwenn]

I want Fitbit to integrate with Apple Health, WITHOUT having to download an additional app to bridge the gap.

[Alex-PTA]

Soon it's bye bye Fitbit. No health integration, no whatsapp massages on expensive devices. Garmin here I come

[PKDaba]

@Lizzy88, @Amiroo, @hollygwenn, and @Alex-PTA, this feature request is over 2 years old, still 'under consideration' with not one single official word from Fitbit. You could pretty much assume that this request has been 'declined'. Fitbit does not have the fortitude to officially say this and it's using this thread to give iOS users false hope.

Move on to better companies and devices. Do your research. They are out there. If you have a glimpse in the other Fitbit forums, you'll find many users having real problems and dissatisfaction with Fitbit products and customer service, with no real concrete solutions being offered. It's evident that Fitbit does not really value or respect you as a customer.

[Aabdel]

Very true. When I returned my Fitbit after two days of use and realising Fitbit were never going to do anything. The customer service attendant mentioned that I was not the first and that there were a lot of returns. Glad I returned it and went to a better company that cares!

Sent from my iPhone

[nittro86]

I have just order a Fitbit Charge 2 and stumbled over this topic, which made me a bit sad to be honest. I really want to be able to share the data collected by my fitbit device with other apps and for me it makes sense to have it done through the health API. So I really hope that Fitbit will reconsider their position.

[HopefulRunner]

@nittro86,

They will not change their mind before you re period is up, if ever. 

Get out out while you still can. 

[KellyAPN]

I know this isn't an Apple Watch thread, but any idea of the Watch Series 2 will have a FitBit type app that can track it all? I despise the "rings." I like the total calorie burn offered by FitBit, not just the active calorie burn. Also I like how it is displayed all on one screen, easy to read. I love the FitBit App...I just want to be able to use my Apple Watch. It's ridiculous we don't have that option, and even more ridiculous that no one has come up with a copycat FitBit app for Apple Watch! 😡

[PKDaba]

Hi @KellyAPN, I personally love the rings in the apps native to both the Apple Watch and iPhone, as it shows me in one glance how close I am at getting to my fitness goals. But again, UI preferences are very personal and that’s why there are myriads of fitness apps that you can download to your Apple Watch that suits your preference. It’s a matter of spending some time researching and familiarizing what these various apps are capable of. And also familiarizing yourself with features within an existing app that you may not be aware of.

The Activity App in your iPhone shows the total calories burned as well. But in terms of fitness, it’s the active calories that really matters. Here are screen shots on the iPhone on where to look for the total calories. If you look at the red ’Move’ graph, simply swipe the graph to the left (two dots at bottom, tells you there is more info to the right). The second screen capture shows you info in terms of total calories burned.

    

If you look at my progress this week, I’ve not been meeting my fitness goals (circles not closed), especially the most important one, the red ‘Move’ ring. I can tell this from one glance but I can also account for it as I’ve been out with a mild running injury and a heavier than usual work load. Looking at my Monday’s workout, I did a short 3 km run to temper my injury using Nike+ Running App. As you can see its results are nicely integrated into the ‘Exercise’ portion of the graph. Any running app (like Strava, Runtastic, etc.) that integrates with Apple Watch and HealthKit will have results showing up here.

If you really want a Fitbit like App, there’s no one but Fitbit who can do this. Any third party creating a Fitbit copycat app would be infringing on Fitbit’s copyrights and would also demonstrate a lack of creativity and originality. So, in essence you’re at the right forum thread to make such a request. Except that so far, this thread has been 100% ignored by Fitbit for the last 2+ years of its existence.

[gutsma]

You can access caloric burn (active energy and resting energy) on HealthKit. Since AppleWatch syncs to HealthKit, it's quite easy. 

Once you acclimate to AppleWatch it is very easy to work with and interpret. It does many more things than the rings.

[humanista]

@KellyAPN As others have said their are alternative dashboards if you do not like the rings. Apple HealthKit has a nice, customizable presentation. You actually have control over all your data points. You might also want to check out Jawbone's Up. It has a great app with a terrific predictive engine. It will draw correlations for you between your ativity, your diet, and your sleep. You might also want to try Under Armor Record app. It also has a unigue way of presenting your data. I personally use Gyroscope and love it although it is a paid app and ties in a lot more data points including locations (via Moves or Foursquare) and computer activity (via Response). Another app worth checking out is TactioHealth. It all depends on what you plan on using the dashboards for. All the apps I mentioned integrate with Apple HealthKit and you do not need to buy the respective hardware to use them. Under Armor Record also has a Apple Watch app.

As this small list shows, Fitbit could just as easily integrate with Apple HealthKit and solve a problem for its users. Unfortunately, even after two years, Fitbit has shown that they do not care about Fitbit users who want to use HealthKit to store or manage all their data.

[PKDaba]

@KellyAPN, a thought occurred to me that you should start a new Features Request Thread asking Fitbit to integrate with the Apple Watch, asking Fitbit to create an app specifically for the Apple Watch. Keep in mind that this thread here is specifically for requesting integration with Apple's HealthKit (which Fitbit would need to do to create an Apple Watch compatible app).

Who knows, that new request may become a top request like HealthKit integration has been for the last 2 years. I would not hold my breath though.

[KellyAPN]

Wow! You have all been so helpful! I have to admit, after getting my Apple Watch series 1, I was so disappointed. I was never able to give FitBit up due to the app that I love so much. I actually stopped wearing my watch altogether for several months. I finally decided to try again, and I love everything about it with the exception of an app I love. I ordered a series 2 hoping for improvements in the native watch app and GPS. It will be here Tuesday so we shall see. I never knew the native app was called HealthKit, but it is so confusing to me. It doesn't seem streamlined or intuitive. A personal opinion, obviously. I like to track calories, and love how easy that is with FitBit. Maybe I just don't understand HealthKit.

I have looked at Jawbone UP, but didn't realize I could use it without the Jawbone. I use MapMyRun as well...which integrates with the watch app, but I'd like to use just one. At this point I'm using map my fitness linked to FitBit, map my run linked to map my fitness, and separately starting workouts on the watch app. Please tell me I'm just making it this difficult.

Thanks so much for all of the input.

[fitgirl_pam08]

There have been two major iOS software updates since this post was created... we are up to iOS 10 now and I would love it if there was some sort of integration and compatibility with Fitbit & Apple's health app! Please, please, please! I've always had all apple products but I love the Fitbit app/software!

[KellyAPN]

Also!! The calories burned in FitBit app vs HealthKit app... I like the reading from FitBit much better. Currently my FitBit says I've burned 1,436, and the HealthKit says 1,198. Yes, I'm wearing them both. lol I've also run 3 miles today. How could I have only burned 1,198?! 😡

[PKDaba]

@KellyAPN, one thing to keep in mind is that Fitbit trackers (to varying degrees from model to model) tend to over count steps and hence calories (consistently shown by numerous studies and from folks complaining about it in the various threads in Fitbit’s community forum).

There are many factors that come into play, primarily how intelligent the trackers are. Fitbit ones are pretty dumb as it appears to only track any kind of motion. So results vary depending on where you wear your Fitbit. If you wear the device in your active wrist, it’ll count more steps than your non-active one.

Also, Fitbit requires you to manually give it your average stride length for the Fitbit App to give you an estimate at best of what your distance and calories should be. The estimate will be closer if your tracker (like the HR) has a heart rate monitor as it’ll try to correlate how hard your heart is working vs amount of steps vs distance taken to calculate calories burned. Nevertheless, it’ll still be an estimate for all devices (Apple included).

Test after test, Apple’s Watch step, distance, and calories count have been shown to be closer to the actual amount. The reason being is that the Apple Watch self calibrates any time you have the iPhone with you on a work out using its GPS. It calculates your average stride lengths for your walking workouts and running workouts. You don’t have to give Apple’s apps any manual entries of what your stride length should be. So the more workouts you do, the more accurate your readings will be. Also, Apple has built in intelligent algorithms to detect whether you’re actually walking vs merely waving your hand (i.e. dumb vs smart trackers). As an example, many years ago, I wore a Fitbit One on a whale watching tour. At the end of the day, it gave me a count of 13000+ steps for sitting in a rocking boat. I went on another whale watching tour just last year with an Apple Watch and it correctly gave more appropriate readings accounting for just my walking motion and not bouncing or rocking in a boat.

My guess is that one of the reasons why Fitbits are popular with folks is that it over reports on your steps and calories giving folks an easy reward for their workouts where in actuality they may not have reached their fitness goals. Again, you’ll need to do your own experimentation over time and decide on which device is giving you a more consistent and accurate reading.

I'll talk about what HealthKit is vs. Health App, vs. other Apple fitness apps in another post, at a later time. There are differences that may help you understand better how things work in Apple's ecosystem.

[Cormachsmith]

Please do this