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.

[HopefulRunner]

I would love to see the numbers on how many fitbits get returned when iOS customers find out it is not 100% compatible with iOS.

How good would their sales be if they were honest and put on the packaging that it does not support HealthKit?

[HopefulRunner]

Does Fitbit still have premium service to let you download your intra-day data (spreadsheets)?

They didn't use to let anyone access intra-day data without making a profit.

I use to pay for premium, but I ended that over this HealthKit issue, I jumped to jawbone.

So they lost my $50 per year and I will never buy another Fitbit. Back in the begging I would have paid a subscription fee for HealthKit access, too late now.

[Rich_Laue]

I understand that about the two API's, the one read only anybody has access to, where a second permission is needed to write, this is mainly because Fitbit wants to know who will be altering data. Fitbit has a department that works with 3rd party apps.

As the Moderator stated above, Fitbit will be watching Apple Health, and encourage comments on how a linkup should work and what data should be shared.

[HopefulRunner]

Don't hold your breath.

[HopefulRunner]

And it more than read/write. Intra day vs summary.

[SunsetRunner]

@Rich_Laue

Are you failing at reading comprehension intentionally? As @HopefulRunner and I have stated, the difference isn't read/write. It's a level of granuality that is essential for getting the whole picture of one's health.

You still don't understand the situation at all. Are you trying to suggest that Fitbit shouldn't have to make an app for iOS at all? Yeah, Apple should rework iOS so that it integrates with Fitbit natively. Apple should do that for all apps that people want to use, then customers would have less choice! Great!

I am beginning to think you are just a shill, here for no reason other than to try convince everyone that Fitbit isn't that bad guy, even though they clearly are.

[PKDaba]

Well said @Sherri0

Definitions for the day:

trolling: "make a deliberately offensive or provocative online posting with the aim of upsetting someone or eliciting an angry response from them." [Google]

trolled: "Anyone who fails to recognize a troll and responds to it with anger or annoyance is said to have been 'trolled'" [Urban Dictionary]

Folks reading this thread (or on any forum for that matter), please don't be either.

So back on topic:

1. Do iOS users want Fitbit to integrate its data with Apple HealthKit? Resounding Yes! as shown by the votes and comments in this thread. There are many iOS Fitbit users out there who have yet to realize the importance of HealthKit. Many of them will eventually come to this forum to find for themselves the type of 'care' they receive from Fitbit.
2. Has Fitbit done anything about it? No! No action or official response from Fitbit for the last 2 years and counting. Highly disrespectful on Fitbit's part to first solicit responses from its customers and not keep its users informed in a timely manner.
3. Do iOS users feel misled by Fitbit? I certainly have and decided to switch solely to an Apple Watch over a year ago.
4. Does Fitbit want exclusive control of your data? Certainly seems so as Fitbit does not allow users to choose where their data goes.
5. Are there third party apps that sync data from Fitbit to HealthKit? Yes, BUT Fitbit does not allow the full set of data to be transferred over (i.e. it's incomplete, leaving out the data that matters).
6. Are there other devices that do integrate fully with HealthKit? Garmin, Withings, Jawbone, and many others offer this service and let users decide where their data goes.

Full Disclosure: I am a past iOS Fitbit user (an early adopter) who has been and still is disatisfied with Fitbit's handling of this issue. And no, I don't use Android or Samsung devices nor have posted over 9000 comments in other threads.

[humanista]

@SunsetRunner Thank you for clearly pointing out the differences between the two Fitbit APIs that anyone, even non-technical people as evidenced by the comments, can understand. Like many here, I was an early adopter of Fitbit (2012), but left the platform years ago, put my Ultra and One in drawer, gave away my Aria, and cancelled my premium membership due to this issue. 

[drtaxsacto]

Your second statement is false. People connect their step counters to their phones not the other way round. Also 1 million blazes a month comes out to 12 million watches or about the same as the Apple Watch. For me this discussion is no longer relevant. We have asked politely for FITBIT to connect and for whatever reason (arrogance, stupidity, or simple incompetence) they have chosen not to. When the Watch came out I used both for a while but then did some calibrations on both devices. The Watch was consistently more accurate in step count. So I am now a former FITBIT user.

Sent from my iPad Air

[Rich_Laue]

The Fitbit needs to be connected to the account, then the App can connect the tracker to the phone. You don't believe this, go to your BT settings, tell the phone to forget the Blaze. Now try and pair it through the phones BT screen, you will get "rejected by Blaze" everytime. Now open the app and force a sync, the app will pair the Blaze, it knows which Blaze to pair, then will sync.

[iwatts]

@Rich_Laue there are three things you don't seem to understand

1. Apple have already created an app that connects to Fitbit. It's called HealthKit. Fitbit choose not to allow that connection. Apple cannot do anything more
2. This is not a discussion thread, but a feature request. It is where those of us who want this feature have been requesting for over two years. If you don't want to request this feature then take your discussion elsewhere.
3. Fitbit already agree in principle, and action, with connecting to a service like HealthKit as they actively connect to Microsoft Healthvault.

None of your comments on here are relevant to the purpose of the thread, which is to get Fitbit to link with Apple's open API in the same way they do with Microsoft's.

You seem to want to simply stir up trouble. Well please take your childish games elsewhere, as a feature request thread related to iOS is no place for someone who doesn't even use iOS.

[PKDaba]

@iwatts, don't waste your time further with trolls (i.e. don't get trolled). Best to take Fitbit's lead and ignore further posts from @Rich_Laue. There's nothing new or useful he has contributed and doubt very much he'll have anything good to say or relevant to this topic in the future.

@HopefulRunner and @SunsetRunner, thank you both for your useful and informative posts about how things work in reality as it relates to this important feature request, something that's totally lost on folks pretending to know what they are talking about.

Let's all move on and help new iOS users who come here who have fallen victim to Fitbit's deception. 

[TraumaNurse247]

So disappointing. My fiance and I have been using Fitbit products for over a year now. She has used the Flex, Charge, Charge HR. I've used the Charge, Charge HR, and just got a Blaze. I bought her an AppleWatch never thinking for a second that in this day and age of interconnectivity that she wouldn't be able to sync data from her watch to the Fitbit app; it just didn't even cross my mind. Why? Because literally everything syncs with everything these days... Well almost everything. Enter Fitbit. I mean we love the Fitbit app, the leaderboards, the comps, the challeneges, badges, etc. Truly awesome. I love my new Blaze. What I don't love? The fact that she can't simply sync her steps from the Apple Watch activity tracker into the Fitbit app and still participate in daily challenges, and the leaderboards with me.

I get it. You want to sell Fitbits. That's your brand. No shame in that. Unfortunately, from scrolling nearly 2 years worth of dissatisfaction in countless threads since the release of the Apple Watch, it seems the vote is unanimous. "I'm not giving up my Apple Watch just to use your app."  Really sucks for you guys. Couldn't seem to corner people into using your product just to have access to your software. I love my Fitbit product, don't get me wrong. But I don't see my SO giving up her shiney Apple Watch to use your app. 

It just does not make sense. It's so simple. Profit is profit, I get that. Make an app. "Fitbit Apple Watch" Whatever, make it catchy. Doesn't matter. Make it 2 or 3 dollars. What does it do? Uses information from Apple Healthkit, the watch's activity tracker, etc. to populate the same Fitbit platform and still seamlessly interact with dedicated Fitbit users. Why not? Estimates of Apple Watch sales range from 6 to 12 million, and is probably significantly higher. You don't want potentially ~24 million dollars in app sales for practically nothing? Simply integrating a sync for Apple's HealthKit and charging for it? You would rather isolate an entire market of people for absolutely no reason? It's beyond me, really. Best of luck. I'd hire a new marketing strategist though. 

[SunsetRunner]

@PKDaba Thank you for the pertinent reminder and advice about trolling. You are right that the best we can do it to make sure new users understand the situation.

I have stopped giving Fitbit any data other than what the device itself collects. I have made sure none of my other apps link to Fitbit, and will be replacing my Charge HR as soon as the next Apple Watch is out.

I still remember when Fitbits were as new and as hot as iPhones. So sad.

[njslim]

Allow me to add one more voice to the 'please make the fitbit more ios compatible' group.  I was just given a Charge HR (Happy Father's Day) and was very surprised to find it won't sync with the ios 9.3 Health app.   I really don't get it.
Hopefully, this can change. 

Thanks for listening.  

[PKDaba]

@njslim, I would recommend returning or exchanging your Charge HR for something better that already does integrate with HealthKit. There are better options from Apple, Garmin, Withings, Jawbone, and others that meet your syncing needs with Apple's HealthKit.

Fitbit has been 'listening' to this thread for the last 2 years and has chosen to remain silent and ignore all of our requests. Don't get locked into Fitbit's strangle hold over you, your potential social contacts, and YOUR fitness data. And lastly, don't fall victim to the false hope that this thread gives new users like yourself that integration is going to happen anytime soon.

[LyonsPryde]

As an apple user who LIVES by my FitBit I would love to see a full interation with the healthkit app on iPhone. Mostly becuase my UHC Rally app uses HealthKits info to updates its information which in turn offers me money savings per year on my health insureance premiums. a direct link between the apps would save a LOT of user headache to link multiple apps on my iPhone.

[gohoos]

Has it really been two years?

Each time I revisit this thread I feel a combination of incredulity, frustration, and rage.

Why is this still an issue? Why won't Fitbit step up?

I ask, expecting no answer.

[PKDaba]

@gohoos wrote:

> "Why is this still an issue? Why won't Fitbit step up?"

Because Fitbit is a really great company that really cares about its customers and ACTS on its customers requests and needs. It is truly wonderful how Fitbit iOS customers have been kept informed for the last 2 years in response to the overwhelming number of comments and votes left by its valued customers. [Sarcasm Alert]

Seriously though, recently reading other threads, I think Fitbit has its hands full with other issues: problems with Bluetooth connectivity with new products like the Blaze, ongoing rash issues with its bands, usability issues with hardware and software, to name a few. So, it's not only iOS users who are having a 'fit' right now. Over time, the quality of its products and service (or lack of) will come shining through.

In addtion to the Apple Watch, Garmin's Vivo fitnes line of products fully integrate with HealthKit and are really good alternatives for those of you looking for options.

[SunsetRunner]

It's really sad that it has been 2 years with no headway on this. It's clearly a requested feature yet Fitbit seems to care little, or nothing at all about what the consumer wants in regards to the Apple HealthKit or the Apple Watch. I'd even be willing to pay for an Apple Watch app so I don't have to wear a device on each wrist that essentially do the same thing. (The Apple Watch is far more useful and attractive than anything Fitbit is offering.)

[Bkearns]

I just got my Fitbit Charge HR assuming like all the other devices I could integrate it into HealthKit. Unless Fitbit is going to try to compete/become all of the other apps that are out there they are doing customers a disservice by not syncing it so that other apps have access to the data. Providing this integration should not be an Apple vs Fitbit but letting me as a customer use the applications that show my data the best. For me HealthKit is more of a hub for moving health data between apps rather than a destination app. Hopefully Fitbit will realize that the data they are collecting is our data and we would like to share it between applications and have it in one place.

[Wirewrappedlily]

please integrate. I manage my diabetes through the health app's connection to my other app, I would love to be able to pull up everything all at once.

[Ianbrewster]

Yes please consider

[tigerwizards]

Like

Vote 'like your life depends on it. your way of life probably does.'
Brenda W, Sent from an iDevice.

[LouisJ]

-- My brand new Fitbit Surge finally arrived today and I was so excited until I finished my run and I had the shock of my life.

-- Fitbit does not integrate with the Iphone Health App. OMG!!

I have a really hard time understanding why in 2016 Fitbit does not integrate with the iOS Health Kit. I cannot find any 'super solid' excuse for why this is the case.

-- As the market leader in wearable tech, I am shocked by this lack of vision, spirit, and commitment (just my 2cents). C'mon Fitbit; no Health Kit integration is a real letdown and there goes my excitement for my brand new Surge. Time to step it up people, 2017 is just around the corner. We want iHealth Integration!! What exactly is the holdup, here???