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.

[TDurbin]

@Allison: "This may not come as a surprise, but most members of the community are eager to see all their data in one place."

Nope. That is not what the members of the community are eager for. It may be semantics & I'm trying not to be a jerk. But, that quote should read...

"This may not come as a surprise, but most members of the community are eager to see all their data in [The Apple Health App]."

That's it. We aren't eager to see all our data in one yet to be named "place." We are clearly, loudly, & obviously saying that place is The Apple Health App. You continue to use language that seems to indicate you have no intention whatsoever of doing that & being relatively silent in general is frankly insulting. You should have responded definitively 3 days ago or at iOS 8 launch what your final intentions were or are. At least give your community the respect of a straight answer. You either are integrating with Apple's Health App or you aren't. Saying we are seeing how it "matures" & we are interested in your feedback is nonsense. You either are or you aren't & you should treat your customers with a little bit of deceny and tell them the truth. Today.

[Zugbug]

Please integrate and a nice feature to add would be a heart rate monitor that uses the camera phone. Some of the other apps have this and they let all the info go to HealthKit. Look at what the competition is doing and you can get an idea of what would be good to do.

[Jot_and_Tittle]

Dear Mods:

Please understand that I would like to see my health data in one place, but I am NOT INTERESTED in paying a subscription fee for a premium service, if that's the model your corporation contemplates pursuing (and I suspect it is).

My Fitbit has been an important part of my personal fitness tracking for several years.  A year or so ago, when my Fitbit Classic finally stopped functioning, I cancelled evening plans and drove 30 miles to the next town over to purchase a replacement Fitbit One.  That's how important it has been for me to have a Fitbit in my pocket.  Same day replacement.

In the wash of the current teapot tempest, I've been researching other fitness trackers.  That's something I've never seriously done--I've been too satisfied with my Fitbit to look elsewhere.  Quite frankly, I can't find another device that I believe will meet many of my needs as well as my Fitbit One, but I do plan (relucantly) to replace my One with something from another company.  Other trackers seem to be a bit clunkier, but I'm willing to sacrifice Fitbit elegance for pooled health data.

I hope that I won't be forced to say good-bye to Fitbit, but I'm afraid that the day will come if there is no HealthKit integration.  

[jole]

With this decision I will just switch out of FitBit to something else that integrates with HealthKit

[bbarrera]

Enough said, I'm done. Logged out of my iPhone app and looking elsewhere for replacement to Force. 

[Bk9923]

Poor response from Fitbit, don't they get that people are invested in the Apple ecosystem and if Fitbit won't integrate their customers will migrate to other devices.

Time to rethink your stategy Fitbit.

[humanista]

I'm much more married to the Apple ecosystem than Fitbit. Although I've had a Fitbit since June 2012, I guess I will have to ditch it for an Apple Watch once it comes out. I was looking forward to Fitbit integration with Health Kit and using both since my One is much more inconspicuous than an Apple Watch, but with this type of response, I will be forced to leave my Fitbit One, Aria Scale and premium membership behind.

[CassieLady]

I live in the UK, which means that I use MyFitnessPal for logging my food diary (only app I can can find with a really good UK food database). MyFitnessPal syncs withy FitBit and vice versa, as MyFitnessPal also syncs with the Apple Heart all my data is stored there, and a wide range of nutritional components are logged (not all admittedly). I am sticking with FitBit as I believe they will improve functionality and synchronicity given time. I'd always choose the slow,considered and thorough approach over a rush job that would bring with it bugs and errors. Also, many wearables seem to be the size of a matchbox and seem to have been designed to promote the manufacturer's name - not my FitBit Flex. Small, discrete and usually overlooked - my concern with my health is personal, not something I want to advertise or shout about. I did suggest to the developers incorporating some features that I liked in other apps, or creating a way to sync to them. iDrink is a small free app that "whooshes" and lights up my phone every hour / two hours to remind my to drink water (yes I could set a notification, but this is again a discrete reminder with an appropriate sound and means that I don't have to have 12 other alarms set); Noom has bite size activities, surveys and advice everyday, which I really like - and my need to complete a process means that I read the advice, take the surveys and participate in the activities. Which means I am learning to understand my habits better and can modify them. These were the main two and now I am happy to let FitBit consider, consult, design and implement as they see best. Why are you are all so convinced the apple health is the only and best solution? True, at the moment it's the best, but then again with every release of every app the best is very often surpassed - egged on by competing companies. Be patient folks, we only recently got the apple health app, so you can survive for a while whilst the FitBit elves are working things out!

[Bluejay]

Hello all. fitbit, we like data from your devices. We like your devices. But we want complete access to our data, to use in any way we see fit. Some might view their data from all our devices in fitbit. Some might view it all in Health. To get what I want I might just have become a developer and make an app that does what I want, using Health as conduit. One api to learn rather than multiple apis from each data source.

[vinous]

Breaking news : firmware update for fitbit FORCE. All is not lost. Looking forward to Health app integration!!!!!!!

[MiniWalks]

Just returned my Flex for a full refund! Farewell stone age - Come at my Garmin VivoSmart!

[LauraRoos]

I purchased FitBit after joining LoseIt, and I also have a Withings scale, so I was hoping to have a single place to store all my data that has better functionality than LoseIt.  As for metrics, I was hoping to be able to see a graph showing both my weight and my activity over time. I was also hoping that one day, I could authorize my doctor's office to see my data so that it could be incorporated into my overall health. I could imagine my activity tracking data being sides by side with other health metrics such as blood pressure.  I'm inclined to ditch my FitBit if FitBit won't feed the Apple HealthKit. 

[epikid]

I already commented (page 10 or so) about being on my third Flex after the first two failed.

Since then, it's become clear that FitBit intentionally did not integrate with the Health Kit despite having months of lead time and the support that Apple gives key developers. This means they either see HK as a threat or they are actively working with some other competitor in some fashion. As they already integrate with Microsoft's Vault or whatever, this notion seems likely to me.

I purchased a real competitor yesterday though, a Jawbone UP. For the record, on a 21K step day, the FitBit underreported by over 1K steps by about 4 PM. It stopped recording when carrying items up stairs, when holding onto the bar on the treadmill, and sometimes when the dogs would pull just right. And it would allow phantom steps with the right wrist movement. UP did not have these problems.

I'm not impressed with the Health Kit after one day and at least some repeat entries. I miss the web interface that FitBit has. Still, I don't regret changing as I'm confident Apple & Jawbone will work out whatever problems there might be as the HK gets its sea legs.

We're a household of four. We have iPhones and Macs. We had two Flexes. Now we have one UP with two more on the way while the Flexes get recycled. What will ultimately be the most harmful to your company though will be word of mouth. Since the lack of HK support became known, I have advised five people (not counting Facebook) into NOT purchasing a FitBit and to instead explore other options.

[tschwartz31]

I agree with many users - if FitBit will not integrate - I will go to Nike or UP - I like the feel of the FitBit Flex but if I have to pay for the integration to HealthKit or if FitBit refuses to integrate - no worries - there are enough options out there to go too. 

[BlazeEBlake]

---

@vinous@  wrote:

Breaking news : firmware update for fitbit FORCE. All is not lost. Looking forward to Health app integration!!!!!!!

---

That firmware update look's like it's for call notifications for the Force (a product which most people do not have/will never have because it was recalled and is no longer available). If anything, this makes me angrier. They can't integrate with HealthKit but they can update a product that people have no access to. Also, they did it over the weekend and people are already having problems: https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Force/Update-66-killed-active-minutes-display/m-p/540624#U540624

Yeesh Fitbit, what the heck?

[TiggsPanther]

OK. This is currently the most hightly-voted sugegstion, and it's to tie into a phone OS that's only been out less than a month. I think that sends a clear enough message.

At this level of demend, it deserves an absolute answer. Yes or No. Now or Never.If they don't want to do it, fine. But they need to categorically say so. because the interest for the feature is very clearly there.

[Alacaeriel]

You might also consider the number of users who actually signed up to use these forums especially to vote and/or comment on this. I number among them. I never needed these forums before this issue came up, and was very surprised when I found this thread and even more so with the response (or lack thereof) from the moderators. And now, I might not need them again. It entirely depends on Fitbit integrating with HealthKit. 

[Bluejay]

I think one more status catagory would be helpful. That way we could quickly see what stage you are at.

• New Suggestion
• Reviewed By Moderator
• Under Consideration
• *** In Development ***
• Implemented
• Declined
• Existing Feature
• Duplicate

[SunsetRunner]

I am incredibly frustrated at FitBit's lack of integration with HealthKit. I as well will now seek out a new fitness device that incorporates this new capability. FitBit really missed an opportunity here to continue being the industry leader. With this stance, I don't expect they will hold the position that much longer.

[iankb]

More fool them. Switched back to my Jawbone. 😠

[Wasabibutler]

I bought s Fitbit Flex last week before I went on a 6 week military deployment in Africa. I bought it at an iStore assuming it will have HealthKit integration only to read yesterday on the net that they are not going to integrate. Well now I'm sitting 2000 miles from a store and I can't do anything. Flex is going back in the box and as soon as I return I am returning it and buying another system, probably a jawbone. The sad thing is I had both the Flex and the Jawbone in my hands and thought I'd go for the Flex. Big mistake. Totally disgusted. This product has not got my vote unless they seriously rethink integration with HealthKit.

[SunsetRunner]

I have been with Fibit since November 2012... Not as long as some, I freely admit... But I have been with apple for over 20 years... They, unlike Microsoft, taught me to be unafraid of my tech... Because Apple may occasionally falter and sometimes even fail... I know that they have my back... When one of my Apple things goes south... I just take a breath and say its ok... Apple will fix my world... And for me they always have...

Fitbit I am sorry but you haven't earned that level of trust and this entire thread hasn't helped... It has re- enforced the thought that you go in inline with Adobe: nice you bought our product... We are done with you... Our only concern is keeping it shiny so that the next person will buy... Doesn't mean that I will jump ship... Just, well, you aren't Apple... And if I have to choose between using my Apple stuff to its fullest and you... In my tiny world you are going to lose.

[gohoos]

I hope Fitbit realizes how big a deal this is.

A search on twitter for "fitbit healthkit" is instructive.

Also "fitbit furious."

[SunsetRunner]

Your decision to not support iOS 8 HealthKit is flat out wrong. Do you truly care for your customers? If you did, you would you be on the leading edge of integration, not lagging edge. Maybe it's time for me, and others using iOS, to dump our fitbits (which would be unfortunate) and go with a competing, yet compatible, device.

[SunsetRunner]

Truthfully... They just forgot who we are...

we come from all walks of life...

We are the lifeblood of new tech...

We are First Adopters.

although it sounds boastful... People make amazing things but if no one will try them... They fail... We are willing to try the new stuff... Do that test run for others... But we do tend to get angry when we are cavalierly blown off...