Can the SDK be used to extract heart rate data to a PC?

[aarelovich]

Hello

I'm looking for a hear rate monitor which will allow me to extract Heart Rate Data to a PC in order to process the data for research purposes. Most monitors synchronize to an Phone App. Can I use the SDK here to create something that will allow me to download data to a PC?

[JonFitbit]

Yes, you can use the Heart Rate API on device to capture data in real-time, then send that to the companion using the Messaging API, or File Transfer API (if you want to batch the data), then from the companion you can use fetch() or WebSocket to send the data to your backend.

[aarelovich]

Thank you very much

[MNasr]

Is this applicable to all Fitbits, including Versa2?

Also, can you please reference the Messaging API?

Is there a specific method that works using Python for real-time data?

[Gondwana]

It works for all Fitbit OS devices (Ionic and Versa family).

Messaging API reference is here.

You could use Python to develop a web server, and run that locally on your companion device so the Fitbit companion fetch() or websocket could pass data to it. Or you could pass the data from the compaion to some other web server, which you'd then access from Python. Either way, it's indirect and not terribly easy.

[Gondwana]

If you don't want near-real-time data, you can just query the Fitbit Web API using oauth2 (which should be possible in Python).

[MNasr]

I read that it is possible to get real-time (or near real time) readings using the Web API using a personal account, is that correct?

[Gondwana]

Not as far as I know. Web API data is only updated when the watch syncs.