Connecting to a FitBit over Bluetooth and getting data.

[bcosta_wlabs]

Hi there, we're looking to connect to a FitBit device over bluetooth and get data from it. I looked through your SDK docs and they all seem to be focused on writing apps that run on the device, rather than connecting to it from other places.

Is this possible?

[Gondwana]

The only way to get data off the watch is using the file transfer or messaging APIs.

[bcosta_wlabs]

So it sounds like what we want to do is not possible then. I looked up the message APIs, and it looks like that's just for apps running on the device.

[Gondwana]

Yes, but if you're using a Fitbit OS device, you can develop a clockface or app that runs on the device.

The data you want may be available through the Web API.

[bcosta_wlabs]

but how would i then make that data available to another piece of hardware that is bluetooth compatible? i'm not really looking to develop a fitbit app, i'm looking to connect to a fitbit via bluetooth and get data.

[Gondwana]

You'd need to forget about bluetooth, even though that's the underlying transport layer. You'd need a server app somewhere to receive fetch() or WebSocket from the Fitbit app. Your server app can then make the data available elsewhere — even via Bluetooth if you code it.

[bcosta_wlabs]

Understood. That definitely doesn't fit our use case. Unfortunate, because the FitBit hardware is quite nice.