October 2014 Fitbit API Updates and Deprecations

[JeremiahFitbit]

Heart Rate, GPS, and OAuth 2.0 Coming Soon

Today, Fitbit announced three exciting new products: Charge, Charge HR, and Surge. We're also excited to announce that the Fitbit API will provide access to the all day heart rate and GPS data from these devices. These data types will be accessible exclusively via OAuth 2.0. We'll be sharing more information about these new endpoints and our OAuth 2.0 transition in the coming months.

HTTPS Required on November 3, 2014

As announced in August, connections to api.fitbit.com will be restricted to HTTPS connections on November 3, 2014. TLS will be required on all api.fitbit.com endpoints, including all steps of OAuth.

TLS creates a secure communication channel between your application and Fitbit's API, ensuring user data is not accessed or tampered by unauthorized parties. If your application uses HTTP plaintext connections, you need to update it to use HTTPS immediately. Applications still using HTTP plaintext connections will stop functioning on November 3, 2014. The Fitbit API will return a HTTP 403 error to all non-TLS requests.

For most applications, changing "http://" to "https://" is all that is necessary to comply with this change.

Deprecations

XML

Less than 5% of third-party Fitbit API requests are using XML. Going forward, new endpoints will be optimized for and exclusively available in JSON.

Custom Logging Endpoints

The following API endpoints are deprecated and will be removed at a future date:

• API-Get-Heart-Rate (will be replaced with heart rate time series endpoints)
• API-Log-Heart-Rate
• API-Delete-Heart-Rate-Log
• API-Get-Blood-Pressure
• API-Log-Blood-Pressure
• API-Delete-Blood-Pressure-Log
• API-Get-Glucose
• API-Log-Glucose
• API-Get-Body-Measurements
• API-Log-Body-Measurements

All measurements except fat and weight will be removed from:

• API-Get-Body-Measurements
• API-Log-Body-Measurements

If you have questions about this notice, please post here.

–The Fitbit API Team

[RandyWood84]

@antikewl --- I VERY VERY much hope that it will be able to access data from individually-logged runs because as I have ranted about in this forum (https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Feature-Requests/Sync-workouts-amp-activities-w-GPS-data-to-MapMyRun... and this forum (https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Feature-Requests/Bidirectional-two-way-syncing-to-third-party-apps-a... it is extremely annoying to have third party apps work flawlessly in jawbone's up bidirectional Eco system and have individual runs and rides sync to MapMyRun and Strava but the only thing that will sync from FitBit is total number of steps for the day without GPS data and without the ability to have an individual "track my exercise" event on FitBit sync to those apps.

So hopefully with this v2.0 API, it will allow all of you developers what us end users are complaining about and make the FitBit products and Eco system a better place! Thanks developers and Fitbit!

[RandyWood84]

@antikewl .... For some reason it cut off my links. So here are the links to the forums I was discussing above:

http://tinyurl.com/kegupdg
http://tinyurl.com/nehenbw

[JeremiahFitbit]

---

@antikewl wrote:

"the Fitbit API will provide access to the all day heart rate and GPS data from these devices"

I'm a bit confused by this. Will the API provide access to data from individually logged runs, or just a total for the whole day?

---

Heart rate data takes several forms: a second-level time series, a single daily value for resting heart rate, and daily summary that includes time and calories in all the heart rate zones. With the exception of resting heart rate, these values are also provided in the context of a logged exercise activity.

GPS is only ever recorded during an exercise activity and initially will only be available in the context of a logged exercise activity.

[antikewl]

While I notice that you're careful not to say a "yes" or "no" ;), this is really good news.

If GPS and non-resting heart rate are only ever attached to activities this must (hopefully!) mean that they're identified as linked in the API, and therefore (hopefully!) an activity's data (GPS, distance, HR, speed, etc.) is exportable to Strava or Runkeeper.

---

@JeremiahFitbit wrote:

Heart rate data takes several forms: a second-level time series, a single daily value for resting heart rate, and daily summary that includes time and calories in all the heart rate zones. With the exception of resting heart rate, these values are also provided in the context of a logged exercise activity.

GPS is only ever recorded during an exercise activity and initially will only be available in the context of a logged exercise activity.

---

[JeremiahFitbit]

---

@antikewl wrote:

While I notice that you're careful not to say a "yes" or "no" ;), this is really good news.

---

I actually wasn't being careful. 🙂 Here is a more explicit answer: yes!

I previously announced that TCX export is planned. TCX was designed to be a file format for GPS and heartrate data during an exercise, not all day.

Fitbit also announced earlier this month that its integration with Strava is coming soon.

I know that people are super excited for these features. We're still very busy building and perfecting them for you. Please be patient. We can't wait to share them with you.

[Courtney_B]

 I really hope that this comes soon, as I'm on the verge of returning my Surge. Any idea on WHEN? Also, when this does come into play, will it be able to export the old activities from before the update and not just those done after?

[blaine]

I think completion of TCX is much more important than support of both TCX and GPX. 

[pablob]

When do you launch OAuth 2.0?

[JeremiahFitbit]

---

@pablob wrote:

When do you launch OAuth 2.0?

---

We are targetting end of Q1. (Please search the forum before posting a new topic in the future.)

[DomiRants]

---

@JeremiahFitbit wrote:

I previously announced that TCX export is planned. TCX was designed to be a file format for GPS and heartrate data during an exercise, not all day.

Fitbit also announced earlier this month that its integration with Strava is coming soon.

I know that people are super excited for these features. We're still very busy building and perfecting them for you. Please be patient. We can't wait to share them with you.

---

Hey Jeremiah,

It might not have been decided yet, but will the Strava integration be able to "merge" the GPS data from there with the heart rate from the Fitbit Charge HR? As it stands I would only be able to decide to import a workout without GPS data to Strava (or others) or a workout without HR data to Fitbit. I'd like to merge that info together.

If the planned integration does already do that (at least for Strava, though I'd love to implement this for others) that'd be great, but if not, will the TCX export for exercises/workouts also be available for the Charge HR (which only tracks Heart Rate for those events) so I can figure out via timestamps which workout corresponds to what event in another service and implement this for myself?

Hope I was able to convey this. The Charge HR is a great little piece of equipment, and it'd help me to get my runs with GPS and HR in one place. Whether that be Fitbit or some other service.

(Alternatively you could just add a GPS tracker to the Fitbit app, but that's the wrong board for that and would probably hurt Surge sales anyway 😉 )

[JeremiahFitbit]

---

@DomiRants wrote:

Hey Jeremiah,

It might not have been decided yet, but will the Strava integration be able to "merge" the GPS data from there with the heart rate from the Fitbit Charge HR? As it stands I would only be able to decide to import a workout without GPS data to Strava (or others) or a workout without HR data to Fitbit. I'd like to merge that info together.

If the planned integration does already do that (at least for Strava, though I'd love to implement this for others) that'd be great, but if not, will the TCX export for exercises/workouts also be available for the Charge HR (which only tracks Heart Rate for those events) so I can figure out via timestamps which workout corresponds to what event in another service and implement this for myself?

Hope I was able to convey this. The Charge HR is a great little piece of equipment, and it'd help me to get my runs with GPS and HR in one place. Whether that be Fitbit or some other service.

(Alternatively you could just add a GPS tracker to the Fitbit app, but that's the wrong board for that and would probably hurt Surge sales anyway 😉 )

---

You'll be happy to know that Fitbit added GPS tracking to the app last July and it combines the GPS data from your phone with the heart rate data from Charge HR!

More info at

http://blog.fitbit.com/introducing-mobilerun-and-enhanced-food-logging-for-the-fitbit-app/

http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/Mobile-Run-FAQs/

The TCX file export feature in the Fitbit API will combine GPS and heart rate data sources.

[DomiRants]

---

@JeremiahFitbit wrote:

You'll be happy to know that Fitbit added GPS tracking to the app last July and it combines the GPS data from your phone with the heart rate data from Charge HR!

More info at

http://blog.fitbit.com/introducing-mobilerun-and-enhanced-food-logging-for-the-fitbit-app/

http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/Mobile-Run-FAQs/

The TCX file export feature in the Fitbit API will combine GPS and heart rate data sources.

---

Oh, I totally missed that feature! Great.

That also fixes my issue with the TCX export. Can't wait for the API. Thanks!

[afolarin]

Hi I'm looking to use the Heart Rate (HR) values via the Fitbit API, I see that the relevant API methods are defined and documented but this is not presently working. We are planning to use this for a research project and would like to have a clear picture of when HR this will be enabled through the API.

see:https://wiki.fitbit.com/display/API/Fitbit+API 

<quote> Heart Rate, GPS, and OAuth 2.0 Coming Soon
Fitbit recently announced three exciting new products: Charge, Charge HR, and Surge. We're also excited to announce that the Fitbit API will provide access to the all day heart rate and GPS data from these devices. These data types will be accessible exclusively via OAuth 2.0. We'll be sharing more information about these new endpoints and our OAuth 2.0 transition in the coming months.

[Michael]

---

@afolarin wrote:

Hi I'm looking to use the Heart Rate (HR) values via the Fitbit API, I see that the relevant API methods are defined and documented but this is not presently working. We are planning to use this for a research project and would like to have a clear picture of when HR this will be enabled through the API.

see:https://wiki.fitbit.com/display/API/Fitbit+API  

---

I haven't seen that the relevant API methods have been documented. If you are talking about API-Get-Heart-Rate that has been deprecated and will be going away. (It was for getting data from the manually logged HR section on the Fitbit site, which has also been deprecated.)

BTW: I moved your post to the API forum, as you would be more likely to get an answer here.

[JeremiahFitbit]

@afolarin : The new heart rate endpoints will be available when we release our OAuth 2.0 public beta. We are targetting the end of March for that release.

[afolarin]

Many thanks @JeremiahFitbit,

I keenly await the the new API endpoint. We have a research study starting mid April and we'd be very keen to add HR to the list of variables collected.

Kind regards,

Amos 

[fiddur]

Coming up on end of March, is there any chance to get beta-testing access?

[dakaugu]

When will the heart rate api for the Charge HR be available?

[JeremiahFitbit]

Future updates about OAuth 2.0, heart rate and GPS location endpoints will be posted here.

[wuestenblume]

Hi,

I was looking into using the Fitbit API to develop an app to let me track my blood glucose readings using my smartphone. Is there a reason why the ability to log/view glucose readings will no longer be available? Will there be any alternative? I'm not going to lie, I was extremely disappointed to read this announcement.