FitBit Has No Plans to Integrate with HealthKit, Customers Make Plans to Buy a Different Tracker

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Despite FitBit being shown during Apple’s WWDC announcement of the HealthKit feature earlier this year, FitBit announced today that they currently have no plans to integrate with HealthKit.  FitBit’s customers are obviously not pleased.

To be fair, the company didn’t completely rule out looking at HealthKit in the future, but there are no immediate plans to include the integration and is instead asking customers to vote for the feature on their forums.  Today they responded to the numerous customers pleas for HealthKit:

We do not currently have plans to integrate with HealthKit… It is an interesting new platform and we will watch as it matures, looking for opportunities to improve the Fitbit experience. At the moment, we’re working on other exciting projects that we think will be valuable to users.

FitBit customers wanted their voices heard, and took to Twitter to try and make sense of this decision:

  • ‏@jbrown705: @fitbit not integrating w/HealthKit? Really? R U trying to run you’re business into the ground? I’ll be selling my Fitbit for one that does
  • @brianminor: Surprised that @fitbit won’t be integration with HealthKit. Makes them look scared of users using the [Apple] Watch. Instead of their product.
  • @JohnOng: It wasn’t easy to delete my @fitbit account. Had to actually write to customer service. I’ll use app that supports Apple HealthKit.
  • @drivec: @fitbit Sorry, but I’ve decided to go with Jawbone UP24 instead of FB. Used the Fitbit iOS app until I heard no HealthKit integration.
  • @mjs1: Fitbit has no current plans for HealthKit integration, ‘will watch as it matures’ …& we will watch as it becomes irrelevant. Hello Misfit

FitBit customers (myself included) are understandable upset: it is your health data, and you should be able to access as you see fit.  FitBit does offer a premium service for $49.99 per year that provides in-depth analysis and the ability to export your data.  Is this potential loss of revenue the reason that FitBit hasn’t integrated with HealthKit to give customers control of their data?  Does Apple’s strict Privacy Policy for HealthKit partners somehow derail FitBit’s data mining practices on customer data? Or perhaps the Apple Watch announcement struck a nerve with the company as it could be a possible FitBit replacement?

If you’re looking for an alternative tracker, the following companies have already updated their apps for Apple HealthKit integration: Jawbone UP, Misfit Shine, and Garmin Connect.

 

 

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