Google will discontinue its Google Fit APIs next year. That’s bad news for a series of trackers, scales and other sports devices that used the platform.
Google Fit was the platform that allows you to synchronize your health data between different devices via your Google Account. But as is the case with Google, the API is now being closed. Google has stopped taking on new partners since early May and will officially pull the plug on the platform on June 30 next year.
This is especially difficult for users of (older) third-party devices that synchronize with the platform. Google had partnerships with a range of companies at Fit’s launch, including Nike, Adidas and Withings. Many of these smart watches, fitness equipment and scales could lose their functionality by next year unless a patch adds support for another platform.
The forest and the trees
And it’s not that Google has a shortage of those. In addition to Fit, the tech giant currently operates two other fitness APIs: the Health Connect API and the Fitbit Web API. Since Fitbit’s acquisition about three years ago, much of the company’s development energy has seemingly been transferred to that department. There is therefore a good chance that a number of the two remaining APIs will be deployed in the long term. We saw something similar with the proliferation of Google chat and calling programs, of which only one ultimately survived.
However, it is currently not clear what you should switch to, reports tech site Ars Technica. The Fitbit API syncs to a Fitbit account, which is also deleted. The Health Connect data does not appear to sync directly to a cloud, per this guide on the Android developer page.
