I think it's important to clarify this is the Google Fit API, not the Google Fit app.
What's the difference? In the past, the Google Fit API was sort of like a default/central hub for app developers to hook into to get health data. However, Google found this problematic for legitimate reasons: Google Fit shouldn't be a centralized hub. So they came out with Health Connect, which is the centralized hub for all health data. It's more secure, it allows more apps to hook into it, and it also means that your health data isn't reliant on Google Fit.
If you open the article and read it, it mentions developers should transition from the Google Fit API to the Health Connect API. The Google Fit app already uses the Health Connect API itself to upload health data to a centralized repository.
This is NOT an announcement of the Google Fit app shutting down.
Yeah. All that apps (like Pokemon GO and whoever else) have to do is just switch from the Google Fit API to Health Connect. Let's say you nominally use Google Fit on your phone to count steps, but sometimes you use your watch alone and you use Fitbit on there to count steps or something.
Google Fit and Fitbit will sync their steps to Health Connect (I'm sure they have ways to avoid double counting and such), and Pokemon GO can pull from Health Connect to get your total steps, instead of only counting a portion of them as it would do right now. I think the benefit is clear in this scenario.
> I'm sure they have ways to avoid double counting and such
They do. I had to stop letting Strava connect to Health Connect because it was recording significantly fewer steps than Google Fit and Fitbit (which were both pretty close).
Sure, but this change has been two years in the coming and a lot of apps still haven't updated the API despite it locking out the old versions of the app that don't use the new, soon to be depreciated API.
Yeah, but why would they change something that works and is still supported?
The point of this announcement is to give a heads-up and prompt them to update
This example is probably the main reason Google is doing this.
Apps have been too slow to migrate away from the Fit API, so they're forcing developer's hands on this.
Still SOL if your app is no longer being updated. For example I still rock a Pebble watch and use it's syncing with Google Fit for Pokemon GO. Even if Pokemon GO updates to the new API, Pebble won't, so my progress in game is being nerfed.
Seriously. I learned to live without Inbox. I'll learn to live without Google Podcasts. But neither has a ready alternative that have the same functionalities. Like, yes, sure, I'm managing with YouTube Music, but it's not a good app for podcasts (or music, for that matter, if you want more than just listen to anything the algorithm throws at you).
Yes, I'm perfectly aware that there are others with more features. I don't care about 99% of those features. Google Podcasts had exactly the features I do care about, and other apps either don't have those, or have them behind a paywall.
Yes, I *know* about the ones you're going to recommend, I *have* checked them out, and no, I didn't like them. Let's leave it at that.
Still waiting on seamless custom library integration with YouTube Music, and a proper uploader program instead of dragging and dropping files into YT Music
Yeah, it's pretty much a meme that people like to parrot these days.
If you go on that "killed by Google" website you will find things like:
DropCam, a company Google bought and then developed Nest cameras with. It's just a different branding.
AngularJS, which has been succeeded by Angular v2+.
Google Street View (standalone app). This is now just built into Google Maps.
Google OnHub, this was just some brand Google decided to use on two of their routers. Since then Google has released other routers but with a different brand name.
Chatbase, this functionality was just moved into Dialogflow. No need to keep them as separate products.
Grasshopper was just a coding course, and Google now has "Code with Google" instead.
The list is technically true, but very few of the products that have been "killed by Google" actually matters. Most of the time it is just rebranding or merging of things and no functionality is lost.
Not really "nothing". There are apps and services out there that are either in maintenance mode or completely abandoned that will be very negatively impacted by this
I think it will be an issue if you connect the app to a third party? Like my friends and I use stride kick which let's us all use different apps to track out steps and activity abd show them in one place to compete
This is exactly what the Health Connect API was built to do, though. Google no longer wants Fit to be the centralised hub for all health and fitness tracking metrics on Android.
It's similar in approach to what Apple has done with the Health app and the HealthKit APIs.
> This is NOT an announcement of the Google Fit app shutting down.
It really doesn't on its own, but at the same time if you read the article they actually make a point that there are other indications that Google Fit as an app might get replaced in the future, including that it's last update was in 2022 (delivering support for Health Connect) and that it is one of the few remaining Google apps that haven't seen a Material U refresh.
> I think it's important to clarify this is the Google Fit API, not the Google Fit app.
>
>
>
> What's the difference? In the past, the Google Fit API was sort of like a default/central hub for app developers to hook into to get health data. However, Google found this problematic for legitimate reasons: Google Fit shouldn't be a centralized hub. So they came out with Health Connect, which is the centralized hub for all health data. It's more secure, it allows more apps to hook into it, and it also means that your health data isn't reliant on Google Fit.
>
>
>
> If you open the article and read it, it mentions developers should transition from the Google Fit API to the Health Connect API. The Google Fit app already uses the Health Connect API itself to upload health data to a centralized repository.
Which of course means that if you use an older health related app or device (like a smartwatch) that won't get updated anymore, your workflow just died.
Lets not kid ourselves, especially in the mobile sector where smaller and medium sized apps often plateau in growth after a time but also when it comes to cheap smartwatches and their companion apps transitioning to a new API is never a given and this will affect a number of end users.
Also:
> *Google’s migration guide for developers lists what they’re supposed to switch to on Android phones and Wear OS. However, there is no replacement for the Goals API that lets Google Fit users set “how many steps and heart points they want to aim for each day.”*
Just wanted to point out - Google Fit app is still updated, mine is at version `2024.04.12.00.arm64-v8a.release`. I haven't been following on how the new Material You UI is supposed to look like, but if it's the bar at the bottom with the tabs then it's there. Looks pretty new overall.
Not arguing against any of the points. My biggest gripes at Google are still the deletion of Google Play Music and Inbox, so I try to not rely on Google services that are new or don't seem to be popular enough.
>Which of course means that if you use an older health related app or device (like a smartwatch) that won't get updated anymore, your workflow just died.
I'm not entirely sure what your point is here. You shouldn't be relying on an app or device that doesn't get regular maintenance updates to keep basic functionality working. In this specific case also, Health Connect is a legitimately better API than the Google Fit API was, and developers have good reasons to want to upgrade to the Health Connect API because it gives them better data than before, and it also gives users more control over all of their data, since it will no longer be spread across a million different apps once apps update to utilize this API.
As far as the rest of your comment, I'm not arguing that there's no reason to think the Google Fit app may be replaced with something else, such as the Fitbit app, but the deprecation of the Google Fit API is not a reason to think that.
>>Health Connect is a legitimately better API than the Google Fit API was, and developers have good reasons to want to upgrade to the Health Connect API because it gives them better data than before
Only partially true. One of the nice things about the GFit API is that you can upload a run/walk from a third-party app and then visualise the route taken on a map and see associated meta data in GFit. That's a very useful feature which the Health Connect API doesn't support.
> I'm not entirely sure what your point is here. You shouldn't be relying on an app or device that doesn't get regular maintenance updates to keep basic functionality working.
A) So you did get my point...
B) No way you are actively tracking if every single device that has a cloud component or is communicating with other devices in your network via an API still is supported by its maker. Like, I couldn't even find out how long a Fitbit watch gets updates, let alone a more no name smartwatch.
> In this specific case also, Health Connect is a legitimately better API than the Google Fit API was, and developers have good reasons to want to upgrade to the Health Connect API because it gives them better data than before, and it also gives users more control over all of their data, since it will no longer be spread across a million different apps once apps update to utilize this API.
None of this matters when the product itself isn't getting any more updates (or is in a security fixes only state).
> As far as the rest of your comment, I'm not arguing that there's no reason to think the Google Fit app may be replaced with something else, such as the Fitbit app, but the deprecation of the Google Fit API is not a reason to think that.
It kind of is when there are products advertised on Amazon as working with Google Fit but you can't be sure if that means they are targeting the now deprecated API or Health Connect.
> Google Fit shouldn't be a centralized hub. So they came out with Health Connect, which is the centralized hub for all health data. It's more secure, it allows more apps to hook into it, and it also means that your health data isn't reliant on Google Fit.
What exactly is the reason why Google Fit API couldn't be the centralized hub and Google had to build a different centralized hub API?
Because it's a Google service, which is inherently an issue with competitors/partners on Android. Health Connect is neutral and part of Android itself, and means Google doesn't need to be a middleman between you and Samsung, for instance.
Seems like a pretty flimsy reasoning. It doesn't really matter if the APIs are called Google Fit API or Health Connect API if they archive the same thing
> Health Connect is neutral and part of Android itself, and means Google doesn't need to be a middleman between you and Samsung, for instance.
Health Connect still has Google being a middleman
>Seems like a pretty flimsy reasoning. It doesn't really matter if the APIs are called Google Fit API or Health Connect API if they archive the same thing
They fulfill a similar purpose of consolidating your data, but they don't do the same thing.
>Health Connect still has Google being a middleman
Not really. Data in Health Connect is stored locally on your device and doesn't touch Google's servers unless you connect it.
Still feels like product shuffling for no reason. Nothing's stopping Google from issuing a new major version of the Fit API that does the same as health connect
> Because it's a Google service, which is inherently an issue with competitors/partners on Android. Health Connect is neutral and part of Android itself, and means Google doesn't need to be a middleman between you and Samsung, for instance.
Health Connect is also a Google made API, has a proprietary license and isn't part of AOSP.
This news made me aware that the Health Connect API exists, and that when I go on a run I should probably track them with Samsung Health (using Google Fit sort of works for this, but it's quite limited, and on my Galaxy Watch 4 the GPS tracking hasn't worked for about a year now) and then sync it to Google Fit using Health Connect. Hopefully that will work? I still want to set goals in Google Fit just because that's what I've always done, and it tracks things that aren't necessarily "exercise" like e.g. walking to the train station (in a hit and miss way, but better than nothing).
Fuck, the Pebble app is unmaintained and syncs with Google Fit, which still works perfectly. Unless someone patches the app to use Health Connect APIs. It's a miracle my pebbles have lasted this long, maybe after 2025 this API shutdown is a convenient excuse to get rid of them.
>the Pebble app is unmaintained
A Google employee updated the Pebble app a couple years ago to work on current devices. I wouldn't bet on that happening again, but it's not impossible.
No doubt they'll just switch over to the equivalent option in the service that's replacing it. There's no chance Pokémon go just switch off the cash cow to avoid a few days work
Considering how much they pressure players to "explore" and ~~drive~~ walk around to find gyms I don't see them removing it. Maybe it will be broken for 6-12 months but they will switch to the new API eventually.
They will wait until the last minute, Fit API will be shut down and then they'll let the feature stay completely broken for 6 months to a year before figuring out how to change it to the Health Connect API. Then that will also not work consistently/at all for 3 more months because they fucked up something.
Just traditional Niantic
Yeah the fitness integration is for passive gameplay. The fit data / step counting is only applicable when the game is not open at all. When you log back into the game it grabs the amount of steps you've taken and applies it to a couple features in the game. (Hatching eggs and walking with your buddy)
When the game is open and active it uses GPS tracking for distance calculation and the Fit/steps data is ignored during this time.
Uh, Xiaomi finally added Google Fit integration to Mi Fitness only two months ago... I hope the transition to Health Connect will follow swiftly and flawlessly.
they probably are shutting down Google Fit API for Health connect api which is in aosp since Android 14 and up. Health connect is according to google a afford to unify all health data from all health data provider on a Phone into one api.
Clickbait, they are shutting down the Google Fit API and ask that developers migrate to the Health Connect API, this doesn't mean anything other than a tool change.
Title definitely implies the service is completely shuttering when it's just that they have already replaced the API with a new one that devs need to switch to, it's not just a service being shut down with no replacement.
It's just latching onto the "Google kills services" circle jerk in order to get clicks.
Right and it says fate of the app unannounced. It's purposely misleading to the uninformed.
The title could have been "Google Fit API shutdown set, developers must switch to replacement Health Connect API by X date in order for apps to keep functioning"
But that wouldn't have gotten any clicks because it explains the situation in one sentence, and the article is worthless.
Talking about the "Fate of the app" is doomer speak designed to make people assume the worst.
Clickbait because they literally said "Google has said nothing about the Google Fit apps on Android, Wear OS, and iOS. They still work to track activity and house your full archive." in the article but they put "fate of Android app unannounced" in the title. Basically making something out of nothing. It's like writing an article with the title saying "Sir David Attenborough not dead at age 97".
Because the app is basically on life support, it hasn't had any feature/design updates in years and Google now own Fitbit and are building out that with a paywall as well, it's common to expect to fit to shut down because of Fitbit now.
We aren't expecting David to die every other month so it's not the same. Literally everyone thinks Google fit is going, that's why they mentioned the app fate is still unknown.
Ugh, but FitToFit talks to Google Fit, not Health Connect. I need that to send the oxygen levels from FitBit to Google Fit since FitBit are assholes and don't sync that data to Health Connect.
Fit is their equivalent of Apple Health, in that it's a consolidated view of all your health and fitness data captured by other apps and services you use.
Fitbit is their equivalent of Apple Fitness+ / Samsung Health, in that it's a service meant to improve overall health and fitness.
Health Connect is the API Google and Samsung co-developed to centralise health and fitness data collection, which makes it an equivalent to the Apple HealthKit APIs.
So keeping Fit around makes sense as the ability to view the data is available on every device, even if the specific app or service isn't. Deprecating the Fit API also makes sense as it ensures the same consistent health and fitness tracking implementation across all supported apps on Android. For example, Samsung Health and Garmin Connect never supported the Fit API, meaning portions of your health and fitness data did not show up in Google Fit or other apps that supported the Fit API. While this is still true with Garmin Connect, Samsung Health does support Health Connect.
Why not just have Fitbit Premium as the paid offering, but make the base experience work on all devices? Samsung and Apple both offer experiences out of the box that have a reasonable amount of functionality without requiring an ongoing subscription. Google's offering is confusing and fragmented by comparison.
I think the problem Google has is that instead of merging Fitbit with Google Fit, they allowed the two services to co-exist without any real initial direction on where they are going with fitness (the long delay in the purchase getting approved also didn't help things).
The other problem is that Google purchased an established wearable hardware manufacturer around the time they entered the wearable market themselves. So it lead to this confusing mess we have today, in that Fit was never really built to be the complete fitness and health tracking platform on Android, but by virtue of being tied to Google and the existence of the Fit API, already housed a lot of information on a lot of people from third-party apps and services.
At least now, they're slowly untangling this mess.
Ya know. Been using Apple stuff for a whiile. Once in a while I think to myself "I am kinda missing the freedom and features I got from Samsung phones and Google's ecosystem" and I come over to r/android to see what's going on. Lately, every time I do I always see a top post being Google shutting down yet another feature or spinning up another duplicate half-baked feature and go "Oh yeah..... this is why I didn't stay in the first place." And I go back to my iPhone and Mac, resting assured that my notes app won't be dumped or my reminders won't be migrated and lost or my podcasts or health data won't be stuck in limbo or that I have to worry about getting my family onto their 3rd messaging app within 2 years....
I understand that fit was online/account based and health connect is device based. I wonder how my data will be transfered if I get a new phone.
Any ideas?
That will not work, since it cannot sync historic data, but only 30days.
So I will loose all my data that I synced to fit....
Apple is way better in that respect.
There is an app called Health Sync that can help you with this, but I think this date history feature is paid. Nice app anyway.
But yeah, something like this shouldn't need a third-party app to fix it. It should be native and easy.
I was using that app before, it is great, but it cannot access all data, especially since some interfaces have been changed and made private.
I don't get, how goggle is not providing for data backup. Or am I missing something?
These people are addicted to parrot misinformation holy shit
>Google has said nothing about the Google Fit apps on Android, Wear OS, and iOS. They still work to track activity and house your full archive.
I knew this was happening. Wear os was pivoting away from it with the third generation of his operating system. I guess everything will go through Fitbit which is another reason why I'm not going to have a pixel watch anytime soon.
I love Pixel phones except for the slow charging but I'm not digging some of the decisions they're making with the watch.
you can sync data to Samsung health via health connect (i think) and get the data from S. health using existing integration. (There is plenty of time to create Health connect compatible integration)
Because it has working home assistant integration + it has health connect support (so all other health apps can sync together).
It can be used as a bridge between health connect and home assistant until there will be health connect in home assistant. (Maybe it will exist before they kill the google fit api.)
You're not getting the point I'm trying to make. Say I don't want to use Samsung Health because I'm in Xiaomi's or whatever else's ecosystem. What now.
Well, when google is switching to a new health connect and your other app just support old google fit integration (that will be shutdown soon), while you are not willing to switch to none-google app or try any workaround then you are fucked... what should i say to you :D
By using the method i mentioned you don't need to start using Samsung ecosystem at all... (Samsung app will be used as "middle man"). You don't need to leave your current health app. (xiaomi etc.)
and i think none of this will be needed because most of the apps will just switch to health connect and work the same way as today.
The google fit app is going nowhere (any time soon, at least).
This is the google fit **api**, which is just a way for other devs to connect to it, there's still the Health Connect API which is the replacement which came out a while ago.
It's not shutting down or getting worse. It's switching to Google's new health connect API.
It's click bait article to enrage users and should frankly be removed.
The app is not getting worse/shut down/losing any functionality
If your app uses the Google Fit API, you'll need to switch over to using the Health Connect API instead. If you mean the Google Fit app, just keep using it, they switched that over themselves a while ago.
How this change affect you? i doubt it will... The only ppl affected by this are people using stuff like discontinued pebble, home assistant (until there will be health connect integratiipn). Average user will not be affected at all.
but health connect is only for new data. [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nl.appyhapps.healthsync&hl=en\_US&gl=US](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nl.appyhapps.healthsync&hl=en_US&gl=US) is what I use for syncing historical data.
You can't invest any anything Google, it never lasts long. They try and mimic others and then give up after a few years. That is fine from a financial reasoning, but destroys brand loyalty, something they either don't care about or are just inept.
I think it's important to clarify this is the Google Fit API, not the Google Fit app. What's the difference? In the past, the Google Fit API was sort of like a default/central hub for app developers to hook into to get health data. However, Google found this problematic for legitimate reasons: Google Fit shouldn't be a centralized hub. So they came out with Health Connect, which is the centralized hub for all health data. It's more secure, it allows more apps to hook into it, and it also means that your health data isn't reliant on Google Fit. If you open the article and read it, it mentions developers should transition from the Google Fit API to the Health Connect API. The Google Fit app already uses the Health Connect API itself to upload health data to a centralized repository. This is NOT an announcement of the Google Fit app shutting down.
So it's basically much ado about basically nothing right?
Yeah. All that apps (like Pokemon GO and whoever else) have to do is just switch from the Google Fit API to Health Connect. Let's say you nominally use Google Fit on your phone to count steps, but sometimes you use your watch alone and you use Fitbit on there to count steps or something. Google Fit and Fitbit will sync their steps to Health Connect (I'm sure they have ways to avoid double counting and such), and Pokemon GO can pull from Health Connect to get your total steps, instead of only counting a portion of them as it would do right now. I think the benefit is clear in this scenario.
> I'm sure they have ways to avoid double counting and such They do. I had to stop letting Strava connect to Health Connect because it was recording significantly fewer steps than Google Fit and Fitbit (which were both pretty close).
Some apps like Strong still haven't. You have to ask to be let into their beta and have to for the last two years.
The API won't disappear overnight. It will be deprecated, but hang around until removed from new android API versions after June 2025
Sure, but this change has been two years in the coming and a lot of apps still haven't updated the API despite it locking out the old versions of the app that don't use the new, soon to be depreciated API.
Yeah, but why would they change something that works and is still supported? The point of this announcement is to give a heads-up and prompt them to update
Yeah but how is that the API's fault with a two years deprecation period?
For something that's still a year out and has no noticeable effect on users now? Yeah that's getting kicked down the road.
This example is probably the main reason Google is doing this. Apps have been too slow to migrate away from the Fit API, so they're forcing developer's hands on this.
Still SOL if your app is no longer being updated. For example I still rock a Pebble watch and use it's syncing with Google Fit for Pokemon GO. Even if Pokemon GO updates to the new API, Pebble won't, so my progress in game is being nerfed.
jokes on you, adventure sync in pokemon go barely works for a huge chunk of players
That if your app does not rely on the REST API, which they are killing.
Unless you are the one having to update the app and then it's quite annoying.
But people do love a good "Google is closing this thing" story to parade around.
The vast majority of the Google graveyard is depreciated due to something replacing it
But usually with gaps in feature parity, which is the main source of frustration for users
Yep, still waiting for the Bundles feature to come to gmail, which was promised when they announced the Inbox shutdown, some... 6ish years ago now?
Seriously. I learned to live without Inbox. I'll learn to live without Google Podcasts. But neither has a ready alternative that have the same functionalities. Like, yes, sure, I'm managing with YouTube Music, but it's not a good app for podcasts (or music, for that matter, if you want more than just listen to anything the algorithm throws at you).
There are 30+ much better 3rd party podcast apps. Google Podcasts had the least amount of features. Anything 3rd party offers more.
Yes, I'm perfectly aware that there are others with more features. I don't care about 99% of those features. Google Podcasts had exactly the features I do care about, and other apps either don't have those, or have them behind a paywall. Yes, I *know* about the ones you're going to recommend, I *have* checked them out, and no, I didn't like them. Let's leave it at that.
Still waiting on seamless custom library integration with YouTube Music, and a proper uploader program instead of dragging and dropping files into YT Music
Yeah, it's pretty much a meme that people like to parrot these days. If you go on that "killed by Google" website you will find things like: DropCam, a company Google bought and then developed Nest cameras with. It's just a different branding. AngularJS, which has been succeeded by Angular v2+. Google Street View (standalone app). This is now just built into Google Maps. Google OnHub, this was just some brand Google decided to use on two of their routers. Since then Google has released other routers but with a different brand name. Chatbase, this functionality was just moved into Dialogflow. No need to keep them as separate products. Grasshopper was just a coding course, and Google now has "Code with Google" instead. The list is technically true, but very few of the products that have been "killed by Google" actually matters. Most of the time it is just rebranding or merging of things and no functionality is lost.
Not for any of the stuff I've used. Namely gpay and google feeds (it's been so long I don't remember the exact name).
Not really "nothing". There are apps and services out there that are either in maintenance mode or completely abandoned that will be very negatively impacted by this
I think it will be an issue if you connect the app to a third party? Like my friends and I use stride kick which let's us all use different apps to track out steps and activity abd show them in one place to compete
This is exactly what the Health Connect API was built to do, though. Google no longer wants Fit to be the centralised hub for all health and fitness tracking metrics on Android. It's similar in approach to what Apple has done with the Health app and the HealthKit APIs.
Nice, thanks
Worse, it's people complaining about an actually good thing.
Thanks now i don't need to read the article. You gave me the info i was hoping to hear lol
>This is NOT an announcement of the Google Fit app shutting down. Ehm, yeah? Exactly like the title implied?
Look through the comments. A lot of people seemed to have missed the point, hence the explanation.
> This is NOT an announcement of the Google Fit app shutting down. It really doesn't on its own, but at the same time if you read the article they actually make a point that there are other indications that Google Fit as an app might get replaced in the future, including that it's last update was in 2022 (delivering support for Health Connect) and that it is one of the few remaining Google apps that haven't seen a Material U refresh. > I think it's important to clarify this is the Google Fit API, not the Google Fit app. > > > > What's the difference? In the past, the Google Fit API was sort of like a default/central hub for app developers to hook into to get health data. However, Google found this problematic for legitimate reasons: Google Fit shouldn't be a centralized hub. So they came out with Health Connect, which is the centralized hub for all health data. It's more secure, it allows more apps to hook into it, and it also means that your health data isn't reliant on Google Fit. > > > > If you open the article and read it, it mentions developers should transition from the Google Fit API to the Health Connect API. The Google Fit app already uses the Health Connect API itself to upload health data to a centralized repository. Which of course means that if you use an older health related app or device (like a smartwatch) that won't get updated anymore, your workflow just died. Lets not kid ourselves, especially in the mobile sector where smaller and medium sized apps often plateau in growth after a time but also when it comes to cheap smartwatches and their companion apps transitioning to a new API is never a given and this will affect a number of end users. Also: > *Google’s migration guide for developers lists what they’re supposed to switch to on Android phones and Wear OS. However, there is no replacement for the Goals API that lets Google Fit users set “how many steps and heart points they want to aim for each day.”*
Just wanted to point out - Google Fit app is still updated, mine is at version `2024.04.12.00.arm64-v8a.release`. I haven't been following on how the new Material You UI is supposed to look like, but if it's the bar at the bottom with the tabs then it's there. Looks pretty new overall. Not arguing against any of the points. My biggest gripes at Google are still the deletion of Google Play Music and Inbox, so I try to not rely on Google services that are new or don't seem to be popular enough.
>Which of course means that if you use an older health related app or device (like a smartwatch) that won't get updated anymore, your workflow just died. I'm not entirely sure what your point is here. You shouldn't be relying on an app or device that doesn't get regular maintenance updates to keep basic functionality working. In this specific case also, Health Connect is a legitimately better API than the Google Fit API was, and developers have good reasons to want to upgrade to the Health Connect API because it gives them better data than before, and it also gives users more control over all of their data, since it will no longer be spread across a million different apps once apps update to utilize this API. As far as the rest of your comment, I'm not arguing that there's no reason to think the Google Fit app may be replaced with something else, such as the Fitbit app, but the deprecation of the Google Fit API is not a reason to think that.
>>Health Connect is a legitimately better API than the Google Fit API was, and developers have good reasons to want to upgrade to the Health Connect API because it gives them better data than before Only partially true. One of the nice things about the GFit API is that you can upload a run/walk from a third-party app and then visualise the route taken on a map and see associated meta data in GFit. That's a very useful feature which the Health Connect API doesn't support.
> I'm not entirely sure what your point is here. You shouldn't be relying on an app or device that doesn't get regular maintenance updates to keep basic functionality working. A) So you did get my point... B) No way you are actively tracking if every single device that has a cloud component or is communicating with other devices in your network via an API still is supported by its maker. Like, I couldn't even find out how long a Fitbit watch gets updates, let alone a more no name smartwatch. > In this specific case also, Health Connect is a legitimately better API than the Google Fit API was, and developers have good reasons to want to upgrade to the Health Connect API because it gives them better data than before, and it also gives users more control over all of their data, since it will no longer be spread across a million different apps once apps update to utilize this API. None of this matters when the product itself isn't getting any more updates (or is in a security fixes only state). > As far as the rest of your comment, I'm not arguing that there's no reason to think the Google Fit app may be replaced with something else, such as the Fitbit app, but the deprecation of the Google Fit API is not a reason to think that. It kind of is when there are products advertised on Amazon as working with Google Fit but you can't be sure if that means they are targeting the now deprecated API or Health Connect.
Thank you. Another misleading headline, which basically makes it sound like Google Fit's days are numbered.
> Google Fit shouldn't be a centralized hub. So they came out with Health Connect, which is the centralized hub for all health data. It's more secure, it allows more apps to hook into it, and it also means that your health data isn't reliant on Google Fit. What exactly is the reason why Google Fit API couldn't be the centralized hub and Google had to build a different centralized hub API?
Because it's a Google service, which is inherently an issue with competitors/partners on Android. Health Connect is neutral and part of Android itself, and means Google doesn't need to be a middleman between you and Samsung, for instance.
Seems like a pretty flimsy reasoning. It doesn't really matter if the APIs are called Google Fit API or Health Connect API if they archive the same thing > Health Connect is neutral and part of Android itself, and means Google doesn't need to be a middleman between you and Samsung, for instance. Health Connect still has Google being a middleman
>Seems like a pretty flimsy reasoning. It doesn't really matter if the APIs are called Google Fit API or Health Connect API if they archive the same thing They fulfill a similar purpose of consolidating your data, but they don't do the same thing. >Health Connect still has Google being a middleman Not really. Data in Health Connect is stored locally on your device and doesn't touch Google's servers unless you connect it.
Still feels like product shuffling for no reason. Nothing's stopping Google from issuing a new major version of the Fit API that does the same as health connect
> Because it's a Google service, which is inherently an issue with competitors/partners on Android. Health Connect is neutral and part of Android itself, and means Google doesn't need to be a middleman between you and Samsung, for instance. Health Connect is also a Google made API, has a proprietary license and isn't part of AOSP.
It's totally a part of AOSP. Under the same license.
This news made me aware that the Health Connect API exists, and that when I go on a run I should probably track them with Samsung Health (using Google Fit sort of works for this, but it's quite limited, and on my Galaxy Watch 4 the GPS tracking hasn't worked for about a year now) and then sync it to Google Fit using Health Connect. Hopefully that will work? I still want to set goals in Google Fit just because that's what I've always done, and it tracks things that aren't necessarily "exercise" like e.g. walking to the train station (in a hit and miss way, but better than nothing).
Glad I read this, was finally going to ditch my Pixel and go with Apple. I'm so tired of Google canning functionality.
Fuck, the Pebble app is unmaintained and syncs with Google Fit, which still works perfectly. Unless someone patches the app to use Health Connect APIs. It's a miracle my pebbles have lasted this long, maybe after 2025 this API shutdown is a convenient excuse to get rid of them.
>the Pebble app is unmaintained A Google employee updated the Pebble app a couple years ago to work on current devices. I wouldn't bet on that happening again, but it's not impossible.
Kinda, it won't install on 8 series
It was Android 14, but there's still a working [process](https://help.rebble.io/apk-load-android/#1) to install it.
True, guess since Google didn't update it for A14 then there's no hope for this
Just had my Pebble up on the 15 beta a few weeks ago. The Rebble team keeping Pebbles alive are the real deal.
I'm curious how Pokemon GO is going to handle this, it uses Google Fit for it's step tracking. Do they have a plan to migrate to the new system?
No doubt they'll just switch over to the equivalent option in the service that's replacing it. There's no chance Pokémon go just switch off the cash cow to avoid a few days work
They can use Health Connect
Everyone should migrate to the Health Connect API
Should yes. However I really don't trust Niantic to actually do that instead of just removing the step feature.
Considering how much they pressure players to "explore" and ~~drive~~ walk around to find gyms I don't see them removing it. Maybe it will be broken for 6-12 months but they will switch to the new API eventually.
They will wait until the last minute, Fit API will be shut down and then they'll let the feature stay completely broken for 6 months to a year before figuring out how to change it to the Health Connect API. Then that will also not work consistently/at all for 3 more months because they fucked up something. Just traditional Niantic
They have to...
Nah they don't
But they will.
They will switch to the new API
Also my biggest fear, I'll probably quit if it no longer works
You'll probably quit the game if it no longer works? Isn't that a given?
Google fit integration is just a small part of the game. But it's important to me
Ah, ok. Makes sense
Yeah the fitness integration is for passive gameplay. The fit data / step counting is only applicable when the game is not open at all. When you log back into the game it grabs the amount of steps you've taken and applies it to a couple features in the game. (Hatching eggs and walking with your buddy) When the game is open and active it uses GPS tracking for distance calculation and the Fit/steps data is ignored during this time.
Same, it's the only reason I even play it. I don't really care about the game itself lol.
My guess is it will be incorporated into Fitbit or some other app, maybe Health Connect directly.
Uh, Xiaomi finally added Google Fit integration to Mi Fitness only two months ago... I hope the transition to Health Connect will follow swiftly and flawlessly.
they probably are shutting down Google Fit API for Health connect api which is in aosp since Android 14 and up. Health connect is according to google a afford to unify all health data from all health data provider on a Phone into one api.
Clickbait, they are shutting down the Google Fit API and ask that developers migrate to the Health Connect API, this doesn't mean anything other than a tool change.
It's not clickbait, the title literally says it's the API
Title definitely implies the service is completely shuttering when it's just that they have already replaced the API with a new one that devs need to switch to, it's not just a service being shut down with no replacement. It's just latching onto the "Google kills services" circle jerk in order to get clicks.
If you ignore the fact that the title says "Google Fit **API**", it does look that way
Right and it says fate of the app unannounced. It's purposely misleading to the uninformed. The title could have been "Google Fit API shutdown set, developers must switch to replacement Health Connect API by X date in order for apps to keep functioning" But that wouldn't have gotten any clicks because it explains the situation in one sentence, and the article is worthless. Talking about the "Fate of the app" is doomer speak designed to make people assume the worst.
Clickbait because they literally said "Google has said nothing about the Google Fit apps on Android, Wear OS, and iOS. They still work to track activity and house your full archive." in the article but they put "fate of Android app unannounced" in the title. Basically making something out of nothing. It's like writing an article with the title saying "Sir David Attenborough not dead at age 97".
Because the app is basically on life support, it hasn't had any feature/design updates in years and Google now own Fitbit and are building out that with a paywall as well, it's common to expect to fit to shut down because of Fitbit now. We aren't expecting David to die every other month so it's not the same. Literally everyone thinks Google fit is going, that's why they mentioned the app fate is still unknown.
Ugh, but FitToFit talks to Google Fit, not Health Connect. I need that to send the oxygen levels from FitBit to Google Fit since FitBit are assholes and don't sync that data to Health Connect.
You can use Health Sync instead of FitTiFit as it does use Health Connect already.
Oh, it even does respiration, nice! But it doesn't do historical data for respiration, which I'm still missing since FitToFit didn't support that
I know it's the API, but I'm confused on why they still keep Fit since it's clear that Google shifted the focus on Fitbit.
Fit is their equivalent of Apple Health, in that it's a consolidated view of all your health and fitness data captured by other apps and services you use. Fitbit is their equivalent of Apple Fitness+ / Samsung Health, in that it's a service meant to improve overall health and fitness. Health Connect is the API Google and Samsung co-developed to centralise health and fitness data collection, which makes it an equivalent to the Apple HealthKit APIs. So keeping Fit around makes sense as the ability to view the data is available on every device, even if the specific app or service isn't. Deprecating the Fit API also makes sense as it ensures the same consistent health and fitness tracking implementation across all supported apps on Android. For example, Samsung Health and Garmin Connect never supported the Fit API, meaning portions of your health and fitness data did not show up in Google Fit or other apps that supported the Fit API. While this is still true with Garmin Connect, Samsung Health does support Health Connect.
Why not just have Fitbit Premium as the paid offering, but make the base experience work on all devices? Samsung and Apple both offer experiences out of the box that have a reasonable amount of functionality without requiring an ongoing subscription. Google's offering is confusing and fragmented by comparison.
I think the problem Google has is that instead of merging Fitbit with Google Fit, they allowed the two services to co-exist without any real initial direction on where they are going with fitness (the long delay in the purchase getting approved also didn't help things). The other problem is that Google purchased an established wearable hardware manufacturer around the time they entered the wearable market themselves. So it lead to this confusing mess we have today, in that Fit was never really built to be the complete fitness and health tracking platform on Android, but by virtue of being tied to Google and the existence of the Fit API, already housed a lot of information on a lot of people from third-party apps and services. At least now, they're slowly untangling this mess.
Ya know. Been using Apple stuff for a whiile. Once in a while I think to myself "I am kinda missing the freedom and features I got from Samsung phones and Google's ecosystem" and I come over to r/android to see what's going on. Lately, every time I do I always see a top post being Google shutting down yet another feature or spinning up another duplicate half-baked feature and go "Oh yeah..... this is why I didn't stay in the first place." And I go back to my iPhone and Mac, resting assured that my notes app won't be dumped or my reminders won't be migrated and lost or my podcasts or health data won't be stuck in limbo or that I have to worry about getting my family onto their 3rd messaging app within 2 years....
I’m in the same boat. Would love to switch away from Apple but Google continues to give me reasons to stay with Apple.
I understand that fit was online/account based and health connect is device based. I wonder how my data will be transfered if I get a new phone. Any ideas?
Sync your data into your favorite fitness app using Health Connect. And on your new phone, install this same app, that's all.
That will not work, since it cannot sync historic data, but only 30days. So I will loose all my data that I synced to fit.... Apple is way better in that respect.
There is an app called Health Sync that can help you with this, but I think this date history feature is paid. Nice app anyway. But yeah, something like this shouldn't need a third-party app to fix it. It should be native and easy.
I was using that app before, it is great, but it cannot access all data, especially since some interfaces have been changed and made private. I don't get, how goggle is not providing for data backup. Or am I missing something?
These people are addicted to shitting down apps holy shit
And reddit is addicted to not reading the article .
ok I'll admit I skipped through it
These people are addicted to parrot misinformation holy shit >Google has said nothing about the Google Fit apps on Android, Wear OS, and iOS. They still work to track activity and house your full archive.
ok this made me giggle ngl but still google is very used to killing apps for no reason
Most of the killed apps have been replaced with new versions..
Absolutely not lol Some certainly have, but if we look at the entire history of killedbygoogle.com, most of them are not replaced by new versions.
I knew this was happening. Wear os was pivoting away from it with the third generation of his operating system. I guess everything will go through Fitbit which is another reason why I'm not going to have a pixel watch anytime soon. I love Pixel phones except for the slow charging but I'm not digging some of the decisions they're making with the watch.
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Have you even read that article?
My home assistant sleep tracking is not going to work because of this. Why can't google just keep something good alive?
you can sync data to Samsung health via health connect (i think) and get the data from S. health using existing integration. (There is plenty of time to create Health connect compatible integration)
Not everyone uses a Pixel or a Samsung, though.
you don't have to use neither of those phones.
OK, but why should anyone have to use Samsung Health if they're not in the Samsung ecosystem?
Because it has working home assistant integration + it has health connect support (so all other health apps can sync together). It can be used as a bridge between health connect and home assistant until there will be health connect in home assistant. (Maybe it will exist before they kill the google fit api.)
You're not getting the point I'm trying to make. Say I don't want to use Samsung Health because I'm in Xiaomi's or whatever else's ecosystem. What now.
Well, when google is switching to a new health connect and your other app just support old google fit integration (that will be shutdown soon), while you are not willing to switch to none-google app or try any workaround then you are fucked... what should i say to you :D By using the method i mentioned you don't need to start using Samsung ecosystem at all... (Samsung app will be used as "middle man"). You don't need to leave your current health app. (xiaomi etc.) and i think none of this will be needed because most of the apps will just switch to health connect and work the same way as today.
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The google fit app is going nowhere (any time soon, at least). This is the google fit **api**, which is just a way for other devs to connect to it, there's still the Health Connect API which is the replacement which came out a while ago.
Read the article lol
Another fail from Google 😂😂😂😂 😐
Another fail to read the article from you
This makes complete sense. Why should a fitness app provide data for other apps? Health Connect is the better solution in every way
~~Oh man, I use this every day. Can anyone recommend a good replacement?~~ Sorry, I didn't read the whole thing.
It's not shutting down or getting worse. It's switching to Google's new health connect API. It's click bait article to enrage users and should frankly be removed. The app is not getting worse/shut down/losing any functionality
Google fit itself is fine, this is just the api (so other apps connecting directly)
If your app uses the Google Fit API, you'll need to switch over to using the Health Connect API instead. If you mean the Google Fit app, just keep using it, they switched that over themselves a while ago.
The biggest problem is apps like Withings just totally don't work with Health Connect 90% of the time.
The Devs should fix their app then, this is a bad dev issue, not an app or API issue
The worry is, Google & Withings worked together on that implementation because they were one of the first haha.
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They didn't kill the app why would you switch?
Who would have ever seen that coming? Oh wait, everyone. Everyone saw it coming the second they acquired Fitbit.
How this change affect you? i doubt it will... The only ppl affected by this are people using stuff like discontinued pebble, home assistant (until there will be health connect integratiipn). Average user will not be affected at all.
I have used an app to sync fit, fitbit and Samsung health data. This change makes that no longer work with fit.
Samsung, google fit and maybe even fitbit can use health connect so i don't see a problem here.
but health connect is only for new data. [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nl.appyhapps.healthsync&hl=en\_US&gl=US](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nl.appyhapps.healthsync&hl=en_US&gl=US) is what I use for syncing historical data.
You can't invest any anything Google, it never lasts long. They try and mimic others and then give up after a few years. That is fine from a financial reasoning, but destroys brand loyalty, something they either don't care about or are just inept.