What you need to know
- An update to the Fitbit app on Android includes support for Health Connect.
- Permissions are turned off by default, but users can enable the Fitbit to write health data to Health Connect.
- Health Connect allows various apps to access data from one central service on your smartphone.
Fitbit is the latest app to gain support for Google's Health Connect service following a recent update on Android.
Fitbit version 3.69 is available now on the Play Store (via 9to5Google), and while there are no visible changes to the app, support for Health Connect is the most notable addition.
Navigating to Permissions and data > App permissions in the Health Connect app now shows Fitbit in the "Not allowed access" section of the app. You can enable app access by clicking the Fitbit icon and checking each option for data you want to allow the app to write or by just selecting "Allow all" if you so choose.
Unlike other apps, Fitbit doesn't present users with the option to read data.
Health Connect is a service launched earlier this year by Google that aims to make health and fitness data more accessible between apps. This means apps that don't usually sync together should finally have some way to communicate via Health Connect, at least once they gain support for the service.
"The data in Health Connect is all on-device and encrypted," Google stated earlier this year when the API launched. "Users will have the ability to shut off access or delete data they don't want on their device, and the option to prioritize one data source over another when using multiple apps."
Several apps have already gained support for Health Connect, including Google Fit, Samsung Health, Withings Health Mate, and more. Now that Fitbit has joined the party, it should be easier for users to bring their Fitbit data into Google Fit, something that has been unavailable without a third-party application. It also means Google gets to continue with its dual-app strategy.
