A few weeks ago, we shared an interesting piece of news with you: there were reports that Apple would stop selling Fitbit wearable devices in its stores in the coming months. This prediction has come true, but only partway: while Fitbit trackers disappeared from the company’s website last Friday, they remain on the shelves of real-life Apple Stores. For now.
Why would Apple want to stop selling an item that’s compatible with its mobile gadgets? It probably doesn’t have anything to do with the impending release of the Apple Watch, but because FitBit is one activity tracker that won’t share data with Apple’s HealthKit app. HealthKit is supposed to track everything from your weight to your blood glucose levels (either through manual data entry or syncing with compatible devices.) It’s a vision of the future where your phone will know more about your body than your doctor does, but not every company that makes tracking devices wants to be part of it.
Apple Insider speculates that Fitbit, in turn, doesn’t want to hand its users’ data over to Apple. Not out of any concern for user privacy, but because the ability to export your data into a spreadsheet for data-related fun is a privilege that FitBit users have to pay extra for.
Will FitBit items remain on the shelves next to their buddies from other manufacturers for much longer?
Fitbit products remain on the shelves at Apple Stores, for now [AppleInsider]
by Laura Northrup via Consumerist
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