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The past year hasn’t been great for Fitbit users. Constant outages, feature removals, and some bizarre behavior from Google are slowly eroding Fitbit’s reputation. Unfortunately, it feels like theunimpressive and overpricedPixel Watch is Google’s priority right now.
UPDATE: 3/2/23
Fitbit experienceda third outageon March 2nd.
On February 6th, Fitbit services sufferedan outagethat prevented users from syncing (or even looking at) their data. This outage continued for two days, and many users lost health and fitness data that was not correctly synced. Another (much shorter) outage occurred onFebruary 23rd, leaving customers to wonder how often this will happen.
What’s worse, Fitbit plans to ditch many of its social features, including Adventures and Challenges. These features have always been a selling point for Fitbit, as they encourage friends and family to meet exercise goals together. As noted byThe Verge, many customers are thinking about leaving Fitbit because of this feature removal—ther/Fitbit subredditis like a funeral service right now!
But here’s the weirdest thing; Google is refusing to bring new apps to the Fitbit Versa 4 and Sense 2, its premium “smartwatches.” Third-party app development for these devices is “solely for watch faces.” It’s asinine behavior; what’s the point in selling an expensive “smartwatch” if you’re going to treat it like a much cheaper fitness tracker?
Many Fitbit customers are coming to an interesting conclusion—they believe that Google is forcing the Pixel Watch down their throats. And if that’s the case, then Google needs to do some thinking. The Pixel Watch isnot an amazing product, and it’s not a stand-in for a fitness tracker. While a Fitbit is affordable, simple, and packed with a weeks-long battery life, the Pixel Watch is expensive, somewhat complicated, and last less than 24 hours on a charge.
We hope that Google doesn’t squander the Fitbit brand. But Google is known toneglect its products, so perhaps this is inevitable.
