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Windows Phone to finally get fitness tracking with the official Fitbit app

Saqib Shah
July 29, 2014

Up until now Windows Phone users with fitness trackers have been excluded from those wearables’ official apps, instead being forced to rely on third-party downloads.

Fitbit is looking to change all that by releasing its own official Windows Phone 8.1 fitness tracking app, which was previously only compatible with iOS and Android.

Consequently, it will now sync your Fitbit Flex, One or Zip with your Windows Phone 8.1 device, displaying stats including calories, steps, distance, active minutes, floors climbed and sleep quality.

It will also grant you access to your dashboard, where you can see an overview of your key numbers, as well as viewing your accumulating progress.

Additionally, the Fitbit app will integrate with your Windows Phone Live Tiles UI to display your data on the start screen, saving you the hassle of constantly opening the app.

Wile Fitbit for Windows Phone comes packing most of the features available on other platforms, some omissions have been made. These include the Mobile Run and MobileTrack functions, barcode scanning, full-screen graphs and push notifications.

Fitbit’s jump to Windows Phone is good news for both parties. Windows Phone users will now be able to sync one of the most popular fitness trackers with their device – it is thought that Fitbit has a 67% share of the market in the US.

For Fitbit, this means access to a whole raft of new users, with Windows Phone thought to be one of the fastest growing OS platforms at present. A factor that clearly influenced the wearables manufacturer’s decision.

“Windows is projected to be the fastest growing smartphone OS platform, so supporting this platform is important so that all of our users have access to their stats, no matter which phone they choose,” said James Park, CEO and co-founder of Fitbit.

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About the Author

Saqib Shah

Tech/gaming journalist for What Mobile magazine and website. Interests include film, digital media and foreign affairs.

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