If you’re a proud and longtime Fitbit user, you’ll notice something different about the Fitbit app later this year. Starting this summer, Google will now allow Fitbit users to migrate their existing Fitbit account to a Google account.
Google initially announced plans to do this last September, but it provided full details on the transition in a blog post on April 11. It’ll work a little differently depending on who you are, but the gist is that Google is ready to start killing old Fitbit accounts and transition them to Google ones.
Your Fitbit account is going away in 2025
If you buy a Fitbit and start using the Fitbit app for the first time this summer, you’ll be required to sign up for the Fitbit app using a Google account. You can still create a Fitbit account today, but when Google begins this migration in the summertime, no new Fitbit accounts will be allowed at all.
What if you’re an existing Fitbit user? Google says you’ll have the option to turn your Fitbit account into a Google account, though you won’t be forced to do so … at least for a couple more years. By 2025, Google will require anyone with a Fitbit account to move it over to a Google one.
With this change, there are a few things to keep in mind. You’ll have access to the same security/privacy settings that all Google accounts have, with Google noting that you’ll be able to manage your Fitbit data through the Google Privacy Center Additionally, Google assures that any health/wellness data from your Fitbit app “won’t be used for Google Ads, and it will continue to be kept separate from Google Ads data.”
Google further notes that the actual Fitbit app experience isn’t changing — just the way you log into it. Per Google, “You will have the same Fitbit experience with all your historical health and wellness data still available.”
Why this could be good (and bad)
Is any of this that big of a deal? That all depends on you.
If you already have a Google account (which you most likely do), this should make managing your Fitbit account a bit easier. It’ll be one less password to remember, and the additional privacy tools are better than what current Fitbit accounts have access to today.
Still, there are likely people who aren’t thrilled with today’s news. Like most tech giants, Google doesn’t have the squeakiest privacy reputation, so being required to give the company your health and wellness data may not be something you’re willing to do.
Thankfully, there are ample Fitbit alternatives available if you can’t stomach having a Google account for your Fitbit.
