Our Bodies, Disconnected: The Future Of Fitness APIs
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Google Fit and Apple's HealthKit present two different visions of how fitness apps and wearables should connect with our phonesand ultimately improve our health. Which one will win out, and what are the implications for consumers and developers? For more on ReadWrite's coverage of digital fitness, check out ReadWriteBody: http;//readwrite.com/series/body
Our Bodies, Disconnected: The Future Of Fitness APIs
- 1. Our$Bodies,$Disconnected Owen$Thomas ReadWrite DataWeek$2014
- 5. Theres$a$glut$of$Bitness$apps Most&'itness&apps&provide&broadly&similar&and& overlapping&capabilities&in&exercise&and&nutrition& tracking& Social&graphs&and&data&history&become&the&main& reasons&consumers&stick&with&one&app&versus&another& Technical&interoperability&exists,&but&its&way&too&hard& for&consumers&to&use
- 6. There$are$also$a$lot$of$wearables Most&consumers&abandon&wearables&after&six&months& Functionality&is&limitedmost&only&track&simple& movement&and&sleep& Were¬&doing&much&with&the&data&wearables& generate& Every&wearable&requires&a&companion&app&to&extract& value&from&the&data
- 7. This$stuff$is$broken I&stopped&wearing&my&Jawbone&Up&months&ago,&but&I&didnt& disconnect&the&apps.&Sometimes&my&Up&tells&me&I&burned& 3,000&calories&in&a&day.& Basic&data&elements&like&time&zones&arent&structured& correctly.&MapMyFitness&will&sometimes&tell&me&I&exercised& for&21&hours&straight.& I&have&10&different&apps&where&I&need&to&update&my&weight.& I&dont&have&one&place&I&can&go&to&get&an&overview&of&my& health&and&activity.
- 10. In&2006,&Flickr&cofounder&Caterina&Fake& dubbed&APIs&biz&dev&2.0a&new&way&of& doing&business&without&the&friction&of& dealmaking.
- 12. Later&that&year,&Twitter&cofounder&Biz&Stone& announced&the&Twitter&API.&Developers&created&a& wide&variety&of&apps,&including&mobile&versions&of& Twitter&that&Twitter&itself&wasnt&providing.& Twitter&later&had&to&clamp&down&on&developers& use&of&its&API,&destroying&much&of&the&goodwill&it& had&generated.
- 14. In&2007,&Facebook&unveiled&the&Facebook&Platform,& setting&off&a&gold&rush&of&socially&connected&apps and&of&spammy&apps&that&cluttered&the&News&Feed.& To&this&day,&Facebook&has&a&contentious& relationship&with&developers&who&believe&its& limiting&their&apps&reach.
- 15. Open$or$shut? An&open&or&public&API&is&open&to&all&developers.& Aside&from&a&simple&signaup&process,&there&are&few& barriers&to&use&it.& A&closed&or&private&API&requires&permission&to& access.& Most&APIs,&even&if&technically&open,&have&usage& limits&and&other&restrictions.
- 19. Open$ Jawbone MapMyFitness RunKeeper Closed$ MyFitnessPal Nike Runtastic
- 23. Apples&HealthKit&and&Google&Fit&started&in&different& places.&HealthKit&was&very&focused&on&gathering&vital& signs.&Google&Fit&was&geared&around&'itness&tracking.& Over&time,&HealthKit&has&added&more&'itness&functions in&part&to&support&the&Apple&Watch.& Google&stores&data&in&the&cloud.&Apple&stores&data&on& the&phone.
- 24. Pros$and$cons$of$HealthKit Available&shortly&(September& 2014)& iOS&updates&roll&out&to&large& part&of&installed&baseless& fragmentation Severe&restrictions&on&data&use& Rival&apps&and&devices&can&use& your&data&if&stored&in&HealthKit& Data&is&siloed&on&the&phone
- 25. Pros$and$cons$of$Google$Fit Android&has&more&market&share& Crossaplatform&roadmap REST&API&for&Web&apps,& eventually&native&code&for&iOS& Better&data&structure&based&on& Android&Intents Still&in&developer&preview& Google&always&has&an&agenda& with&data& Android&fragmentation&limits& reach
- 26. Ultimately,&'itness&data&should&live&in&the&cloud&for& storage,&sharing,&and&analysis.& As&long&as&Apples&HealthKit&remains&locked&to&the& phone,&its&usefulness&to&consumers&and&developers& will&be&limited.& Google&Fit&will&have&to&embrace&more&basic&health& functions&to&compete&with&HealthKit.& Theres&still&an&opportunity&for&a&cloudabased&API& playerpossibly&one&that&bridges&HealthKit&and& Google&Fit&across&devices.
- 27. Questions?$ @owenthomas& owen@readwrite.com& readwrite.com/series/body