Fitbit OS 3.0

Fitbit just revealed that the new Fitbit OS 3.0 has been released, providing users with more relevant fitness information and paving the way for many other developers and companies to come to the platform.

The success for any smartwatch lies in the post-launch support, and it looks that Fitbit is planning to support its latest line of smartwatches for a long time. It’s not just about pushing fixes, although that’s important as well, it’s also about bringing new content and functionalities.

In fact, the fact that Fitbit can still add functionalities to its latest smartwatches is proof that their platform is much more flexible. It’s also true that third-party developers haven’t flocked to the new platform, but this is where the latest 3.0 update promises to make some changes.

The first thing on the list is the dashboard, which has been upgraded and which should provide users with more details regarding sleep and activity patterns. Also, users should find it much easier to log weight measurements and water intake.
Furthermore, a large number of third-party companies have expressed their interest, some of which already have apps ready, including achu health, Couch to 5K, Genius Wrist and MySwimPro.
While all of these changes are interesting in themselves, what’s under the hood has a more promise. The new Fitbit Exercise API and open-source developer tools that are available should make it much easier for other apps either to integrate Fitbit data or to make relevant apps.
One of the most interesting new apps that are coming to Fitbit is Alpine Snow, which finally offers ski tracking with distance traveled, number of runs, speed, altitude, weather conditions, calories burned and heart rate in real-time.
Fitbit also revealed that the much-promised Female Health Tracking feature, which offers details about menstrual cycle trends directly into the app should be released in early 2019.
Surprisingly, there is no information about the SPO2 sensor, which still hasn’t been tapped by any app, but we expect to herd more about that in the coming months.
Fitbit 3.0 is available for Fitbit Ionic, Fitbit Ionic: adidas edition and Fitbit Versa, but not everyone will get it at once. It’s a rollout process so it might take a while until it reaches everyone.

The feature I’m most excited about is the addition of goal-based exercises, which first debuted on the Fitbit Charge 3. Instead of recording an exercise and stopping when you reach a certain point, your Fitbit will now let you set a goal and notify you when you reach it. For instance, you can set a goal for calories burned, distance, or time for more than 15 exercises.