Google acquired Fitbit back in 2021 for $2.1 billion. Now, almost two years later, the company is ready to bring all the existing Fitbit users into its fold. The company today announced that starting this summer, all Fitbit users will need a Google Account to get access to their health insights in the Fitbit app. This means that all existing Fitbit users will have to connect their Fitbit fitness trackers and smartwatches to their Google Accounts.
But there is a catch. Fitbit users don’t need to ditch their Fitbit accounts and migrate to their Google Accounts right away. Instead, the company is giving them until 2025 to make the change. If existing Fitbit users fail to make the switch by then, they stand a chance to lose all access to their Fitbit app data and their health insights.
“If you’re an existing Fitbit user, you will have the option to move your Fitbit experience to a Google Account. You aren’t required to move to a Google Account immediately, but will need to move by 2025,” Google shared in a blog post.
Google says that this change will give users a more unified experience and eliminate the need to have two separate accounts for accessing their health insights on a Fitbit fitness tracker or a smartwatch. “With a Google Account you’ll get more Fitbit experiences and all your historical data with the benefits of a Google Account,” the company added.
While the company hasn’t announced the exact date yet, in a few days from now, existing Fitbit users will start seeing a prompt on opening the Fitbit app. Clicking on this prompt will take to the settings within the Fitbit app to make the necessary changes. Users will also be able to make this change directly from the settings menu in the Fitbit app.
As far as the new users are concerned, Google says all new Fitbit users will be required to register with a Google Account starting this summer.
What will change for existing Fitbit users?
Google says that once users switch to the Google Account, they will be able to access all of their Fitbit data with a single password. This, in turn, will make it easier for them to manage all their connected apps and paired devices. In addition to that, users will get access to more privacy controls for managing their Fitbit data from the Google Privacy Center.