Hey Google, I need to pair a Pixel Watch and Fitbit to the identical account

As somebody who sports activities a few of the finest smartwatches primarily for well being metrics, the lackluster enchancment in battery life within the class has lengthy been a pet peeve of mine. These well being metrics will solely be nearly as good as the quantity of information I’ve. If the watch says 24 hours on the field, it ought to go 24 hours. However as everyone knows, that’s hardly ever the case for many customers, not to mention these like me who push their smartwatches with GPS-based exercises and a wholesome quantity of notifications.

It’s an issue that notably plagues Put on OS wearables just like the Pixel Watch, although the Apple Watch isn’t totally resistant to it both. Actually, I’d been eyeing the Pixel Watch ever because it was introduced however opted for the Apple Watch Extremely primarily for the super-sized battery. Regardless, vary anxiousness on smartwatches is actual, and it makes me lengthy for my previous Fitbit that would simply go every week or extra on a cost.

However what if there was a approach to make use of my previous Fitbit alongside the Pixel Watch on the identical account? That may draw me proper again into the ecosystem. Right here’s why it must occur and the way it may work.

I like health-first smartwatches. They’ve democratized well being monitoring and incentivized each day put on due to the additional benefit of non-intrusive notifications and easily-reachable apps. However with nice capabilities comes nice battery drain, and most smartwatches simply can’t go over a day of intensive use. Furthermore, if I’m carrying a full-sized wearable, I would like the entire performance as a substitute of a smartwatch-lite expertise like that supplied by Amazfit or Garmin’s long-lasting wearables. That mentioned, there are events after I don’t want all that energy.

Living proof: after I’m sleeping. Already heading in the direction of zero by the tip of the day, there’s hardly ever sufficient juice for a full night time of sleep monitoring left over — a ache level for many smartwatches. As a lifelong insomniac, I take advantage of sleep monitoring to actively observe sleep zones and enhance my sleep high quality. That mentioned, sleep monitoring doesn’t require a full-blown smartwatch. Why can’t I simply swap out the Pixel Look ahead to a Fitbit to trace my nightly sleep or lack of it? All whereas my Pixel Watch prices on a nightstand.

Formal outings are one more event the place I’d admire the power to swap out my smartwatch for one thing a bit extra inconspicuous. I’m the sort of man who will whip out a mechanical watch when dressing up and I’m not alone on this. Nevertheless, a proper event doesn’t imply I need to miss out on fundamentals like step or coronary heart charge monitoring. A smaller health tracker strapped onto the opposite wrist is way extra acceptable than dual-wielding watches.

Equally, I don’t need to child the glass-encased Pixel Watch when out on a path. I’d a lot reasonably swap over to a extra sturdy, often cheaper, and comparatively dispensable health tracker that does all of the health monitoring I would like.

To me, a big a part of the Pixel Watch’s enchantment is its deep integration with Fitbit. I’ve used the corporate’s merchandise for years. It’s bought granular particulars of my weight reduction journey, my first marathon, and years of exercises. It’s why I’ve been eyeing Google’s watch over different Pixel Watch alternate options. Having my health knowledge go into the identical acquainted knowledge financial institution with years of developments to pore over is interesting.

It additionally makes me surprise why it’s so onerous for Google to permit knowledge from the Pixel Watch and Fitbit to sync to the identical account. Certainly, it’s simply the small activity of information classification and segregating step counts by timestamps? Furthermore, it wouldn’t be new for Google. Fitbit used to supply this performance. Actually, it was doable to pair a number of trackers to a single account for a number of years. Fitbit would then mechanically sync over knowledge primarily based on the final system used. The corporate canned the performance when it launched merchandise that supported the Fitbit app gallery, however maybe it’s time to contemplate bringing it again.

Actually, Samsung’s wearables can do that with out a difficulty. In a latest dialog, my colleague Calvin talked about how the Galaxy Wearables app lets him mechanically swap between any wearable paired with the app utilizing pores and skin detection. It lets him seize his older Gear S3 on the best way out if his Galaxy Watch 4 is on cost. If Samsung has figured it out, why can’t Google do it too?

Look, anyone contemplating the Pixel Look ahead to its spotlight function — Fitbit integration — has seemingly been within the Fitbit ecosystem for some time. I’ve bought a field stuffed with previous Fitbit trackers mendacity round unused. Permitting customers to reuse their previous health trackers alongside the Pixel Watch is greater than a goodwill gesture. It could be a implausible transfer for sustainability and it could alleviate the most important ache level of the Pixel watch — battery life. Moreover, it would spur customers preferring a devoted health tracker to select up a Fitbit to go alongside the Pixel Watch. That’s a straightforward win for Google.

Thus far, I’ve approached the issue from the lens of a long-time Fitbit person. Nevertheless, Google has all of the instruments in place to unravel this downside for any mixture of smartwatches and health trackers. Google’s Well being Join platform was designed to let disapparate health apps converse to one another. Higher Well being Join and Google Match integration with the broader ecosystem of health trackers will allow simply that. With health knowledge being routed by means of Well being Hook up with Google Match, all of the app must do is type knowledge primarily based on time stamps and combine it with the remainder of my well being metrics.

I do know, I do know. I began off the function request with a view towards fixing the issue of battery life on the Pixel Watch. Nevertheless, there’s far more to it. The Android ecosystem is all about freedom of selection and expression. I don’t need to be locked into only one wearable. Positive, utilizing a Fitbit alongside the Pixel Watch would alleviate my considerations round battery anxiousness however it could additionally open choices for utilizing different {hardware} primarily based on the place I’m or permit me to substitute my Pixel Look ahead to a rugged tracker when engaged in a rigorous exercise.