Fitbit owners facing shutdown of another much-used service

Since Google bought Fitbit in 2021 it has been streamlining its output and the services around it.

That means users have seen a fair bit of change in recent times, including the removal of Fitbit Pay in favour of Google Wallet integration. In addition, Fitbit tracker and watch owners in the EU have lost access to third-party app and watch faces, which Google decided was the best course of action to take to comply with the Digital Markets Act.

Now another service is set to close down, as the web dashboard at Fitbit.com is being shuttered from 8 July.

Owners are being encouraged to use the new Fitbit app for Android and iOS to track their data instead.

A post on the official Fitbit community pages reveals that the move is part of greater "mission" to combine the Fitbit and Google experiences: "Combined with Google’s decades of being the best at making sense of data, it’s our mission to be one combined Fitbit and Google team," it says.

"Consolidating the Fitbit.com dashboard into the Fitbit app is a part of that mission, and will allow us to focus on features that provide even more valuable insights to our users."

Those worried about losing data or some of the features during the transition needn't: "The web browser will no longer offer access to the Fitbit.com dashboard after 8 July 2024, but all your details and logging for activities, nutrition, sleep, and weight continue to be available in the Fitbit app," it continues.

The impending shutdown has already drawn criticism from some owners in the comments under the post.

"Where in the app do I find the Calories Left Estimate based on activity? We've been asking for this since the redesign," writes jwell58.

"Change isn't the problem. Elimination of features, and claiming you haven't, is."

Another user, jessicabilasano, echoes the frustration: "Changes are okay if they enhance how users benefit from the overall change," she adds.

"Removal of the web dashboard is a terrible decision from Google Fitbit. If Google Fitbit suggests that the mobile app has the features of web dashboard, they are wrong."