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Strava goes all-in on Wear OS 3, leaving older smartwatches without updates
Current watch owners can keep using the existing app
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With Wear OS 3, it seems like Android-friendly wearables might finally be on the right track. Though there's no sign when non-Samsung watches will hit store shelves, Google has attempted to rectify this by bringing certain features to older watches. With an OS upgrade not happening until the second half of 2022, we've been expecting Wear OS 2 devices to stay actively maintained for the foreseeable future. Third-party apps might be a different story, however, as one popular fitness service has already discontinued support for Google's legacy watch OS.
Google Fit's health data is now more beautiful and more functional (APK Download)
A new "Browse" tab centralizes your data and adds more options
Google Fit is seeing a renaissance of sorts. After being quasi-abandoned for a long while, the app reemerged with a new UI and keeps adding new features every now and then, like the impressive heart and respiratory rate measurement on Pixels. But what Fit has always lacked is a more organized user experience. The stream of similar-looking cards on the homescreen is the least efficient way of showing all this health data, and it seems the devs finally took notice and decided to fix it, while also adding new functionality.
After introducing what seems like a boatload of new products at IFA 2019 last month, Garmin is introducing two more: the Legacy Saga Star Wars-themed smartwatches. Predictably, one watch represents the "Light" side and the other the "Dark" side of the Force. Although both watches belong to the same Saga series, there are some important differences.
It's open season on email hackers, tracking cookies and Facebook shadow profiling as our favorite open-source software makers at Mozilla have released a series of updates for its Firefox web browser, Firefox Monitor service, and its Facebook Container, as well as rounding out a series of mobile password managers with a new extension called Firefox Lockwise.
After a couple of months of speculation, the new Fitbit Versa has landed and it is indeed a Lite version of the original. But it's not the only tracker the company is announcing today. Joining it is an updated Ace 2 for kids as well as a new Inspire and Inspire HR that aim to replace the Alta line-up but also merge some features from the older Fitbit Zip and One. Fitbit also announced an upcoming update to its app as well as a new rewards program.
New year, new you. Or at least we'd all like to believe it. If you've made a 2019 resolution to move more, you'll want to use an activity tracking app or wearable to keep an eye on your progress, and thanks to a new feature, Google Fit could be one of these options. The service is launching new challenges that aim to keep you moving throughout the year.
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Google says it has been paying attention to your feature requests since the redesigned Fit app was launched in the summer and it has a new update just in time for the holidays — ready for you to watch the pounds pile on thanks to yet another leftover-turkey sandwich your body didn't ask for.
It's been a tough year for Google in Europe, and it doesn't look to be getting any better. The Mountain View company was slapped with a record $5 billion antitrust fine by the EU Commission this summer, and now it could be in hot water once again due to its location and online activity tracking practices.
The Strava Android app has been available on Android Wear for a while now, giving users access to activity stats on their wrists and letting them start and stop tracking without having to pull their phone out of their pocket. But that companion Wear app was still tethered to the phone in two ways. One, you had to have the Strava app on your phone to get it on your watch, and two, even if you could track activities through your watch without a phone nearby, you couldn't upload them directly to your account, you had to sync them to your phone first and then let the latter do the uploading.
Fitbit just unveiled its two upcoming trackers, the Flex 2 and Charge 2, but there's more that the company is adding to its trackers' experience this week: Adventures.
Human's activity and fitness tracker has been available on iOS since 2013, but it has just decided to get its running shoes on and ride to the Android side. The app takes a passive approach to activity tracking, working in the background on your phone to figure out everything (walks, runs, bike rides) you've done throughout the day. If this sounds familiar, it's because it's very similar to Google Fit or to the previous "celebrity" in the category, Moves.
Part of the appeal of smartwatches is using them in place of a dedicated activity tracker. Pebble watches have had a number of third-party options available, but now Pebble is making a full effort of its own. The company has rolled out Pebble Health, watch software that tracks your steps and monitors your sleeping.
Garmin Connect Updated With A Dramatically Improved Interface And More Features, Sucks Much Less Now
If you use any of Garmin's activity tracking devices — be it Edge, Forerunner, Approach, or any of the others — then you've likely used the Garmin Connect app. For as long as I can remember, this has been a buggy, ugly, and almost useless app that didn't work correctly most of the time. In fact, about half the time when I fired it up to enable Live Tracking on my Edge 510, I was faced with a blank white screen. Sometimes a phone reboot would remedy the issue, other times it wouldn't. When the app did work, it was somewhat useful, but it always lacked info that I wanted to see, leaving me with no other option but to hit up the Garmin Connect website (which isn't that great, either).
Ever since I tried the Misfit Flash a few months ago, I keep recommending it and its more expensive brother, Shine, to people around me as the best "good enough" activity tracker and platform. The long battery life, the seamless sleep and activity logging, the simple app, and the waterproofing up to 50m, all make it a great solution for those who want to start tracking their health but don't want something that is too involved, too complicated, or too demanding.
Moto 360 owners have been enjoying a Moto Body application on their watch since the Motorola Connect update in November 2014. The app, however, was limited to the confines of the small screen on their wrist, providing daily steps, calories, and activity data, but with no weekly or monthly stats. That changes today with the dedicated Moto Body application that has hit the Play Store.
I had my eyes on Amiigo the moment it was mentioned here on Android Police back in January 2013. The promised features seemed like everything I wanted in an all-day sleep and activity tracker, especially with its waterproof design and swimming capability. See, runners and cyclists have it easy: there are dozens if not hundreds of gadgets they have been able to use for the past years to track their workouts. But swimmers, well, let's just say the choice has always been limited and it was even more so in 2013 when you wanted a smart tracker that synced with Android. So I backed the Amiigo, and I waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,… (crowdfunding involves a lot of that) until my unit was eventually delivered several months ago.Everything about my first Amiigo experience was disappointing. The packaging was nonexistent (I like a good unboxing and this was a bubble wrap affair with the band, shoeclip, and wireless charger inside), the wristband was too stiff to wear and kept coming off at the slightest friction, the app was kind of cool in terms of design but a nightmare of bugs and disconnections, and the entire experience simply fell short.My expectations in 2015 weren't as low as they were in 2013. I had reliably used a Fitbit One for two years with nary an issue. I was wearing an LG G Watch R on my wrist. I had tested both a Misfit and a Pebble. I knew what excellent, good, and average activity trackers did. Amiigo wasn't anywhere in that spectrum.But luckily things changed. I stuck with it because at the time, it was my only swim tracking device. I'm a tenacious optimist and I kept hoping that the band would live up to the bar it had set in its Indiegogo campaign. While I can't say that the Amiigo is everything I hoped it would be when I pledged for it in January 2013 — I still consider it an alpha product in so many respects — it's definitely better today than it was a few months ago when I received it. And that's why it's now worth looking at more extensively.You shouldn't consider this article though as a review that shows you whether or not you must buy an Amiigo. I couldn't honestly recommend the product and it's even out of stock now (more on that in the "new prospects" section). It is, however, an expose of the capabilities of the hardware and its platform. There's a lot of potential here, and it could later show up in next generation Amiigo products or similar wearables.
Google Fit users, it's time to get off your butts and update the activity-tracking app. Version 1.52 has rolled into the Play Store, and it's ready to hit the gym with a new set of clothes and one of those fancy wristbands.
You can imagine that running around the CES show floor for someone who has been fascinated (as well as convinced and positively influenced) by wearable activity trackers felt like breaking free inside a candy factory. Dozens if not hundreds of brands were vying for everyone's attention and a share of the pie in the tiny wearable market, and I had to check most of the intriguing and known ones to see what they had to offer. Among the hundreds of displays, from the companies I'd never heard of to the recognizable brands like Fitbit, Garmin, and Withings, one surprised me the most: Misfit.