Fitbit starts rollout of temperature and symptom tracking feature
We are all more mindful of our health these days, and to that end Fitbit is introducing new functionality in its smartphone app that allows for temperature and symptom tracking.
Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets
The company has already added a bunch of features in recent months to help educate and protect its users against COVID-19. This includes a new tab in its smartphone app for those in the UK, the US and Australia. Titled COVID-19, it slaps on tools and resources to help them deal with the pandemic. Amongst these are suggestions on how to stay healthy and happy while stuck indoors, options to connect to doctors online and coronavirus info from the World Health Organization.
The company is also hopeful its trackers and smartwatches might be used to help manage the COVID-19 pandemic. It even conjured up a low-cost emergency ventilator called Flow. This was prompted by a shortage of conventional ventilators for use by those affected by severe cases of COVID-19.
But now it seems Fitbit has something else in mind. None of the devices in the company’s wearable lineup have the ability to monitor temperature, but you will soon be able to do this manually via the smartphone app. Users will be able to enter their readings in Fahrenheit or Celsius and even keep tabs on symptoms.
As the screenshots that were posted by a Reddit user reveal, this is all presented via an attractive interface. This lets you choose from a wide range of symptoms including runny nose, sneezing, congestion, sore throat, fatigue, diarrhea and much much more. Judging from some of the symptoms listed (such as shortness of breath and lost smell), it’s clear the functionality has been inspired by the current pandemic.
Users can also add a panel in the Today tab of the Fitbit app that acts as a shortcut to the above screens.
This all unofficial at the moment but considering it has started to appear in some users apps, it looks like the company has started a progressive rollout. It often does this in order to test functionality and squash any bugs at an early stage.
It’s good to see Fitbit is continuing to roll out new features with the Google buyout still pending. The company has also released an firmware update for Charge 4 today which slaps on a Dynamic GPS feature.
Like this article? Subscribe to our monthly newsletter and never miss out!
