Fitbit confirms 3rd party app support will not be coming to Sense 2 & Versa 4
Fitbit has confirmed that it has no plans to bring third party app support to Sense 2 and Versa 4. At least for now. If this is functionality you see yourself using, you may want to opt for one of the predecessor generation devices.
It is only about a month since the latest smartwatches from Fitbit dropped and we are learning that the devices fall short in certain aspects. Some are speculating that this is due to the Google ownership.
To remind, in only a few days time the search giant will reveal its first effort on the smartwatch front – Pixel Watch. It is quite possible the company is holding back some Versa 4 and Sense 2 features in order to give its wearable a boost. That way the device can be positioned as a full-fledged smartwatch, with Fitbit devices falling in the fitness watch category.
Lots of features missing
Purchase one of the new Fitbit watches and you’ll find out they have no ability to store music or even control paired smartphone music. WiFi connectivity is built-in but is unusable because the company has switched it off. There is no support Google Assistant, Google Maps and Google Wallet. The Google functionality will come but Fitbit has not announced an estimated arrival date.
Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets
One feature that is currently lacking as compared to the predecessor generations and that might not come at all is support for third party apps and clock faces. Sense 2 and Versa 4 have no ability to connect to the Fitbit App Gallery. Which means some popular applications are missing, such as Uber and Starbucks.
Like WiFi, it looks like this was purposefully switched off. The duo has a “developer bridge” menu, but you cannot enable it. Which means third party developers cannot access the bridge with the SDK.
Most of us thought that this is just temporary and that support will come in time. But a feature request on the Fitbit forum for 3rd party app support suggests otherwise. Fitbit have now marked the thread as “Not currently planned”. So if this is important to you, these devices are probably not the ones to go for.
A Fitbit moderator has posted the following in response to the feature request.
“While we don’t currently have plans to release this feature, we always appreciate the passion and creativity that comes out of this Community. Since we know this idea is important to many of you, we have left voting open to continue tracking interest and will post another update if anything changes.”
You may want to go over to that page and cast your vote for the feature. Who knows, with enough interest shown on the page, the company might reconsider.
This is making Versa 3 and Sense sound all the more attractive. As far as the fitness and health features, there is little difference between the last and current generation. Plus you will be able to pick up some great discounts while stocks last.
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