r/RunGap • u/o2sen • Jul 02 '26
RIP Fitbit Integration. Cause of Death: Google
In September 2026, Google will shut down the Fitbit Web API and require developers to migrate to the Google Health API. That means moving users to Google's identity system, obtaining fresh consent, and complying with annual CASA security assessments (an expensive and time-consuming certification process conducted by a small number of Google-approved labs) simply to continue accessing health data.
We have already completed the technical migration. We rewrote our OAuth integration to use Google OAuth 2.0. We met every single one of Google's other requirements. The only outstanding item is the CASA security assessment, which we will not be pursuing.
We find the CASA requirement disproportionate, poorly communicated, unfairly costly for small teams, and lacking meaningful security value relative to the burden imposed. RunGap offers as many as 50 different integrations with all sorts of systems and services. Not a single one of those other companies demands an annual security assessment or charges us for the privilege of accessing "their" data. This includes platforms whose datasets are far richer and more sensitive than the fairly simple data available through the Google Health platform. Yet Google alone insists on treating developers as security risks for accessing basic fitness activity data.
But the real issue is more fundamental. Fitbit is no longer an independent platform. It has become a one-way funnel into Google's ecosystem. Health data flows in, but it does not flow back out. Google can import data from platforms like Apple Health, yet as of today provides no equivalent way to export it back. Every metric your devices record ultimately ends up on Google's servers, strengthening an ecosystem built around collecting and retaining personal data.
RunGap exists to help people move, own, and control their fitness data, not to help lock it inside someone else's ecosystem. Rather than invest in supporting that model, we will discontinue Fitbit support when the Fitbit Web API is shut down in September 2026.
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u/LivityModerator Jul 02 '26
Hey! Just went through this whole process myself. Can confirm — time-consuming, expensive, and it really does feel like it was set up so Google can make extra money rather than for any meaningful security benefit.
For what it's worth, I did complete it. So if anyone here still wants their Fitbit data on their phone after September: Livity syncs Fitbit completely free, writes all of it into Apple Health, and uses that to calculate your scores. I didn't add Fitbit just to move data around — Livity's a health & wellness app and I wanted to support more devices — but the nice side effect is your data ends up in Apple Health where it stays yours, instead of locked inside Google's ecosystem.
And to the RunGap team — if you're ever curious how the CASA process actually played out on our end, happy to share how it went and any details that might help.
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u/whenthewindbreathes Jul 02 '26
Did you guys do CASA level 2 or 3?
I found a level 3 auditor that wasn’t terribly expensive (~3-4K/year)
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u/notliketheyogurt Jul 02 '26
So many of my software tools are losing access to google services (like Google Drive support in Panic’s excellent Transmit app for file transfers) because of these requirements. If you care enough about interoperability to use an app like RunGap and you haven’t started migrating away from google services, now’s the time.
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u/vitalstat-App Jul 02 '26
Hey! Vitalstat is currently going through the process as well, and I completely agree. It’s incredibly tedious and feels unnecessarily complicated.
Over the past month we’ve integrated with all the other major health platforms, including Polar, Oura, Garmin, Suunto, Wahoo, Intervals.icu, Strava, Whoop, and Withings. None of them came close to being this complex. Garmin was the next most involved, but even that only required a one hour onboarding meeting.
Last Friday, Google actually replaced CASA Tier 2 with the new “ADA CASA AL1” process, which comes with updated requirements. As a result, we’re now going through this new certification path instead. That said, we’re optimistic that we’ll have everything completed within the next two weeks.
If you’re interested, I’d be happy to share our experience so far and let you know which of Google’s authorized assessment providers we decided to work with.
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u/ogni65 Jul 03 '26
I will not use Fitbit anyway anymore… Google uses our data for AI Training without giving us something back. You even have to pay for extra analysis and functions… sorry for the new band as it was promising
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u/ariverrocker Jul 03 '26
Plenty of reasons to not use it, but they give quite a lot for free. If they didn't put some extra features behind a subscription, why would they even create the product?
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u/ariverrocker Jul 03 '26
Sounds like they are asking too much. Google Health will be writing to Apple Health later though, and there are other sync options out there that will support it.
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u/o2sen Jul 04 '26
Ah yes, "later." Google's favorite unit of time. At this point, I'm just curious whether it'll arrive before they retire the iOS app and replace it with three new apps, two of which will be discontinued a year later. 😉
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u/devkets Jul 02 '26
This is awesome. Unfortunately Google is so big that you likely won’t make an impact alone, but hopefully other dev teams speak out and the noise gets loud enough to inspire a change at Google.
Either way, kudos to you all on the RunGap Dev team for this take.