Fitbit on Your Next Android Phone: A New Fitness Trend?

Setting up your new Android phone and finding the Fitbit app already installed. Sounds normal, right? Well, not long ago, Google Fit was the go-to for Android users looking to track their fitness. But things are changing fast. With Google’s acquisition of Fitbit, it was only a matter of time before Fitbit became the new default. Let's take the recent Oppo Find X8 series as an example. For the first time, a non-Google Android phone has Fitbit preloaded instead of Google Fit. When you set up a new Find X8 or X8 Pro, the Google app folder on your homescreen now includes Fitbit. Google Fit? Not anymore. Why the switch? Google has been pushing Fitbit into more areas, like the Pixel Watch. And with the deprecation of the Fit API earlier this year, Fitbit is taking over as the primary fitness tracker for both Android and Wear OS. Developers have until June 30, 2025, to migrate to Health Connect, which shows how serious Google is about this change. A Google spokesperson confirmed that Fitbit can now be added to the default package by phone makers. While this option has been available since early this year, it took until late 2024 for a major Android phone to ship with Fitbit as the default fitness app. Expect more phones to follow suit in the coming months. So, the next time you buy a new Android phone, don’t be surprised to see Fitbit waiting for you. It’s the new normal in the world of Android fitness tracking.