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Our$Bodies,$Disconnected 
Owen$Thomas 
ReadWrite 
DataWeek$2014
Fitness$apps$are$exploding$…
…$as$are$Bitness$APIs
Our Bodies, Disconnected: The Future Of Fitness APIs
There’s$a$glut$of$Bitness$apps 
• Most&'itness&apps&provide&broadly&similar&and& 
overlapping&capabilities&in&exercise&and&nutrition& 
tracking& 
• Social&graphs&and&data&history&become&the&main& 
reasons&consumers&stick&with&one&app&versus&another& 
• Technical&interoperability&exists,&but&it’s&way&too&hard& 
for&consumers&to&use
There$are$also$a$lot$of$wearables 
• Most&consumers&abandon&wearables&after&six&months& 
• Functionality&is&limited—most&only&track&simple& 
movement&and&sleep& 
• We’re&not&doing&much&with&the&data&wearables& 
generate& 
• Every&wearable&requires&a&companion&app&to&extract& 
value&from&the&data
This$stuff$is$broken 
• I&stopped&wearing&my&Jawbone&Up&months&ago,&but&I&didn’t& 
disconnect&the&apps.&Sometimes&my&Up&tells&me&I&burned& 
3,000&calories&in&a&day.& 
• Basic&data&elements&like&time&zones&aren’t&structured& 
correctly.&MapMyFitness&will&sometimes&tell&me&I&exercised& 
for&21&hours&straight.& 
• I&have&10&different&apps&where&I&need&to&update&my&weight.& 
• I&don’t&have&one&place&I&can&go&to&get&an&overview&of&my& 
health&and&activity.
Are$APIs$the$answer?
Flickr&cofounder&Caterina&Fake 
Photo&by&Joi&Ito&(www.'lickr.com/photos/joi/2767721641)
In&2006,&Flickr&cofounder&Caterina&Fake& 
dubbed&APIs&“biz&dev&2.0”—a&new&way&of& 
doing&business&without&the&friction&of& 
dealmaking.
Photo&by&Joi&Ito&(www.'lickr.com/photos/joi/2698702648/)
Later&that&year,&Twitter&cofounder&Biz&Stone& 
announced&the&Twitter&API.&Developers&created&a& 
wide&variety&of&apps,&including&mobile&versions&of& 
Twitter&that&Twitter&itself&wasn’t&providing.& 
Twitter&later&had&to&clamp&down&on&developers’& 
use&of&its&API,&destroying&much&of&the&goodwill&it& 
had&generated.
Photo&by&Brian&Solis&(www.'lickr.com/photos/briansolis/2697305792/)
In&2007,&Facebook&unveiled&the&Facebook&Platform,& 
setting&off&a&gold&rush&of&socially&connected&apps— 
and&of&spammy&apps&that&cluttered&the&News&Feed.& 
To&this&day,&Facebook&has&a&contentious& 
relationship&with&developers&who&believe&it’s& 
limiting&their&apps’&reach.
Open$or$shut? 
• An&“open”&or&“public”&API&is&open&to&all&developers.& 
Aside&from&a&simple&signaup&process,&there&are&few& 
barriers&to&use&it.& 
• A&“closed”&or&“private”&API&requires&permission&to& 
access.& 
• Most&APIs,&even&if&technically&“open,”&have&usage& 
limits&and&other&restrictions.
Our Bodies, Disconnected: The Future Of Fitness APIs
Our Bodies, Disconnected: The Future Of Fitness APIs
Our Bodies, Disconnected: The Future Of Fitness APIs
Open$ 
Jawbone 
MapMyFitness 
RunKeeper 
Closed$ 
MyFitnessPal 
Nike 
Runtastic
Here$come$Apple$and$Google!
Our Bodies, Disconnected: The Future Of Fitness APIs
Our Bodies, Disconnected: The Future Of Fitness APIs
• Apple’s&HealthKit&and&Google&Fit&started&in&different& 
places.&HealthKit&was&very&focused&on&gathering&vital& 
signs.&Google&Fit&was&geared&around&'itness&tracking.& 
• Over&time,&HealthKit&has&added&more&'itness&functions 
—in&part&to&support&the&Apple&Watch.& 
• Google&stores&data&in&the&cloud.&Apple&stores&data&on& 
the&phone.
Pros$and$cons$of$HealthKit 
Available&shortly&(September& 
2014)& 
iOS&updates&roll&out&to&large& 
part&of&installed&base—less& 
fragmentation 
Severe&restrictions&on&data&use& 
Rival&apps&and&devices&can&use& 
your&data&if&stored&in&HealthKit& 
Data&is&siloed&on&the&phone
Pros$and$cons$of$Google$Fit 
Android&has&more&market&share& 
Crossaplatform&roadmap— 
REST&API&for&Web&apps,& 
eventually&native&code&for&iOS& 
Better&data&structure&based&on& 
Android&Intents 
Still&in&developer&preview& 
Google&always&has&an&agenda& 
with&data& 
Android&fragmentation&limits& 
reach
• Ultimately,&'itness&data&should&live&in&the&cloud&for& 
storage,&sharing,&and&analysis.& 
• As&long&as&Apple’s&HealthKit&remains&locked&to&the& 
phone,&its&usefulness&to&consumers&and&developers& 
will&be&limited.& 
• Google&Fit&will&have&to&embrace&more&basic&health& 
functions&to&compete&with&HealthKit.& 
• There’s&still&an&opportunity&for&a&cloudabased&API& 
player—possibly&one&that&bridges&HealthKit&and& 
Google&Fit&across&devices.
Questions?$ 
@owenthomas& 
owen@readwrite.com& 
readwrite.com/series/body

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Our Bodies, Disconnected: The Future Of Fitness APIs