Our$Bodies,$Disconnected

Owen$Thomas ReadWrite

DataWeek$2014

Fitness$apps$are$exploding$…

…$as$are$Bitness$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&FakePhoto&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.

Open$

JawboneMapMyFitness RunKeeper

Closed$

MyFitnessPal Nike

Runtastic

Here$come$Apple$and$Google!

• 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&

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