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Google denies reports that it’s discontinuing Fitbit products (arstechnica.com)

submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/technology

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Glad I moved to Garmin a while back. I preferred Fitbit's Dashboard over Garmin
When I heard Google's buying it, I got a Garmin for my next smartwatch just to check the UI. I was thinking of moving back, but I guess I won't.
Garmin seems to be embracing smartwatches with a number of different series

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Garmin watches are now increasingly supported by GadgetBridge too, so you can have a fully offline setup.

[–] AWittyUsername 3 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Tell me more please. What's gadget bridge and what are the benefits?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Basically, gadgetbridge is a third party open-source application that replaces the manufacturer app for a bunch of fitness watches (and other devices of that kind).

So you can use it to replace the phone connectivity functions (like receiving notifications etc) as well as getting visualisations of the data etc. And since it all happens locally, none of your data is stored on the manufacturer's servers. If you understand how to work with SQL and statistics, you can also run your own statistical analyses, since it's just a sqlite DB.

The downside is that you can expect it to be limited in functionality compared to e.g. Garmin's cloud functionality. Personally I find there's enough data to be useful, but other's might have different needs.

[–] AWittyUsername 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Can I run the two apps side by side?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

Not at exactly the same time since the app and watch communicate over Bluetooth. You should be able to pair and repair between the apps, but I haven't tested it myself.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

https://gadgetbridge.org

Gadgetbridge is a free and open source Android application that allows you to pair and manage various gadgets such as smart watches, bands, headphones, and more without the need for the vendor application. So in short, you can use Gadgetbridge instead of relying on your gadget's own proprietary app.

[–] shalafi 5 points 4 months ago

Great to see all the Garmin love, I'll have a look.

Just got an ancient Garmin standalone GPS from the thrift store. Soldered a new battery in and it's GTG. Even with zero updates, the quality is top notch. One example; It's been untouched and turned on in my hiking pack for over a month. Battery is full hot!