Google to extend its embrace of Fitbit with Google Assistant support
Emily Wong What you need to know
- A teardown of the Fitbit app reveals Google Assistant support may be coming to the company's smartwatches soon.
- Activating Assistant on a Fitbit will likely work similarly to how Alexa currently works on the Versa 2.
- This could be the first indication of greater synergy between the two brands after Google acquired Fitbit for $2.1 billion late last year.
Despite Google's acquisition of Fitbit late last year (for a cool $2.1 billion, no less), the latter's smartwatches still don't feature Google Assistant support, long after Amazon's Alexa made its debut on the Versa 2.
That's seemingly about to change — finally! According to a teardown of the Fitbit app by our friends at 9to5Google, Google and Fitbit engineers are working on adding Assistant support to FitbitOS. The move would also mark Assistant's first smartwatch outing beyond Google's own Wear OS.
Strings found in the app's code reveal that the activation routine for Assistant will likely be quite similar to how calling Alexa on the Versa 2 works. In addition, they also suggest that while you will be limited to having only one digital assistant active at a time, Alexa will still be an option for those who prefer Amazon's virtual assistant, with the option to switch between Alexa and Google Assistant.
Of course, Google's broader strategy around Fitbit remains to be seen. There are a number of overlapping services between its own Wear OS and FitbitOS (e.g., Fitbit Pay vs. Google Pay), and support for Google services on Fitbit devices has, thus far, been lackluster. How the two work to achieve greater synergy in the coming months will certainly be a fascinating saga to follow.
