Migration Overview: Why Fitabase Is Moving to the Google Health API

Google is retiring the Fitbit Web API at the end of October 2026 and requiring every third-party app, Fitabase included, to move to the new Google Health API. For your study, this means that participants who are still collecting data will need to grant Fitabase permission again so their data keeps syncing.

This section of the Knowledge Base walks through everything you need to know. We'll keep adding to it as the transition progresses, including dataset-specific details and confirmed dates.

Tip: Watch the webinar

We covered all of this in our September 22, 2026 webinar, What Researchers Need to Know About the Fitbit API Transition. Watch the recording on YouTube.

Why is reauthorization required?

  • The Fitbit Web API is being retired. This is the API Fitabase has used to sync participant data for its entire history. Google is shutting it down at the end of October 2026.
  • Every third-party app must migrate. All apps built on the Fitbit Web API, Fitabase included, are moving to the Google Health API.
  • Permission must be granted again. The permission your participants gave at intake or baseline was for the Fitbit Web API. Because data will now come from a different API, each participant needs to grant permission for the Google Health API. The process is almost identical to the one they went through the first time.
  • Data can only keep syncing if permission is granted. Without reauthorization, a participant's data stops flowing to Fitabase once the old API shuts off.

Why now?

  • It replaces an older, less stable API. We integrated the Fitbit Web API 14 years ago. Google rebuilt it from the ground up in a more modern, extensible way.
  • It aligns Google with research. Fitbit wasn't originally built with health research in mind. The Google Health API is a fresh start designed with research use in view.
  • It paves the way for new datasets. It's hard to add datasets to an aging API. The new architecture lets Google expand what's available and keep innovating.
  • It speeds up data delivery. The Google Health API uses modern data transfer (gRPC), which makes our data pipeline faster and more robust.
  • It shows a continued commitment to research. Google's investment in this API, and its close communication with us throughout, shows that it intends to keep supporting research.

What stays the same

Our goal has been to absorb as much of this change as possible on our end so it affects you as little as possible.

  • Your historical data already in Fitabase is not affected.
  • The Fitabase dashboard and tools work the same way.
  • The Fitabase API is not changing. If you consume our API, you don't need to update anything.
  • The Exports page is not changing. Exports gain a few new columns, but existing column names stay the same. See Changes to Data Exports.
  • Invitation links you've already created will keep working.

More reading

Questions about the transition? Email us at hello@fitabase.com.