Syncing Your Fitbit Data with Apple Apps and Devices

If you use Fitbit activity trackers and Apple devices, you probably know it can be a challenge to see all of your activity summaries in one place since there isn't a simple way to sync your Fitbit with your Apple products. And that's frustrating!

Syncing your Fitbit data with your Apple devices requires some background knowledge, but it IS possible, and we're going to walk you through the steps.

Let's Start with Your Apple HealthKit

To get started, you'll need to sync your Fitbit data with your Apple HealthKit.

Your Apple HealthKit is an app that looks like the app in the upper left-hand corner. It's called Health.

What Does Syncing Do?

Once you sync your Fitbit data with your Apple HealthKit, you'll be able to see your steps and other Fitbit activity in TrainWithMe.

Pro Tip: You will need to grant TrainWithMe permission to access your HealthKit data to see your steps and other Fitbit activity in TrainWithMe.

If you need to enable TrainWithMe to see your HealthKit data, this video will walk you through the steps.

Why Does Fitbit Syncing Matter?

(-) Convenience. You'll be able to track your daily activity in the TrainWithMe app at the same time you get messages and workouts from your trainer.

(-) Accuracy. When you sync, your trainer can see a comprehensive account of your daily activity and build your personal training program accordingly.

(-) Accountability. Syncing helps your trainer can give you a pat on the back when you've done a great job, and hold you accountable when you're not as active.

Setting Up Fitbit Data Syncing

Fitbit does not provide a syncing service, but there are third party apps that can help.

We have no affiliation with Power Sync, but we DO know that Fitbit-HealthKit syncing isn't straightforward, and we want to help. That's why we're offering some basics about how it works so you get started.

There's a link to the app below, and a video to help you with setup.

How to Sync After the Initial Setup

At the time we tested it, Power Sync offered a basic service for free.

The basic service requires that you open the Power Sync app and click Sync Now every time you want to sync your data to HealthKit and TrainWithMe.

Upgrading to Auto-Sync Service

If you choose to upgrade, for a small fee Power Sync will automatically sync your data. If you choose to pay for the auto sync upgrade, Power Sync will generally sync once a day. Keep in mind that this varies depending on your iPhone usage.

For more information, open the Power Sync app, click the Settings button in the upper right-hand corner, and read the FAQs.

Enabling Background App Refresh for Auto-Sync

Whether you're using Power Sync or another app, auto-sync will not work if you've turned off background app refresh in your device's settings.

Pro Tip: Background App Refresh is automatically turned off when your phone is set to low battery power mode, so Power Sync's auto sync feature will NOT work when your phone is in low battery power mode.

Keeping Your Step Count Accurate

Those of you who are tech-savvy might realize that when you sync your data, your steps will be double-counted because your HealthKit AND your Fitbit will be counting steps.

How can you avoid this? If you want to count steps exclusively on your Fitbit, you can turn off your HealthKit's step tracking.

To do this, go to Settings > Privacy > Motion & Fitness > Health, and turn the toggle off.

Refreshing Your TrainWithMe Data

If you choose auto-sync, and you notice your data is not up to date because Power Sync has not yet synced, you can open the Power Sync app and click Sync Now at any time.

Once your HealthKit data is updated, you can update your TrainWithMe data by opening TrainWithMe, click the Account button, and click Refresh HealthKit. This will pull your updated HealthKit data into TrainWithMe.

Other Syncing Apps

Power Sync isn't the only app that provides a syncing solution. There are many others, so feel free to search the app store and take a look at each one.

A simple search for "fitbit sync for health app" will pull up several options for you. We've attached a video that scrolls through some of the options