Fitbit has made an update to their Android app that brings the ability to track your steps using your Nexus 5X or Nexus 6P without having a tracker device from the company. The move is an interesting one as, to this point, you had to have a Fitbit device to track your steps on Android with the tracker connecting to your phone via Bluetooth. Thanks to the Android Sensor Hub coprocessor that is in the 5X and 6P, that is no longer required. If you have another phone, however, this new feature won’t work for you.
When you update to the latest version of the app on your 5X or 6P, you can configure the app to use the Sensor Hub coprocessor instead of syncing up with a tracker device. Then, as you walk with
Fitbit Exercise Tracking
your phone in your pocket, it will track your steps and update your progress in the app as if you had a Fitbit device. There is nothing else you have to do and as long as you have your phone on you, you are tracking your activities.
This is not the first time Fitbit has done this type of feature. Back in Windows Phone 8.x days, the company used the same Sensor Hub technology built into some Lumia devices to do the same function. I tested it back then and it was reasonably accurate when you compared it to the tracker itself.
The update is in the Google Play Store now and if you have Fitbit installed, you should see the OTA update over the course of the next few days.
