Our$Bodies,$Disconnected
Owen$Thomas ReadWrite
DataWeek$2014
Fitness$apps$are$exploding$…
…$as$are$Bitness$APIs
There’s$a$glut$of$Bitness$apps
• Most&'itness&apps&provide&broadly&similar&and&
overlapping&capabilities&in&exercise&and&nutrition&
tracking&
• Social&graphs&and&data&history&become&the&main&
reasons&consumers&stick&with&one&app&versus&another&
• Technical&interoperability&exists,&but&it’s&way&too&hard&
for&consumers&to&use
There$are$also$a$lot$of$wearables
• Most&consumers&abandon&wearables&after&six&months&
• Functionality&is&limited—most&only&track&simple&
movement&and&sleep&
• We’re¬&doing&much&with&the&data&wearables&
generate&
• Every&wearable&requires&a&companion&app&to&extract&
value&from&the&data
This$stuff$is$broken
• I&stopped&wearing&my&Jawbone&Up&months&ago,&but&I&didn’t&
disconnect&the&apps.&Sometimes&my&Up&tells&me&I&burned&
3,000&calories&in&a&day.&
• Basic&data&elements&like&time&zones&aren’t&structured&
correctly.&MapMyFitness&will&sometimes&tell&me&I&exercised&
for&21&hours&straight.&
• I&have&10&different&apps&where&I&need&to&update&my&weight.&
• I&don’t&have&one&place&I&can&go&to&get&an&overview&of&my&
health&and&activity.
Are$APIs$the$answer?
Flickr&cofounder&Caterina&FakePhoto&by&Joi&Ito&(www.'lickr.com/photos/joi/2767721641)
In&2006,&Flickr&cofounder&Caterina&Fake&
dubbed&APIs&“biz&dev&2.0”—a&new&way&of&
doing&business&without&the&friction&of&
dealmaking.
Photo&by&Joi&Ito&(www.'lickr.com/photos/joi/2698702648/)
Later&that&year,&Twitter&cofounder&Biz&Stone&
announced&the&Twitter&API.&Developers&created&a&
wide&variety&of&apps,&including&mobile&versions&of&
Twitter&that&Twitter&itself&wasn’t&providing.&
Twitter&later&had&to&clamp&down&on&developers’&
use&of&its&API,&destroying&much&of&the&goodwill&it&
had&generated.
Photo&by&Brian&Solis&(www.'lickr.com/photos/briansolis/2697305792/)
In&2007,&Facebook&unveiled&the&Facebook&Platform,&
setting&off&a&gold&rush&of&socially&connected&apps—
and&of&spammy&apps&that&cluttered&the&News&Feed.&
To&this&day,&Facebook&has&a&contentious&
relationship&with&developers&who&believe&it’s&
limiting&their&apps’&reach.
Open$or$shut?
• An&“open”&or&“public”&API&is&open&to&all&developers.&
Aside&from&a&simple&signaup&process,&there&are&few&
barriers&to&use&it.&
• A&“closed”&or&“private”&API&requires&permission&to&
access.&
• Most&APIs,&even&if&technically&“open,”&have&usage&
limits&and&other&restrictions.
Open$
JawboneMapMyFitness RunKeeper
Closed$
MyFitnessPal Nike
Runtastic
Here$come$Apple$and$Google!
• Apple’s&HealthKit&and&Google&Fit&started&in&different&
places.&HealthKit&was&very&focused&on&gathering&vital&
signs.&Google&Fit&was&geared&around&'itness&tracking.&
• Over&time,&HealthKit&has&added&more&'itness&functions
—in&part&to&support&the&Apple&Watch.&
• Google&stores&data&in&the&cloud.&Apple&stores&data&on&
the&phone.
Pros$and$cons$of$HealthKit
Available&shortly&(September&
2014)&
iOS&updates&roll&out&to&large&
part&of&installed&base—less&
fragmentation
Severe&restrictions&on&data&use&
Rival&apps&and&devices&can&use&
your&data&if&stored&in&HealthKit&
Data&is&siloed&on&the&phone
Pros$and$cons$of$Google$Fit
Android&has&more&market&share&
Crossaplatform&roadmap—
REST&API&for&Web&apps,&
eventually&native&code&for&iOS&
Better&data&structure&based&on&
Android&Intents
Still&in&developer&preview&
Google&always&has&an&agenda&
with&data&
Android&fragmentation&limits&
reach
• Ultimately,&'itness&data&should&live&in&the&cloud&for&
storage,&sharing,&and&analysis.&
• As&long&as&Apple’s&HealthKit&remains&locked&to&the&
phone,&its&usefulness&to&consumers&and&developers&
will&be&limited.&
• Google&Fit&will&have&to&embrace&more&basic&health&
functions&to&compete&with&HealthKit.&
• There’s&still&an&opportunity&for&a&cloudabased&API&
player—possibly&one&that&bridges&HealthKit&and&
Google&Fit&across&devices.
Questions?$@owenthomas&
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