Long-form analysis and plain reference material on the Fitbit-to-Google-Health rebrand, Apple Health migration, what is actually inside a Google Takeout export, fitness platform comparisons, and the data deletion deadlines that matter for users moving between platforms. Written for people deciding whether to switch, not for the marketing teams of the companies they are switching away from.
Google Takeout hands you a ZIP and no explanation. A four-year Fitbit history comes to 11,797 entries, of which 2,784 are JSON files and about 340 hold anything another platform will accept. Which file holds which metric, why the data is per-minute rather than daily, where heart rate and sleep live, and why your distance figures look absurd.
Wearable Converter now converts Apple Health exports into Garmin-ready import files. Same $19 licence, existing keys included. Plus the finding that matters even if you never use the tool: raw Apple Health exports double count your activity, and in our first real test the inflation was 62 percent.
On 15 July 2026, Google began deleting data for Fitbit accounts that never migrated to a Google account, and support for pre-5.0 versions of the old Fitbit app ended the same day. Here's who was actually affected, why saved Takeout exports still work, and the honest answer on recovery.
On 19 May 2026, Google replaced the Fitbit app with something called Google Health. Three weeks later, the picture among long-term Fitbit users is clear: features got removed, the social heart of the app got gutted, and the headline replacement (an AI Coach) costs USD $9.99 per month for what used to come free. This is the complete audit of what changed, what now costs money, and what your options are.