

Both make it easy to look at fitness trends. Both services provide online dashboards that provide users the ability to do more in-depth analysis on their data. Both services have very usable smartphone apps. Microsoft Health and the online Health Dashboard provide everything Fitbit’s dashboard does, except flights of stairs you’ve climbed during the day. It even surpasses market leader Fitbit’s high- end Surge device. On the sensor front, Band is second to none. You can’t track your heart rate without a heart rate monitor. What does it track and what does it do with the data? What your tracker tracks can be easily summarized with what sensors it has. When it comes to fitness trackers, there are only two things that really matter.

Info from the Fitbit dashboard on the left, and Microsoft Health dashboard on the right. Applications have been limited so far, but the idea is promising. Microsoft did recently open up the Band a bit for developers, adding the ability to pump data from web apps directly onto the Band without a companion app.
MICROSOFT BAND APPS FOR WINDOWS WINDOWS
There are a handful of apps available in the Windows store specifically for Band, but nothing like what’s available on the other devices. Users can add the tile to the band through the Microsoft Health app. As part of your app you can create a Band Tile. You have to write a mobile app (Windows, iOS, or Android) first. Currently, you can’t write dedicated apps for the Band. Most importantly, though, Apple Watch has changed the perception of wearable technology. We’re a few months in and the critics seem to have been quieted. The tech press had a less typical, skeptical view of the device. Apple fans responded in typical fashion by going crazy for the thing.
MICROSOFT BAND APPS FOR WINDOWS ANDROID
Things like the Pebble and various Android Wear devices have been around for a while, but the category didn’t really catch fire until the Apple Watch hit the market. Smart watches are also gaining in popularity. Fitbit is the current market leader, but companies like Jawbone, Garmin, Samsung, and Polar are making strong pushes for relevance. Head into a sporting goods store and you’ll likely be overwhelmed with the options. What is this thing? Is it a fitness tracker? Is it a smartwatch? Is it any good? The answer to all three questions is yes.įitness trackers are hot right now.

When it came out people were… well, confused. Rumors had been rolling around about Microsoft possibly doing a wearable, but details were non-existent. In late 2014 Microsoft released the Band.
