How the iPhone 5S replaced my Fitbit

sudama shared this story from iPhone Atlas: Apple iPhone tips, how-tos, troubleshooting, and news - CNET Reviews.

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I’ve stopped carrying my Fitbit, now that the Fitbit app can track my steps using the iPhone 5S’s built-in motion tracker.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

I haven’t charged my Fitbit Ultra in over three weeks. And I doubt I ever will again.

Ever since I bought an iPhone 5S, I’ve kept an eye on how the embedded M7 motion coprocessor co-processor chip, which can track and store motion information, would be used. It wasn’t clear when the iPhone 5S was launched exactly how the M7’s data would be available, but after a few months, fitness apps like the Nike+ Move starting adding support for basic step-counting functionality.

While I started tracking my steps with both my Fitbit and Nike’s app at first, the clincher for me was when the Fitbit app for iOS was updated at the end of 2013, allowing the standard Fitbit app to track steps using the iPhone 5S’s internal hardware. Now I could get nearly the same activity tracking us… u… [Read more]