2023 in smartwatches: the Googlefication of Fitbit

Basically, Google, which owns Fitbit, spent this year taking two steps forward before shooting itself in the foot and taking a step back. Every time I felt encouraged by what I was seeing, unforced errors would leave me doubting again.

But there have been a few bright spots, too. Google appears to be taking user feedback seriously. When I reviewed the Pixel Watch 2, it felt to me like Google had amassed a checklist of all the quirks customers had pointed out and went about systematically ticking them off. And a few weeks after the contentious Fitbit app redesign, Google came back, reinstated step streaks, and addressed some design complaints. Google also added extended warranty options for the Pixel Watch 2 — something that had been missing for the original despite the fact the screen is prone to scratches and cracks.

Outside of the Google-Fitbit transition, the company has put a lot of sustained effort into building out the third-party app ecosystem.

Aside from the Fitbit integration, it’s still in the process of moving Android smartwatch makers from Wear OS 2 to Wear OS 3 and 4. That, too, has been rather messy. Wear OS 4 is already here, and yet some companies like Mobvoi have yet to upgrade eligible watches to Wear OS 3. Fossil managed to complete the transition to Wear OS 3, but it’s been suspiciously quiet about a next-gen smartwatch. What we’ve ended up with is Google and its partner Samsung creating smartwatches at a steady clip — and everybody else lagging about a year or so behind. That’s not really what I was hoping to see this time last year.

This can’t continue long term. Going into 2024, my hope is that there’s less mess. Ideally, that means a Fitbit-Google integration devoid of server outages and surprise changes to the Fitbit experience. It’d also be nice to see companies other than Google and Samsung release Android smartwatches. If neither of those things happen, I imagine Garmin and Withings will happily welcome disgruntled Wear OS and Fitbit users into their folds.

Conversely, there’s no real question as to what’ll happen with the Apple Watch. Next year, there’ll be a new Apple Watch, which will be the best one they’ve ever made. Because that’s what happens every year. It’s also what I expect from Garmin.

I don’t necessarily want Android smartwatches to fall into the same trap of unexciting, iterative yearly updates. The point of Android is that it’s got more variety. But a degree of that stability would be a nice change of pace.