Fitbit might come preloaded on your next Android phone

3 hours ago 6

With the launch of the global Oppo Find X8 series, we’ve noticed that Fitbit is now preloaded on the device as part of Google’s Android app suite, but this could become more common in the not-too-distant future.

Ordinarily, a brand-new Android phone will come with an extensive selection of pre-installed apps from Google, including Google Search, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, Home, Messages, Drive, Photos, Meet, Google Wallet, YouTube Music, and Find My Device. Not all need to be added but most do come bundled in. On top of that, you may also get OEM versions of each of these creating lots of duplicate options to achieve similar things.

However, we spotted that when setting up the Find X8 and X8 Pro, the duo are actually the first non-Google Android phones to add the Fitbit application to the common “Google” app folder you’ll find on your homescreen. When setting up a fresh Find X8 handset, the default Google app folder now contains Fitbit rather than Google Fit – which is not installed on the Find X8 series.

For years, Google Fit has been the default fitness tracking application on Android phones. On Pixel Watch, Fitbit is a core part of the exercise and fitness tracking system.

Since Google’s acquisition of Fitbit and the recent push to integrate the service into more areas—including the Pixel Watch lineup—it has felt like a forgone conclusion that it would eventually replace the Fit application.

To that end earlier this year, the Fit API was deprecated, paving the way for Fitbit to become the de facto fitness tracking service for Android and Wear OS. It’s clear that Google Fit is slowly being edged out of the ecosystem, and developers had until June 30, 2025, to migrate to Health Connect.

The timeline lines up quite cleanly, and when asked about this change a Google spokesperson offered us this statement to confirm that the Fitbit application can be added to the default package by OEMs:

The Fitbit app has been available since earlier this year to Android OEMs as we continue to support the health and wellness of more consumers. Several device manufacturers have chosen to preload the app on their mobile devices.

Interestingly, considering this has been the case since earlier this year, but it has taken until late 2024 for an Android OEM to ship hardware with Fitbit as the default fitness tracking application. We could see more devices make this switch over the coming months. So don’t be too surprised if the Fitbit app is on your new Android phone even if you don’t restore from a previous device backup.