technologies

For quite some time now, the millennial wellness enthusiasts have been preoccupied with fitness apps to ensure their overall wellbeing. Now, the same obsession has percolated down to different wearable fitness devices as well. Thanks to such unprecedented popularity, the fitness app development industry is evolving by leaps and bounds. Owing to the exponential growth in technologies, the fitness apps and devices are getting advanced rapidly. These days, the fitness apps or devices have become a melange of new designs and tech innovations that not only give these tools a stylish makeover, but also make them function better. Going by the science of fitness app development, the right technologies make a huge difference in how these devices function. Technical progress and design aesthetics have given rise to an assortment of fitness devices that include wristbands, chest straps, armbands, clip-ons, smartwatches, bras that can monitor heart rate, socks with built-in pressure sensors, etc. If you are looking to build premium health and fitness applications, then get acquainted with some advanced technologies that will help you seal the deal successfully. The two major ingredients for developing fitness apps or wearable fitness devices are APIs & tools, and hardware. Look into the following excerpt to know more about them: Tools Used in Fitness App Development Among the most important fitness app development tools claiming to fame, FitBit, health graph, Strava, Lumo, Withings, Shimmer, FoodSpex, Google fitness API, MisFit, Jawbone UP, Garmin, and BMI calculator deserve a prominent mention. Let’s look at some valuable information about the tools used in fitness app development. FitBit Using this tool, the fitness app developers can communicate with FitBit data in their applications. Health Graph Using this tool, the users can store their own fitness and health related information on the cloud. The importance of Health Graph is paramount when it comes to helping the users interact with their fitness related data with the other users. Lumo The API enables the fitness app developers to access their fitness related information from Lumo Lift and Lumo Back. Strava Strava is the holy grail fitness app for the athletes and ardent fitness enthusiasts. This app is mainly known for motivating the users to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Withings This tool is globally known for connecting amazing designs and tech innovations in fitness apps and devices. It provides awesome features without compromising with quality. You can access this API tool by registering yourself as a Withings developer. Google fitness API The open ecosystem is brimming with a lot of amenities, which can allow the users to automate their fitness data storage. Shimmer It is deemed as the very first open source fitness data integration tool. It can offer the users a strong grip over their fitness related digital information. MisFit MisFit can let developers incorporate different features like activity tracking, sleep tracking, etc. in a fitness app or device. By saving their sleep logs in a Google Spreadsheet, the users can also get a weekly summary of their physical activities. Jawbone UP This open source platform can offer the developers APIs and SDKs to further improve different fitness tracking apps. Garmin It offers the required tools to abet a developer in building apps for different wearable devices. BMI calculator The BMI calculator helps the users measure their BMI or Body Mass Index. FoodSpex This tool is a must have for those, who are looking for detailed information about the nutrition values of different food products. The information provided by this tool mainly revolves around bar code, fat, nutritional content, calories, etc. Hardware Used in Developing Fitness Tracking Devices Activity tracking fitness devices have taken the world by storm, thanks to their extraordinary features. Most of these devices generally count on sensors, which transmit health data to mobile applications. The most used hardware for building a healthcare app or device include ECG sensor, ambient light sensors, skin response sensors, bio-impedance sensors, chest strap, barometric altimeter, accelerometer, compass, and gyroscope. Let’s gather more information about the hardware used in fitness app development. Compass, Accelerometer, and Gyroscope Almost every smartphone and wearable fitness device comprise of motion trackers or compasses, accelerometers, and gyroscopes. A gyroscope refers to a device, which uses the gravity of the earth to decide an object’s orientation in space. A compass steps in to determine the cardinal direction. An accelerometer is aimed at measuring acceleration based on a motion’s beginning, ending, and overall intensity. The necessity of motion trackers come into play when it comes to measuring the activities like running, walking, cycling, swimming, and the likes. With the data gathered, fitness apps and smartwatches can calculate cadence, speed, distance traveled, and the total calories burned. The most exciting thing is that the smartwatches or wristbands can track a user’s sleep pattern, timing, etc. with the help of accelerometers. Compasses, accelerometers and gyroscopes can be three distinct pieces of hardware. They could also be combined in a single joint motion sensor. Take, InvenSense, for an instance, which provides various integrated hardware solutions. In a quest to bring a dash of improvement in their smartphone, Apple has recently incorporated a joint motion tracking co-processor into it. The iPhone XS is said to own an M12 chip, which consolidate compass, accelerometer, and gyroscope. This apart, the latest watch series 4 brought by Apple has a lot more advanced accelerometer and gyroscope, which can measure around 32 g-forces. Barometric Altimeters A barometric altimeter is considered to be a better alternative to GPS for tracking altitude and elevation. An altimeter can track altitude by measuring atmospheric pressure and gathering relevant data on elevation while climbing stairs or being on a track. From the release of both iPhone 6 as well as 6 Plus, iPhones have had built-in altimeters and barometers. The travel elevation and altimeter app for iOS proffers latitude, altitude, and longitude. The best part is that all these are showcased on top of a completely customizable background. Additionally, this fitness app also has a shortcut to an inbuilt flashlight and several