Google’s latest update makes the Fitbit app unusable for me

While I no longer wear Fitbit’s products, I still use the app quite regularly, and subscribe to Fitbit Premium for guided workouts. One of my most-used features is the ability to cast content to my Shield TV Pro, but a recent update (build 4.3.2) removes the ability to do that.

Without this feature, I’m essentially limited to watching Fitbit Premium videos on my phone. There still isn’t a native Fitbit app on Android tablets (it just shows content vertically), and you don’t get an Android TV client either, which is an egregious omission in 2025.

This limitation is only with the most recent build of the Fitbit app; I installed the older version on my phone, and was able to cast content without any issues. But there’s no way to get the older build without sideloading it to your phone, and I wouldn’t recommend doing that. I’m not really sure why Google decided to ditch this feature — particularly when there isn’t an alternative to stream videos on Android TV or tablets. I reached out to the brand for a statement, and will update this post once I hear back.

I used Fitbit’s fitness trackers extensively in the past, and there were several features — a fun interface and social challenges — that made its products highly differentiated. However, there isn’t anything of that early charm left in today’s Fitbit; Google disabled the social features back in 2023, and made considerable changes to the app last year, bringing a new interface that was somehow minimalist and needlessly complex at the same time.

Google’s decision to intentionally disable the cast feature is the clearest proof yet that it doesn’t care about the fitness platform. Using the Fitbit app is nothing short of frustrating these days, and I still don’t get the rationale behind removing oft-used features. Google justified the deletion of social sharing as a way to roll out exciting updates, and two years later, there isn’t anything close to an equivalent feature. And with no ability to cast content to TVs, I don’t see myself using the service any longer.

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