If you use any of Under Armour’s smart fitness gear, it’s about to become dumb as Ars Technica is reporting that the company has pulled the plug on their smart fitness gear.
The company quietly pulled its UA Record app from both Google Play and Apple’s App Store on New Year’s Eve. In an announcement dated sometime around January 8, Under Armour said that not only has the app been removed from all app stores, but the company is no longer providing customer support or bug fixes for the software, which will completely stop working as of March 31.
Under Armour launched its lineup of connected fitness devices in 2016. The trio of trackers included a wrist-worn activity monitor, a smart scale, and a chest-strap-style heart rate monitor. The scale and wristband retailed at $180 each, with the heart monitor going for $80. Shoppers could buy all three together in a $400 bundle called the UA HealthBox. The end of the road is nigh, it seems, and all three products are about to meet their doom as Under Armour kills off Record for good. Users are instead expected to switch to MapMyFitness, which Under Armour bills as “an even better tracking experience.” The company also set the UA Record Twitter account to private, effectively taking it offline to anyone except the 133 accounts it follows. Current device owners also can’t export all their data. While workout data can be exported and transferred to some other tracking app, Record users cannot capture weight or other historical data to carry forward with them.
Given what has happened here, if I were a Under Armour user, I am not sure I would trust them enough to switch to Map My Fitness. And the fact that you can’t export your data to the app of your choice means that you’re effectively screwed by Under Armour. Add to that the fact that they sprung this on their users effectively in the dead of night will leave many with a bad taste in their mouth. And unlikely to buy anything from the company again.
The fact is that while I am picking on Under Armour here, any smart tech or connected tech can meet the same fate. Thus you have to choose your connected tech carefully, or take a leap of faith when you put down your credit card.