If you have just bought a Withings scale or watch and set up a new account, the data may no longer flow into Apple Health for free. Withings has put automatic syncing with Apple Health and other third-party apps behind its Withings+ subscription, which costs about $100 a year, for accounts created from mid-October.
If you already had a Withings account, nothing changes. Here is who is affected and what the company says.
What has changed
Withings says automatic sync to third-party apps is now “part of Withings+”, according to a statement on its support forum quoted by Engadget. That covers Apple Health and Google’s Health Connect, plus apps that read your Withings data through them.
The rule depends on when the account was created, not when you bought the device. Terra, a developer blog that tracks the change, and Engadget put the cut-off at accounts created on or after 13 October. A third report, from iDevice, says 12 October. We could not open Withings’ own forum post to settle it, so we describe it as mid-October.
Who is not affected
Older accounts keep free syncing, whether or not they subscribe. Users who simply want to look at their numbers still can: basic measurements and trends stay visible in the Withings app without paying, Terra says.
What new users can do
A new free account can no longer send data to Apple Health automatically. According to Engadget, the alternative is to export your history by hand and upload it to the other app to see your latest data there. Routing the data through Apple Health or Google’s health system does not get around the rule, Terra and iDevice say, because the apps that read from those systems inherit the same cut-off.
The same rule applies to developers. It covers the free tier of Withings’ API, and an Enterprise plan lifts the requirement for specific uses, iDevice reports.
What it costs
Prices differ slightly by source. Engadget gives $100 a year. Terra lists $99.50 a year or $9.95 a month on the US site, and iDevice says $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year. We could not find a UK price in pounds, so check the price in the Withings app before you commit.
For context, Engadget notes that Withings is known for high-end health gear: its Body Scan 2 scale costs $600 and a mid-range version $280. The subscription, then, comes on top of a device that is not cheap.
Why Withings says it is doing this
According to iDevice, Withings says subscription income pays for clinical validation, regulatory work and the infrastructure behind its health platform. Terra reports that the company ties the change to its new AI Connector, to API changes and to extra privacy measures.
The reaction
Many replies on Withings’ support forum, mostly from existing users, criticised charging for what one called a comparatively simple feature, Engadget reports. Gadgets & Wearables, cited by iDevice, described a new Body scale owner who was shown a Withings+ subscription screen after turning on the Apple Health export. Engadget asked Withings for comment and had not received a reply when it published.
Our take
The timing is what stings: new buyers find out about the subscription after they have paid for the hardware. If you are weighing a Withings device and rely on Apple Health, factor in the subscription, or check whether you can live without automatic sync.
We have not tested the new rules on a device, and we will update this article if Withings clarifies the date or changes its mind.
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