Fitbit was a key part of HTC’s One (M8) announcement yesterday, as it’s coming preloaded on devices in select markets, to act as the fitness hub of the new Android flagship. But it’s making strides across all Android devices, with one million downloads total of its free fitness tracking app for Google’s mobile OS. That’s one million in two years, since Fitbit originally expanded to Android in March, 2012.
That many downloads on Android is an achievement in particular because shipping the app on Android devices isn’t easy – as of January, Fitbit supported just 26 Android and iOS devices in total, and while the bulk of those were Android handsets and tablets, it didn’t come close to covering the gamut of hardware available. Now, Fitbit has added support for a good range of new Android smartphones, bringing the total for supported devices to 44.
Fitbit is also the most popular fitness tracking app on Google Play, according to Distimo, making up 83 percent of installs among the top apps in that category. That’s good news for its overall ecosystem success, including hardware sales of its Fitbit trackers and scales. Plus, the new partnership with HTC to pre-load software should help drive up its install base, and that could have a halo effect in growing its installations on other devices, too, thanks to the social and community aspects of its fitness tracking platform.