If you are an Android user eager to get the Nike Fuelband app for your smartphone, you may be waiting for a while. Despite being available on iOS for some time, it’s official: Nike is not working on an Android version at this moment as the company is “focusing on iOS and web apps” – “We are not working on an Android app” says a NikeSupport tweet.For those not familiar with it, Nike Fuelband is an activity tracker that one wears on the wrist. The device detects motion and is capable of matching it to an activity and basically “count” how much exercise you’ve been doing daily. Of course, the tracking is not perfect, but it is an indicator that many users like to have. What makes the Nike Fuelband so convenient is that it does not need to be plugged into a computer in order to retrieve the data. Instead it uses Bluetooth to send regular streams of information to a smartphone app – I mean an iOS app.
This is without a doubt a huge disappointment for Nike fans who are using Android, and it seems a bit odd that Nike would just ignore that section of the market. On the other hand, while the Android’s market share is immense, it’s not clear how that would turn into customers for Nike. In any case, the development of such an app doesn’t seem big enough to justify ignoring the Android market based on development cost alone. In any case, DroidLife has received the same message directly from Nike’s PR, so this is double-confirmed.