WITHINGS CHARGES NEW USERS FOR THIRD-PARTY APP SYNCING

Withings has introduced a charge for new customers who want to automatically sync their health data with third-party apps such as Apple Health or Google Health, according to a post on the company's support forum. Accounts created from 13 October 2026 onwards require a Withings+ subscription to use the automatic sync feature, a member of the company's support team confirmed in an official forum response. The subscription costs $9.95 a month or around $100 a year, according to the reports. New devices come with a free one-month trial that includes third-party syncing; once the trial ends, syncing is paused, though existing data within those apps is not deleted. Users who created their Withings account on or before 12 October 2026 keep free access to automatic syncing, and that access remains tied to the account rather than to any individual device.

Without a subscription, new users will need to manually export and upload their data to access it on other platforms. The change was first spotted by MacRumors and reported on by technology outlets after users responded to the forum post, with several existing customers criticising the new charge for what they described as a comparatively simple feature. Withings is known for health devices including smart scales and fitness-tracking watches, and recently released the Body Scan 2 scale, priced at $600, alongside a mid-range version priced at $280.

Withings has been approached for further comment, according to one report. The company has not set out any additional changes to its subscription structure beyond the syncing policy, based on the statements provided to its support forum. Existing customers' free access to syncing will continue even if they register new Withings hardware to their accounts, the company said. No further changes to pricing or features have been confirmed.