(Credit: Shutterstock / Rohane Hamilton)
Fitbits in the EU are about to get a bit less customizable. Google has announced plans to remove third-party apps and watch faces from all Fitbit smartwatches that are used in the EU to comply with the Digital Markets Act.
According to a post on the company’s support page, third-party apps and clocks from the Fitbit app gallery will be removed for users in the EU in June 2024. Fitbit users will be able to continue to download and install third-party apps until that date; however, afterward, those customers will only have access to a selection of Fitbit and Google apps on their devices.
The changes will affect the Fitbit Sense 2, Fitbit Sense, Fitbit Versa 4, Fitbit Versa 3, Fitbit Versa 2, Fitbit Versa Lite, Fitbit Versa, and the recalled Fitbit Ionic.
Google notes that users in other countries will not be impacted by the change.
The DMA also forced Apple to make several changes to how its devices operate in the EU. Apple can no longer require apps to be available in the App Store in order for them to run on the iPhone, for example, and it must support apps that are sold through other marketplaces as well.
Amongst other changes, iPhone users are also able to select their own default web browser on the iPhone rather than being forced to use Safari by default, and users will have the ability to delete Safari entirely from their device should they choose to do so.