c/health · by Zagorath@quokk.au · 35d

Whoop fitness band gets reverse-engineered to stick it to subscription models

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Whoop-fitness-band-gets-reverse-engineered-to-stick-it-to-subscription-models.1356211.0.html

Wearable fitness trackers have steadily shifted from standalone hardware into subscription platforms. The Noop project aims to break that model, offering an open-source and offline companion app.

25 points · 5 comments · view on lemmy.world

5 Comments

JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nl · 11 pts · 35d (4 replies)

Never buy a whoop. There are already now about 4 other alternatives.

Amazfit Helio Strap (literally more accurate heart rate than whoop, a bit less accurate sleep but those are a crapshoot for identifying REM anyways and it works with gadgetbridge)
Polar Loop (horrific heart rate accuracy, simply avoid, it is <50% accurate against their own gold standard chest strap
Garmin cirqa (early results by thequalifiedscientist look good)
Fitbit Air (subscription google health, avoid)

That isn't accounting no-names.

Honestly, they should have just contributed to Gadgetbridge. But they couldn't do that because this is a fully AI vibe slop app that was abandonware by the original slopist.

Luckily, at least the developer had the AI output documentation regarding the Bluetooth protocol so maybe it will get whoop strap support integrated into gadgetbridge.

Zagorath@quokk.au · 3 pts · 35d

I agree. I would never buy hardware that requires a subscription just to work.

But for people who already have one, something like Noop sounds like a brilliant way out.

lacethespace@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 35d (2 replies)

Why not whoop + NOOP? I don't know anything about it, but for 50€ it looks stylish and has plenty of features.

JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nl · 2 pts · 35d (1 reply)

You mean for $200? Because that is the upfront subscription cost that you have to pay. Unsure sure where you got $50 from.

Then they automatically bill you I think $179 (it might have gone up) per year automatically. You have to enter your payment information for autobilling. I am not sure how easy it is to cancel.

Might as well only spend $100/100€ for an amazfit and get gadgetbridge support.

lacethespace@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 34d

I ordered medical grade one from shop.whoop.com, I'll see if it can connect to NOOP without subscription nonsense.

Efit: I was wrong, they only sell bands and the device itself needs subscription unless found second hand.