On track: how Google and Microsoft are watching your steps

Apple is releasing its watch: the (digital) crown in the Cupertino empire — until the next expensive hardware is released (pundits are calling car). The watch does many things; whether or not you need it to do any of those things will prompt furious debates.

Some argue that the watch just adds another interface to check — and rather than meeting needs we actually have, it creates new ones. However, this argument doesn’t stand against one of the watch’s functions and, arguably its USP: its health-tracking software. Pulling up tweets on your watch is a pleasing novelty the first time around; pulling up data about your heart rate, calorie expenditure and sleep patterns could prompt you to make measurable changes to your life.

The Apple Health software was introduced with the iPhone 6 and the iOS8 software but the technology makes more sense on the watch, considering the success of health bands like the Jawbone UP and Fitbit.

So it’s unsurprising that this is where Apple’s technology rivals are focusing their counter-attack: Android with its Google Fit technology, which is synced up with hardware from Sony, Motorola, LG and Samsung; and Microsoft, which is releasing the Microsoft Band, the company’s first experiment with wearable technology.

At an event last week, Googlers leapt to explain the Google Fit technology using the sleek Sony SmartWatch 3, which — like the Apple Watch — can handle messages, texts and emails, as well as sync with Android apps including VimoFit (a tracker with an in-app fitness test which then provides workouts and monitors your progress), and RunKeeper (a GPS app that tracks your run even if you leave your phone at home). Google Fit has a fitness dashboard that collates info about all your workouts, and the watch syncs with Google Play so you can create a banging workout playlist to help you burn through calories.

“We built Android Wear with personal fitness very much in mind,” explains David Singleton, director of engineering for Android Wear. “The ability to set personal goals, see progress, share achievements and even listen to music, on your watch, without having to add any additional tech to your life, is really convenient.”

The Microsoft Band uses the Microsoft Health platform, and tracks data including heart rate, steps, calorie burn, and sleep quality over time, translating it into easily digestible graphs. You can find guided workouts and outline fitness goals, then track your progress towards them. There’s a built-in GPS, so runners can accurately map their routes even when they don’t have their phone: just activate GPS when you set off and then you can sync the band with the platform on the phone when you get back.

A UV sensor tracks your exposure to the sun; activity charts show the times of highest and lowest calorie burn, so you can tally up efficient and inefficient workouts. Like the Apple Watch, you can also set it to receive notifications for emails. And — perhaps its USP — neither the band nor the software discriminates on the grounds of device: it’s compatible with Android, iOS and Windows.

Technology’s renewed focus on fitness software and devices is savvy. While apps fall in and out of favour, the UK fitness industry was valued at £3.92 billion in 2013. The navel-gazing quantified-self movement also continues to grow.

Apple might have the pomp and circumstance, but Cupertino doesn’t have the monopoly: pick your band and join the revolution.