mikae1
13 hours ago
I'd be to pay a premium for a device like this if I wasn't limited to the manufacturers own app for collecting and interpreting data.
As is? Nah...
ValentineC
12 hours ago
It looks like Oura at least writes to Apple Health [1], so there's some portability.
[1] https://support.ouraring.com/hc/en-us/articles/360025438734-...
anonymousiam
12 hours ago
It also writes to Google Fit, and Strava can see (some of) the data too.
islewis
12 hours ago
So instead of Oura owning your data, Oura _and_ Apple own it?
Youden
12 hours ago
Think of Apple Health as more like the Photos app on iOS than an online service like Garmin Connect or Google Fit or something like that.
Apple Health data are only stored on your device unless you choose to synchronize them to iCloud, in which case they're e2e encrypted.
Apple does occasionally offer the option to contribute to research studies, in which case they'd have access to the relevant data but this is an explicit opt-in.
All the Apple Health data are also available through HealthKit APIs so that they can be used in other apps, including various export apps (though export is also a native feature). Use of this API requires an explicit app-specific and data category-specific opt-in from the user.
All this is to say: I don't think it's accurate to say Apple owns your data in this case. Apple likes to put themselves as privacy-first and you may disagree more generally whether they live up to their image but IMO this is one of the cases where they've done a pretty good job.
ValentineC
12 hours ago
Apple claims that Health data is end-to-end encrypted, both in storage and transmission:
anonymousiam
12 hours ago
You can download all the data at any time from the Oura website.
https://cloud.ouraring.com/dashboard
Log in to Oura on the Web with your Oura account details
Select the profile OOTW profile.png in the upper right corner > My Account
Under Export Data, you'll find options to download Oura metrics in either CSV or JSON format
dmicah
12 hours ago
You can export data from Apple Health to XML.
squidgedcricket
11 hours ago
Completely agree. I have a Circular Slim and the device itself is awesome and some of the data visualization is pretty good.
I stopped wearing it because the app is so user hostile. The ring can't sync in the backround, so each time you open the app you need to wait 30 sec while it syncs. After it syncs there are a series of popups about coins, stars, and streaks. Then you need to dig through a bunch of AI garbage to see the data.
I just want to see my heartrate while I run and track my sleep. There's no need for so much gamified nonsense in the app.
generalizations
13 hours ago
I was curious about getting one of these things, and your comment prompted me to find this - looks like it's totally possible to collect & interpret yourself: https://github.com/Pinta365/oura_api
margalabargala
13 hours ago
That appears to be connecting to Oura's servers, collecting the data they choose to share.
You are still at the whim of the company, who can turn off that data spigot any time it becomes expedient for them.
There's no way to get the data off of the device and use it yourself, without the same data going to their servers.
You pay hundreds of dollars for a device that doesn't let you use it, and rely on the kindness of the company to know your own heartrate.
dotBen
12 hours ago
Very few people want to interface with a wearable locally and store the data locally (esp via a mobile app given the use case here).
I have spent my entire career messing around with APIs and platforms and I have no interest in doing this DIY. oAuth into Oura ring's servers, which is totally available to you, is just fine.
If privacy is this much of a concern, why wear a trackable wearable in the first place?
m463
11 hours ago
> Very few people want to interface with a wearable locally
I think people WOULD like to keep their health data local, if given the option.
But companies do things in their own self-interest, including carefully crafted product descriptions, privacy policies, apis, protocols and apps.
I will mention Garmin watches don't require activation or to be "connected" to work.
juliangoldsmith
5 hours ago
Oura could provide their app, but also make it possible to talk to the ring directly via Bluetooth. Not only would this solve the privacy issues, but it would make third-party apps more reliable (due to no more round-trip).
The amount of work Oura would need to do would be trivial: they'd need to provide a basic description of the format of the packets the ring sends over Bluetooth (or just release protocol headers/internal client libraries). They'd also need to not put in work to deliberately prevent other apps from connecting (which some manufacturers do; not sure about Oura).
juliangoldsmith
13 hours ago
That still requires going through Oura's API, which is where the second/third-party data collection happens.
I think the concern is privacy, not the user's access to the data.
UniverseHacker
12 hours ago
You can export the data and analyze yourself- I do so with mine, but there is no open interface to connect directly with the device, you cannot avoid sharing your data with them.
bbor
12 hours ago
I’m guessing this is part of their “startup-y-ness” that they need to sell the possibility of insane growth to VCs? Because just from an engineering perspective, I don’t see why it needs a monthly subscription to run a server crunching the numbers — couldn’t iOS and Android health apps handle all this data pretty well, with all-local processing? Maybe there’s more complicated ML pipelines involved in “adapting to your physiology” than I’m imagining… otherwise it seems like a random choice.