The Xiaomi Mi Band is a $15 wearable that was given an exceptionally high rating when we reviewed it. The price, coupled with the great battery life, made it a good choice for anyone looking to get into wearables without breaking the bank. But there was one major issue: it lacked Google Fit integration and locked the user to using the company"s feature-lacking app. That has all changed now, however, with the official app updated to support Google Fit (and in turn supporting other services like MyFitnessPal and similar).
The announcement came on Twitter when Clinton Jeff, a product PR lead for Xiaomi, posted a Tweet highlighting the new integration feature:
To integrate it with Google Fit, you simply need to go to the Play Store and update the APK. From that point you:
- Open the Google Fit app and enter the basic configuration
- Open the Mi Fit app and make sure the device is synced
- In the Mi Fit app, click on the menu icon, then go to "Accounts," then "Sync with Google Fit"
- Select the Google account to pair the Mi Band with
- From this point you can go into Google Fit, go to the Settings menu, and in "Apps connected" it should mention the Mi Fit app.
And that"s it -- everything should be connected from that point on.
The modified apk with enhanced notification support still hasn"t been updated, however, and it may take some time before it will be.
Further information on the process can be found on the MIUI forums here.