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Use NFC tags to quickly update your Fitbit activities with FitTap

Use Fitbit? Forget to enter activities into the app or online? This Android app will let you enter activities by tapping an NFC tag.

Jason Cipriani Contributing Writer, ZDNet
Jason Cipriani is based out of beautiful Colorado and has been covering mobile technology news and reviewing the latest gadgets for the last six years. His work can also be found on sister site CNET in the How To section, as well as across several more online publications.
Jason Cipriani

Jason Cipriani/CNET

The biggest issue with any of the activity tracking systems, be it a Fitbit or Jawbone Up, is that some information has to be manually entered by the user. For example, when I'm tracking how much water I drink in a given day, I have to remember to enter it into the Fitbit app, and I'm horrible at it.

When the revamped Fitbit Android app launched last week, I came across another Android app called FitTap. FitTap combines Fitbit activity logging with NFC.

There's two versions of the app, one is free, but requires you to use NFC tags purchased through the app. The other version is a pro version, which allows you to use any compatible NFC tag and costs $1.99.

Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET

The creation process (using previously purchased NFC tags) was painless; scan the blank tag, confirm you want to associate it with FitTap, and then assign a task to the tag. You can assign a tag to log an activity, food, sleep, water or weight. Each category has all of the appropriate fields required when logging the same activity with Fitbit.

If you have a set workout consisting of the same time and distance on a treadmill, you could create a tag and place it on or near the treadmill. When you finish your routine, you can then scan the tag and go about your day; logging your activity in a fraction of the time it would take you to enter it into the Fitbit app.