Withings has introduced an Apple Health Sync paywall, requiring all new users to pay $99.99 each year to see their weight within Apple's default Health app.
Withings is a French company known for its smart scales, some of which analyze more than 60 biomarkers, while also offering built-in electrodes and a rechargeable battery. The company also touted its dedicated Withings app, as well as its products' integration with Apple Health.
As it turns out, however, that Apple Health integration will come at a great cost to new users. As noted by a user of the Withings forum, accounts created after October 13, 2026, are required to have a $99 Withings+ subscription to sync their scale data with Apple Health. The feature will remain free for existing Withings users.
"Taking a fundamental feature that has always been free and locking it behind a paywall for new users is an obvious cash grab," says the user. They also claim that writing data to Apple Health using HealthKit on an iPhone doesn't require server-side processing, AI agents, or any other potential costs for Withings.
According to the Withings forum user, the company justified this seemingly arbitrarily imposed paywall with "privacy measures" and an "AI connector." In the comments, Withings itself confirmed the decision to charge for Apple Health syncing via the Withings+ subscription.
In the rather vague statement, Withings said that its "mission hasn't changed" and that Withings+ "funds the services" around user data. The company did not specify exactly what services the subscription actually funds.
In an attempt to appease upset users, Withings also noted that some basic features would remain free. It explained that every user can "export their full history as CSV or PDF at any time, keep importing data from other apps, and share data with their doctor through HealthLink and PDF reports."
Withings users, meanwhile, remain largely unconvinced and unsatisfied, calling the decision "absolutely terrible" and "awful," among other things. This sentiment is understandable, given that a free feature has found itself behind a seemingly arbitrary paywall.
Worse yet, while a product like the $599.95 Withings BodyScan 2 requires a subscription to sync your data with Apple Health, other scales do it for free. For instance, the iHealth Nexus Pro smart scale, priced at a whole $30, syncs data with its iHealth app and with Apple Health at no additional cost.
The iHealth Nexus Pro is simply an illustrative example, and there are likely many more scales with free Apple Health syncing available on online marketplaces. For something as basic as a scale, there's little reason to opt for a yearly subscription, unless specific medical or dietary needs are part of the equation.
