Overview
- Withings now requires new accounts created after October 13, 2026, to pay for Withings+ at about $99.99 per year to enable automatic syncing of scale data to Apple Health.
- Existing Withings accounts created on or before October 12, 2026, keep free automatic third‑party syncing without a subscription.
- Withings framed the change as backing privacy measures and an AI connector that support data services, but the company has not detailed what server processing those features require.
- Forum users and technologists argue that Apple Health writes are handled on iPhones via HealthKit and do not normally need continuous server-side processing, and cheaper competitor scales still offer free Apple Health sync.
- The shift could push new buyers toward rivals or prompt more export‑and‑import work for users who refuse the subscription, and it highlights a wider trend of hardware makers adding subscriptions to core device functions.