Ship It: a fitness-app survival game
Ship It is a three-to-five-minute browser game about getting a fitness app to launch through the API changes of late 2025 and 2026. You pick a product and up to 3 data stacks, then every real, dated event that hit those stacks plays out, from Oura deprecating personal access tokens in December 2025 to the Fitbit Web API turn-off on November 2, 2026 and Google Fit’s end of support at the end of 2026. Each card quotes the page on this site that sources it. The weeks and users you spend are game rules, not estimates.
Step 1 of 2
What is your team building?
Kickoff is October 6, 2025. Launch is planned for January 11, 2027.
Every event in the game
15 events, in date order. A run only meets the ones that hit the stacks it picked, and a few apply to one product only. The date is the vendor’s where it gives one; for a standing rule it is the day the rule’s page was last updated or read, and the card says which. The full record, graded confirmed or reported, is the changes and deadlines tracker.
· Deprecation · Oura
Oura deprecates personal access tokens
“Oura deprecated personal access tokens in December 2025 — scripts and internal tools built on PATs need the OAuth flow instead.”This site's change log (not the vendor's words), via Oura PAT deprecation fix
· Approval or review gate · Health Connect
Health Connect apps need a Health apps declaration
“must be completed for all publishing requests, both for a new app that has not been published yet, or when updating an existing, already published app that now uses a different set of data types.”Google, on the Health apps declaration, via Google Play publishing requirements for Health Connect apps
· Policy rule · Strava · one product
Strava's API Policy bans AI use of its data
“in connection with the development, training, evaluation, or operation of any AI Application”Strava's API Policy, on what Strava data may not be used, via How to integrate the Strava API
· Policy rule · Strava · one product
Strava data may be shown only to its athlete
“Strava Data from a user may be shown only to that user, even data that is public on Strava.”This site's summary of Strava's API Policy (not the vendor's words), via How to integrate the Strava API
· Policy rule · HealthKit · one product
HealthKit data meets the employer reward (guideline 5.1.3)
“provided that the app is submitted by the entity providing the benefit, and the data is not shared with a third party.”Apple, App Review Guideline 5.1.3(i), via App Store guideline 5.1.3: Health and Health Research
· Policy rule · HealthKit
HealthKit apps: no personal health information in iCloud
“may not store personal health information in iCloud.”Apple, App Review Guideline 5.1.3(ii), via App Store guideline 5.1.3: Health and Health Research
· Turn-off · Strava · one product
Strava removes its club endpoints
“Club Activities, Club Members and Club Admins endpoints removed”This site's table of Strava's changelog (not the vendor's words), via How to integrate the Strava API
· End of support · Fitbit Web API
Fitbit Web API support ends
“support for the Fitbit Web API ends. The API will continue to operate, but Google will no longer fix bugs or provide API support.”Google, on the Google Health API page, via Fitbit API shutdown center
· Documented limit · Health Connect
Health Connect throttles background reads harder
“background rate limiting is stricter than foreground rate limiting.”Google's Health Connect rate-limiting guide, via Health Connect rate limit fix
· Approval or review gate · Strava
Strava apps start in single-player mode
“All new applications start in single-player mode”Strava's getting-started guide, via How to integrate the Strava API
· Documented limit · Strava
Strava's rate limits meet your sync job
“a new app gets an overall limit of 200 requests per 15 minutes and 2,000 per day”This site's reading of Strava's rate-limit page (not the vendor's words), via How to integrate the Strava API
· Approval or review gate · Garmin
Garmin access still starts with an approval
“your request has been approved, you will be granted access to the Garmin Developer Portal and can get started on your integration right away”Garmin's developer program FAQ, via Garmin API approval
· Turn-off · Fitbit Web API
The Fitbit Web API is turned off
“The Fitbit Web API and Fitbit OAuth endpoints will be turned off and will no longer function or sync data to or from Fitbit users.”Google, on the Google Health API page, via Fitbit API shutdown center
· Deprecation · Terra
Terra's legacy widget endpoint is deprecated
“keeps working today, with deprecation planned for 3 November 2026”Terra's documentation, via How to integrate Terra
· End of support · Google Fit
Google Fit reaches the end of its support
“The Google Fit APIs will be supported until the end of 2026”Google's Fit migration guide, via Google Fit shutdown hub
How the game is scored (game rules)
These numbers are invented to make the choices trade off against each other. They are not estimates of real engineering time or user churn. The game starts on October 6, 2025 with 10,000 connected users split evenly across your stacks, and a launch planned for January 11, 2027. Every week of slip moves the launch a week. More than 8 weeks and the money runs out; lose every user and there is nothing to launch; keep 60% or more and you survived.
| Kind of event | Act now | Hedge | Ignore |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turn-offThe endpoints stop working on a published date. Ignoring it loses every user on that stack; acting costs a re-consent round. | 3 wk, 10% of that stack’s users | 5 wk, 0% of that stack’s users | 0 wk, 100% of that stack’s users |
| End of supportThe API keeps running without fixes or support. Acting early is what makes the later turn-off free. | 3 wk, 10% of that stack’s users | 4 wk, 0% of that stack’s users | 0 wk, 10% of that stack’s users |
| DeprecationAn old path is closing. Cheap to fix, expensive to ignore. | 1 wk, 5% of that stack’s users | 2 wk, 0% of that stack’s users | 0 wk, 50% of that stack’s users |
| Approval or review gateNothing ships past it without the vendor's yes. The workaround keeps most users; skipping it keeps none. | 3 wk, 0% of that stack’s users | 1 wk, 20% of that stack’s users | 0 wk, 100% of that stack’s users |
| Policy ruleA rule in the vendor's terms. The game counts shipping in breach as losing the integration. | 2 wk, 0% of that stack’s users | 0 wk, 50% of that stack’s users | 0 wk, 100% of that stack’s users |
| Documented limitA documented limit. Ignoring it costs failed syncs, not the whole stack. | 1 wk, 0% of that stack’s users | 0 wk, 10% of that stack’s users | 0 wk, 25% of that stack’s users |
Acting or hedging at the Fitbit end of support counts the later turn-off as already handled, because the migration it starts is the one the turn-off forces. Nothing else carries over between events.
After the game
The real versions of these moves are the migration guides: start with Fitbit Web API to the Google Health API and Google Fit to Health Connect, or the shutdown centers for Fitbit and Google Fit. To hear about the next dated change before it reaches your app, use API change alerts.
Questions
Are the events in the Ship It game real?
Yes. Each of the 15 events is a dated change or a documented rule that this site has already sourced, on its changes tracker or on a guide, and the card quotes the words the source page carries, with a link to that page. Where the quote is this site's summary rather than the vendor's own sentence, the card says so. A build check fails if a quote or a date stops appearing on its source page, so an event cannot outlive its evidence.
Are the weeks and user numbers in Ship It estimates?
No. They are game rules: 10,000 starting users, a 8-week runway and a fixed cost for each kind of choice, all invented to make the trade-offs playable. They do not estimate how long a real migration takes or how many users a real app loses, and the scoring table on the page prints them as rules.
Why does acting at the Fitbit end of support make the turn-off free in the game?
Because Google gave two dates. Support for the Fitbit Web API ended on September 30, 2026, while the API kept operating, and the turn-off, after which requests fail with HTTP 410 Gone, follows on November 2, 2026. A team that started its Google Health API migration at the first date has nothing left to do at the second, so the game marks the turn-off as already handled.
Why is Google Fit marked as existing projects only in Ship It?
Google closed Google Fit API sign-ups for new developers on May 1, 2024, before the game's kickoff, so a team in the game can only be on Google Fit if it already had a project. Google's Fit migration guide says the Google Fit APIs will be supported until the end of 2026 and publishes no switch-off date, which is why ignoring that event costs fewer users than ignoring a turn-off.
Does Ship It send my choices or results anywhere?
No. The game runs in your browser from data shipped with the page. The share card is drawn on a canvas in the tab and the share text is copied to your clipboard only when you press the button; nothing is uploaded or stored, and the page has no server code behind it.
A game from AIFitnessAPI, built on the changes tracker. More at free tools for health-app builders.
Next step
Turning this into a choice of API: