Nike has continued its realignment with the fitness software market through a long-awaited link up with Apple HealthKit and a snub of its own Nike+ FuelBand hardware.

The first iOS update of the Nike+ Fuel app since September featured new connectivity with Apple HealthKit, new social sharing features, and the option to eschew the Nike+ FuelBand hardware entirely and track movement via sensors embedded in the user’s smartphone. As if to underline the ‘conscious uncoupling’ from its hardware device, the Nike fitness app has also dropped “Band” from its name. Although the Nike+ FuelBand remains on sale, there appear to be no plans for an update, with the company reportedly laying off a large chunk of the device's engineering staff last year.

The move chimes with the general market shift away from fitness bands, whose basic features are being supplanted by increasingly powerful sensors in smartphones and smartwatches. Indeed, industry analysts believe the timing of Nike’s software update is designed to give the company some breathing space ahead of its expected app for the Apple Watch, which is due out in April.

Nike’s consolidation of its software offering comes at a time when it is facing increased competition from the likes of Under Armour, which has recently purchased a number of leading fitness tracking apps.

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