You may have noticed that to connect Fitbit, or MyFitnessPal, or a sleep app, MigraineMe does not ask you for that app's username and password. Instead, you turn on permissions through Apple Health (on iPhone) or Health Connect (on Android), and the data flows through.
You might wonder, "Why doesn't MigraineMe just let me log in directly? It would be simpler."
This is a fair question. There are three good reasons we go through the bridge.
1. Your password stays your password
If you logged in to Fitbit through MigraineMe, MigraineMe would, for a moment, see your Fitbit password. Even if we promised to forget it right away, the password would have travelled through our system.
We do not want that responsibility. And honestly, you should not give your Fitbit password to any other app. Companies move on, websites change hands, and your password could end up somewhere you never expected.
By going through Apple Health or Health Connect, MigraineMe never sees your Fitbit account at all. We only see the numbers Fitbit has sent into your phone.
2. Fewer accounts to manage
If every app you used had to know your Fitbit login, your MyFitnessPal login, your sleep app's account, and so on, you would have a long list of logins to remember and to update if one ever changed.
With the bridge:
- You sign in to Fitbit once, inside the Fitbit app.
- You sign in to MyFitnessPal once, inside its app.
- You only ever sign in to MigraineMe for MigraineMe itself.
That is it. Three apps, three logins, no tangled middle.
3. You stay in charge, in one place
The bridge gives you a single control panel.
On iPhone: Open Settings, then Health, then Data Access & Devices. Every app that can read or write your health data is listed. You can see exactly what each one is doing.
On Android: Open the Health Connect app, then Data and access. Same idea. Every app, every permission, in one place.
If you ever want to stop MigraineMe from reading your sleep, you do not have to dig through MigraineMe's menus. You just flip one switch in the bridge. Done.
What it means in practice
- You log in to your Fitbit, your food diary, your CGM, in their own apps, like you always have.
(Fitbit shares through Health Connect on Android. The Fitbit iPhone app does not share with Apple Health.)
- Inside each of those apps, you turn on Apple Health or Health Connect.
- In MigraineMe, you turn on the matching data category under the gear icon, then Data and Notifications.
You never give MigraineMe any password except your MigraineMe one.
A note on the four exceptions
There are four services where MigraineMe does ask you to sign in:
- Oura
- Garmin
- Polar
- WHOOP
These four share more detail (like sleep stages, recovery and stress) through their own connection than through the bridge, so we use a direct sign-in instead. Even then, we never see your password. You sign in on their own page, and they hand MigraineMe a special permit slip that says "you may read this person's data." If you ever want to stop us, you can revoke the permit slip on their website with a couple of taps.
In short
We use the bridge because it is safer, simpler, and gives you full control. It is a little extra setup the first time, but after that you barely think about it.
If anything ever feels confusing, write to us at help@migraineme.app. We are happy to walk you through it.
