Why Whoop's policy change has fans fuming

Another busy week of product and feature launches is upon us, with Oura releasing two new features all-in on metabolic health and Whoop releasing its first fitness band upgrade in four years (to the chagrin of loyal Whoop users). There have been patent disputes aplenty and lots to discuss about the past week. Let’s dive in!

The Whoop 5.0 launch has members angry 

Whoop revealed its two new fitness bands and new subscription structure on Thursday, and current users aren’t thrilled with the upgrades. Annual subscriptions start at $200 and go up to $360, with most of the innovative feature additions exclusive to the highest tier. 

Whoop previously promised free hardware upgrades for customers who’ve been members for six months or longer. Now the health brand is backtracking on that commitment, and current members are fuming. Whoop says users will now have to pay for the hardware upgrade in addition to the updated subscription tiers. 

Also: Whoop came out with its latest health band lineup

“The information referenced was pertaining to a previous launch, and is an error of fact. Like any company, we from time to time update our commercial policies,” a Whoop spokesperson said in an email to ZDNET. 

The Whoop community is a devoted one — it has to be if the company is charging $200 a year for a fitness-tracking product. But many Reddit users are saying the brand is not living up to its promises, calling it a “corporate rug pull,” “deceiving business practices,” and “a slap in the face.” Some say they plan to renew their subscription now. Whoop-sies! 

Apple shows Pride in new watch collection 

New Apple Watch watch faces and bands just dropped — and they’re sick. Keep an eye out for the new wallpapers and watch faces to arrive in an upcoming software update with watchOS 11.5, iOS 18.5, and iPadOS 18.5. The Pride edition sports band is truly unique, as the bands are assembled by hand and include individual color stripes that get compression-molded together. Priced at $49,  it’s available to order on apple.com and in the Apple Store app today, and will be in stores next week.

Oura introduces Meals and Dexcom integration 

Oura came out with a major feature upgrade this week. It announced the smart ring’s integration with Dexcom’s Stelo, as well as a permanent launch of Meals, the previously experimental AI-powered meal-logging feature that takes photos of meals and identifies the ingredients in them. 

Also: Your Oura Ring just got one of its biggest feature upgrades for free

Now, Stelo users can keep track of their blood sugar levels and log food within the Oura app. The Meals feature doesn’t calorie-count; instead, it creates suggestions for improving meal quality while offering nonjudgmental and sustainable insights. 

As patent spat with Oura hits, Ultrahuman opens Texas facility 

Last week, Ultrahuman was one of two smart ring brands charged with copying Oura, in an initial determination by the US International Trade Commission’s Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). The ALJ found that Ultrahuman and RingConn participated in dishonest tactics to develop smart rings of their own. Ultrahuman had claimed that it had a manufacturing facility in the US to assert that it, like Oura, was a domestic brand. However, the ALJ  said the company was falsifying evidence of these claims. 

Also: Two smart ring brands just got caught copying Oura — here’s what happens next 

Within the week of the ITC news, Ultrahuman announced its expansion of its US manufacturing capacity and the opening of its Texas-based facility. “This move underscores Ultrahuman’s commitment to American manufacturing as a cornerstone of its long-term strategy,” Ultrahuman said in a press release. 

Get the morning’s top stories in your inbox each day with our Tech Today newsletter.