We all knew this was coming eventually. In the five years since Google completed its acquisition of Fitbit, there have been enough changes — such as every Fitbit app user needing mandatory Google accounts, Fitbit community features getting axed, and smartwatches reduced in priority in favor of Google’s own Pixel Watch — to signpost that Fitbit users would eventually become Google users.
Now, the Fitbit app is about to become Google Health, in a mandatory update that’s part of a sweeping AI-powered app redesign, coinciding with the launch of the new Google Fitbit Air (yes, that’s the full name, and you can expect any future Fitbits to have the ‘Google’ prefix in there too).
What does this mean for existing, longtime Fitbit users? Do you have to update? What if you already own a Fitbit? What about Fitbit Premium? And are there any changes to the way Google is handling your data? We’re here to answer all your questions with this handy guide.
1. The update is happening for all Fitbit users — whether you like it or not
If you’re a Fitbit user on either the free or premium tiers, you’re getting updated to Google Health. Google Health is billed as a new version of the service, that’s also replacing Google’s native, now-redundant Google Fit and Google Health Connect apps.
It works with Apple Health, Peloton, continuous glucose monitors like Lingo, and hundreds of other apps and devices, so you don’t have to be on an Android phone to use it despite being a Google app. It’s billed as “a cleaner view of your health and wellness”, organising your data across four tabs — Today, Fitness, Sleep and Health.
Once your app updates, you’ll see a new logo, a new layout, but you’ll still be able to access all your old data and use all the best Fitbits (among other devices) to collect health information.
2. It’s now a home for medical records too
Google Health will also allow you to host your medical records on the app, allowing you to export and share data, creating reports accessible via sharable ‘smart health’ QR codes to share with doctors and medical providers.
In a press briefing, Google reaffirmed the commitment it made on acquiring Fitbit, to keep health data separate from Google Ads. That commitment, made with the EU commission in 2020, is legally binding for at least 10 years.
3. Fitbit Premium is now Google Health Coach
While Fitbit had a free and premium tier and Google Health continues that tradition, like so many of the best fitness apps nowadays, Google Health’s premium option is now based around an AI fitness coach. The Google Health Coach has been ‘grounded in scientific and well-established coaching and fitness frameworks’ according to Google, with a Consumer Health Advisory Panel of experts providing feedback and guidance for the coach’s development, to limit any potential harm caused by AI training advice.
The Coach, built with Gemini, can access your data and answer questions about health and wellness, creating training plans which change weekly depending on your performance, offering recipes and nutrition advice, answers questions about injuries, and sleep analysis. It’s described as ‘world-class expertise that’s always available whenever you need it. It constantly adapts based on your personal health and wellness metrics and is uniquely tailored to your goals and real-life circumstances’.
With so many AI-powered training advice services out there, Google is working hard to try and lead this category. It even accesses your medical records or menstrual cycle information should you give it permission to do so. That legally-binding commitment from Google not to use our health information for advertising does make me feel better about allowing Google Health Coach access to this information.
4. The Google Health Coach offers Nutrition Logging
Google Health Coach has a feature similar to Garmin Connect+’s Nutrition Tracking feature: Nutrition Logging, which allows you to set up an adjustable calorie target and upload photos of your meals, which the Coach will use to estimate a calorie or macro count.
You’ll also be able to upload the information manually, but intelligently analysing a quick photo for a calorie or macronutrient count is a useful tool for those serious about losing, maintaining or gaining weight.
5. The price isn’t changing much
Access to Google Health’s premium tier, including Google Health Coach, costs $9.99 / month (other regions TBC, but it’s about £7.50 / AU$14) or $99 / year (around £75 / AU$140). Google Health retains a free tier which allows you to access your uploaded data without the AI-powered insights. The new Google Fitbit Air now comes with just three months of Premium, rather than the six months you get with current-gen Fitbits.
That’s around the same price as Fitbit Premium, which also costs $99 / £7.99 / AU$14.99 a month. Premium subscribers still get access to a library of recipes and workout content from the Fitbit Expert Trainers: however, it seems clear the original Fitbit group challenges and other community features will not be returning anytime soon.
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matt.evans@futurenet.com (Matt Evans)
