The remodeled Google Health app (previously Fitbit) has landed along the brand new Fitbit Air, and whilst no longer everyone seems to be proud of the adjustments, my enjoy has been lovely certain.
I’ve been the use of the brand new UI for 6 months, staring with the Health Coach preview launches towards the tip of 2025, and whilst the improve to Google Health has introduced in some helpful adjustments and contours, there are nonetheless some enhancements I want to see. These are my largest highlights after spending a while with the brand new Google Health app.
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A welcome redesign and AI overload
I must get started by means of pronouncing that, not like some long-time Fitbit customers, I used to be no longer married to the outdated Fitbit app design, which I discovered boring and boring.
The new design is a lot more colourful and animated, making knowledge simple to peer and perceive. Your center of attention metrics are simply out there on the most sensible of the Today tab, or you’ll scroll to dive deeper into lately and the day prior to this’s actions.
The tabs also are clearer of their center of attention, now with 4 tabs within the navigation bar, together with Fitness, Sleep, and Health. I to find this a lot better than the outdated app’s 3 tabs, and I’m satisfied Sleep and Health have their very own devoted sections.
The app could be very AI-focused, and if you are subscribed to Google Health Premium, the Health Coach is all over the place. I do not in reality thoughts the Health Coach an excessive amount of (extra in this later), however it may be moderately overwhelming within the app. Every segment is inundated with knowledge and massive blocks of textual content that will help you higher perceive your metrics.
Google says it is operating to make Health Coach messages “extra concise with out sacrificing useful element” whilst improving messages with “extra visuals like charts, maps, and glanceable stats.”
I believe this can be a step in the suitable route, however Google must pass additional and easily cover the Coach messages. Just provide the knowledge on each and every tab visually, and upload a small button to each and every card with the everyday AI sparkle icon to enlarge it to view Health Coach messages.
That means, customers don’t seem to be bombarded with AI-generated textual content and will come to a decision when they would like the extra insights. Give us extra regulate over the enjoy.
Keeping me on target
The Coach tab within the earlier Fitbit app was once lovely bare-bones, with daily run recommendations being the only feature I found remotely useful. Google took that and ran with it, expanding AI to underscore the entire app experience.
During the onboarding process, I told the Coach my goals, available equipment, and any ailments that might hinder my performance. It even provided some welcome pushback when I suggested how much I wanted to work out each week, warning that I might overexert myself. After settling on a schedule, the coach has been pretty great about keeping me on track week to week.
Part of this is thanks to the more flexible weekly Cardio Load, which basically measures how intense your activities are. This metric is available on the Today tab and is also easily visible in the Fitness tab for additional guidance.
I told the Coach that I want to gain muscle mass, lose body fat, and become more consistent at running so I can run my first 5K later this year. Since then, my weekly workouts have focused on these goals, with a variety of exercise types in each session and a weekly running goal that includes varied circuits at different target distances and paces.
You can either follow the workouts to the T or edit them to your liking. I tend to just follow what Fitbit tells me, making small adjustments here and there depending on how I feel.
You can also start a workout in-app or send custom runs to your Pixel Watch. Unfortunately, I’m still unable to send non-run workouts to the watch, which feels like either a bug or an oversight.
Another downside is that while the workout UI feels more structured and easy to follow, the Pixel Watch still can’t automatically count reps or sets, something I love about Garmin and even Samsung smartwatches.
On the plus side, workouts can even automatically progress to the next exercise after a set timer ends, but it would be nice to see this implemented with auto rep counting.
I also don’t like that workouts are now listed in the Fitness tab as “suggestions,” which feels a little less committal. In the preview, each day of the week had a set workout or rest period, which provided a nice structure.
Fortunately, Google has already noted that users are demanding more structure, and it is “bringing back weekly structured schedules later this year in some way,” which I look forward to. Until then, this format isn’t horrible, especially for users who prefer the flexibility.
Encouragement goes a long way
Despite how overwhelming the AI can be on the Google Health app, I actually find it to be quite encouraging. Messages are usually pretty insightful, taking your activity, sleep, and metrics into account to properly prepare you for the day.
For example, I worked out a ton during the first few days of the week, more than I usually do. As a result, I was encouraged to rest on Wednesday, which I did. Later that evening, the app told me the rest was “exactly what your system needed” while keeping things “low-key” with a light walk.
It then started prepping me for my return to the gym the next day, suggesting I set an alarm, pack my gear, and drink more water since it noticed my resting heart rate was increasing.
The Coach usually provides insightful messages like that, often delivered as notifications on my phone throughout the day, after a workout, or when I wake up. And if need be, it will change its tune if it notices things are off, such as if I didn’t get enough restful sleep.
You can, of course, chat with the Health Coach if you want more insight into your sleep, workouts, or other metrics. A few times, I’ve had to tell it to adjust my workout schedule and cardio load because I was traveling for work that week and knew I wouldn’t be able to get to the gym. The Coach would then work with me to shift my goals based on when I could get back to the gym that week or just remove my workout plan for that week entirely. It’s pretty flexible.
You can also ask for advice on how to improve specific metrics, and it will respond with suggestions on what you can do, complete with links to the sources it draws from.
This is the kind of experience I would expect from a personal trainer, so it’s great that I can get it through a relatively inexpensive app subscription. That said, I still don’t think it can fully replace having a real person train you.
Almost a replacement for MyFitnessPal
Food logging is a Google Health feature that I want to love, but it doesn’t quite hit the mark. When logging food you can either tell Coach what you ate or you can take a photo of it. Surprisingly (or perhaps, unsurprisingly), object recognition is pretty good, and the app can fairly accurately discern what your meal is just by snapping a photo.
Another alternative is taking a photo of the barcode, if there is one, offering an alternative to MyFitnessPal’s own barcode-scanning feature, which you need to subscribe in order to have access to.
The downside of either of these methods is that while Google Health knows what you are eating, the information it logs is still inaccurate. For example, I took a photo of a meal I made, which just consists of four scrambled eggs and roughly 2oz of ground beef. The app knows its scrambled eggs and ground beef, but the nutritional value was quite off, with the app underestimating the amount of protein.
I tried to make it easier by scanning the barcode of a Barbell protein bar, which clearly lists the nutritional value on the wrapper. The app recognized the bar, but the calories were still off by 10, and that was only one of a few inaccuracies I noticed with food logging.
Fortunately, Google Health syncs with MyFitnessPal, so I can still log my meals in that app and the correct nutrition values will appear. Still, I’m hoping Google can step up its game here, because it would bring the Google Health app one major step closer to being my one app to rule them all.
My health in one place
Speaking of one app to rule them all, it’s clear that this is Google’s goal with the Health app, especially now that you can link your medical records. I linked my previous and current medical providers with the app, and now I’m able to see my conditions, medications, visit history, vaccines, and even lab results, all in one place.
I actually find it to be a convenient way to not only see everything in one place but also bring more context to Coach for your overall health.
You can also log new lab results in the app if they don’t sync automatically, although the app seems to do a good job syncing the information. I just wish the data was laid out better; seeing the historical data of 788 lab results, 95 medications and 71 conditions just looks overwhelming, especially since I currently only take a few medications and have a few conditions.
You can also ask Coach about certain details of your medical history, and Coach even warned me that a recent test showed results that are “outside normal limits” (don’t worry, I’m fine). And while some may find this access useful, others will undoubtedly find it intrusive.
You can choose what gets synced, and Google says the one time any of your knowledge is shared is to make sure your identification with CLEAR. Otherwise, it assures that your synced clinical historical past is “securely saved” within the app. however once more, it is as much as you if you wish to give the Google Health that additional information.
More to return
Obviously, Google Health isn’t highest and there are moderately quite a few issues that both want solving, tweaking, or which are just plain missing. Many users have complained about the AI Heath Coach hallucinating, even though I have never knowingly skilled this. Sleep profiles is one thing I leave out from the outdated Fitbit app, matching customers with lovely animals in response to their sleep types.
Fortunately, Google is already laborious at paintings getting ready updates to the app, and has equipped a listing of updates coming quickly or later this yr. Sleep profiles nonetheless is not amongst them, however I’m maintaining out hope.
Still, it is a nice signal that Google is paying attention to consumer comments to create a complete well being app for everybody, and I, for one, am keen on it. Just consider to provide a thumbs up or down for any options or AI responses within the Google Health app for those who truly like one thing or issues do not glance proper.
Source: www.androidcentral.com
