Google Health: Roadmap promises more features and bug fixes

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Google's new fitness and Health App “Google Health”, formerly Fitbit, is now widely available with the market launch of Fitbit Air. With the release of app version 5.0 for Android and iOS, the “Google Health” project is not complete. Over the coming weeks and into the summer, Google promises to integrate further improvements and new features based on user feedback.

“We plan to keep the spirit of the Public Preview going and are committed to continuing to listen to feedback, add new capabilities, and resolve existing issues while being transparent with our users,” Google writes in its support forum post. With the public preview of the Fitbit app, Google has been collecting user feedback for months – in Germany since April – and has made it available to curious users in parallel with the existing Fitbit app.

Bug fixes for training recording and export

Google wants to fix some bugs in training recording. For example, runs that were marked as “general training sessions” for some users will now be correctly assigned. The run summaries should include intermediate times, and the loading time and findability of maps in the training summaries should be improved.

Incomplete data in TCX exports should also be fixed. According to Google, this error affects both training sessions recorded with Fitbit Air and a connected GPS device, as well as training sessions recorded with multiple devices or apps connected to Google Health.

Beyond bug fixes, Google wants to optimize the app's responsiveness during live recording of a Fitbit Air training session in the event of a connection loss. Google also wants to fix incorrect measured values when recording a training session if multiple devices are connected to the Google Health app.

Nutrition, calories, and activities

Further bug fixes and optimizations impact other areas of the health platform. The company mentions nutrition and calorie tracking here. For example, duplicate entries will no longer occur if a third-party app is connected both via Health Connect and directly via Google Health. Similarly, excessive calorie consumption figures for Pixel Watch users should no longer occur.

Users will be able to create and log their meals in the future. Google is also working on improving goal setting and progress tracking; “as we know, this is an area where many of us have specific patterns and routines.” In the area of daily activities, Google wants to add charts for hourly step goals – both on the “Today” tab and the “Health” tab. According to the roadmap, it will also be easier to customize the dashboards of both tabs – for example, by reordering and adding or removing individual metrics.

Sleep tracking and AI Health Coach

Google is also improving the health tracking area. On the one hand, the company is resolving a problem where sleep values are missing for some users in certain areas of the app. Improvements to sleep tracking include new features such as a 24-hour total sleep view, allowing users to see main sleep and naps together. Naps are also easier to find. “Sleep sessions” can be removed if necessary.

According to Google's announcement, the paid Health Coach receives the most optimizations. It is currently a bit too talkative. Messages will be formulated more “concisely” in the future without omitting relevant details. In addition, messages will receive more visual elements such as charts, maps, and easily digestible statistics. With one of the upcoming updates, Google wants to improve the fitness plans: Some users who need more structure have requested less flexible weekly goals but rather weekly schedules.

The “Ask Coach” function will receive an improvement in storing user settings, and irrelevant answers will be reduced. Logs can also be deleted, and support for body core temperature recording will be added. Relevant for Apple users: Google provides support for transferring data to Apple Health. Furthermore, Google plans to release medical records via Smart Health Links and support CLI tools and AI skills for direct access to personal health data.

(afl)