Google Health Innovates, but the Absence of Fitbit is Felt

After a night of intense work on an article about Google’s smart glasses, I woke up with only five hours of sleep. Google Health didn’t hesitate to remind me: “You have quality sleep, but not enough.” This reminder prompted me to pay attention to my sleep habits.

The app advised me to drink water, relax, and go to bed earlier. I found these recommendations helpful, standing out from other fitness trackers I’ve used in the past. The new Fitbit Air, which syncs with Google Health, is comfortable and easy to forget on my wrist. However, the real innovation lies in the health summaries generated by AI, which offer personalized coaching based on a subscription.

While this feature is exactly what I’ve been waiting for in wearables for years, I regret that it is not integrated into the now-retired Fitbit app. Google Health allowed me to report that my muscles were sore, and the AI Gemini used this information to provide me with useful, albeit sometimes intrusive, insights.

The text-based activity and sleep summaries are a clever idea, and the ability to discuss trends in my history with the AI is innovative. However, I prefer simply reviewing the insights and acting accordingly, without the need to engage in dialogue with the AI.

I informed Google Health that I had done weight training one day, and the app recorded this activity. However, it then reminded me daily of those same weights without suggesting other activities to try. The text can sometimes seem cluttered, and I miss the clear graphs and layouts of statistics that the Fitbit app used to provide.

After a week of poor sleep habits, marked by an exhausting period during Google I/O and a weekend at my Princeton reunion where I didn’t go to bed until 3 AM, Google Health helped me understand my need for recovery. The app highlighted which short nights of sleep were the most restorative.

I appreciated Google Health’s sleep analysis, with its advice on rest, recovery, and self-care. Once the reunion was over, I went to bed earlier and achieved sleep that Google Health deemed beneficial. However, the app also interpreted my 19-minute walk at 1:44 AM on Saturday as a “good way to start Sunday,” when it was simply a walk on a day when I had exceeded 17,000 steps, exhausted and looking for an Uber to get home.

While I appreciate the AI summaries, I would prefer to see them integrated into a sidebar or a separate panel, while the standard Fitbit summaries remain front and center. However, if that were to happen, Google might not be able to promote its AI health coach as aggressively as it currently does, which I don’t appreciate. I want my health journey to resemble a dashboard, not a news feed.

The Google Health app has dashboards for sleep and health statistics, accessible with a simple tap, but none of them seem as comprehensive and distilled as what Fitbit previously offered at a glance. Without a screen on the Fitbit Air, these statistical readings on the phone are more necessary than ever.

I think this is an evolutionary step. Perhaps other wearables, including smart glasses, will provide on-demand screens to deliver the desired readings. But what if Google’s Gemini layer were invoked as needed? As Apple prepares its next version of WatchOS and wearables like the Oura ring continue to evolve, AI-infused summaries and coaching will inevitably be the future of health technology.

However, I don’t trust AI enough to engage deeply with it, and the text summaries and advice can become overwhelming. How about infusing these insights into useful infographics? Or simply bringing back that Fitbit app and adding Gemini? There’s still time to consider this, Google. Not everything has to be an AI feed, even if Google I/O clearly showed that this is the direction Google wants to take.