Google Health 5.11 Brings Expanded Fitbit Tracking and Health Features

Google Health 5.11 is beginning to roll out this week, bringing a substantial set of upgrades for Fitbit trackers and the Pixel Watch.

The Improved Automatic Activity Tracking feature is now available on the Fitbit Air and Pixel Watch 3, 4, and 5, while the Fitbit Edge will receive these capabilities when it launches on October 27.

• Detects a wider range of workouts: The number of activities recognized by your Fitbit tracker or Pixel Watch has increased from 10 to as many as 100, covering activities such as strength training, swimming, racket sports, and team sports.

• Considers additional information: Using contextual reasoning, the system now takes more factors into account, including your exercise routines, past data, and manual corrections, resulting in nearly 2x more accurate detections and reducing missed workouts by more than half.

• Records exercise sessions automatically: Activities that satisfy your minimum duration requirement (15 minutes by default) and involve a consistently elevated heart rate are logged automatically, with a workout summary delivered to the Google Health app, usually within 30 minutes.

• Adapts to your individual habits: Confirming or modifying an activity helps improve a feature that recognizes your personal patterns and incorporates them to make its future predictions more precise.

Fitbit Air and Edge users who subscribe to Google Health Premium are also receiving two Health Guardian capabilities. Setup for blood pressure and insulin resistance trends is now available, with the initial report expected at the beginning of November.

• Blood pressure trends, which help monitor changes in blood pressure before they place additional stress on your heart, will appear in the Health Guardian section under the Health tab if you have worn your Fitbit Air for at least 5 consecutive days in October.

• Insulin resistance trends, which monitor monthly variations in metabolic health, will be accessible to users who have worn their watch for at least 7 days and nights in October.

Across the Google Health app, Blood glucose has been renamed “Glucose,” accompanied by refreshed charts and graphs. Other additions include:

• Set personalized time-in-range targets: Users can now establish individual time-in-range targets for glucose measurements collected through connected continuous glucose monitors. To configure a target, navigate to the Metabolic section of the Health tab, select Glucose, open Settings, and tap Set goal.

• Quicker glucose data updates with Lingo by Abbott (US only): The Google Health app now supports a direct connection to Lingo by Abbott, allowing glucose readings to sync more quickly and appear in the app within 30 minutes of a measurement. Subscribers to Google Health Premium can also ask Google Health Coach³ questions about their glucose patterns. To establish the connection, tap the profile icon in the Google Health app and choose Partner Apps.

Lastly, Sleep Tracking has been upgraded with improvements to wake detection and nap management.

• Improved recognition of waking periods: Sleep tracking now makes better use of step data to identify brief awakenings more precisely, including occasions when you get out of bed to use the bathroom.

• Simplified nap removal: You retain control over your sleep records. If a nap appears in your data that does not reflect your actual day, you can now remove it easily from the corresponding nap card.

Version 5.11 is available for iOS, while its rollout to Android users is continuing.