Following last month’s reveal, Google is now rolling out its redesigned Fitbit app having reorganized the user interface to make it easier to use. Additionally, five new features were added that we haven’t seen before.
First, the company has improved the communication between your phone’s sensors and Fitbit giving users the ability to track walks, runs, or hikes just by using the app. You don’t have to wear a Google Pixel Watch or any kind of wearable. All you have to do, according to the announcement, is connect your smartphone to Fitbit. It will begin automatically tracking steps or whatever exercise you’re doing at the moment right on the Today tab.
Speaking of which, the Today tab now offers people a way to customize what goals they want to work on for a particular day. For example, maybe you want to focus on managing your stress or getting better sleep. The company states users will have to tap the Edit button at the top and then place the two goals into their own widget. That way, you can keep track as you make progress.
Finding workouts
To help people find their next workout, Google has added a new Coach tab on Fitbit. There, users can search for exercises based on their “type, duration, required equipment, instructor” among other metrics. If you want to workout your whole body, the app may suggest interval training with weights or calisthenics. Or if you workout a specific area, like your core, it’ll recommend strength training with kettlebells.
There will be free workouts available. However, Fitbit Premium subscribers will have access to even more content including HIIT (high-intensity interval training) and dance cardio classes.
The final health-related update involves the revamped Charts that will display the results of your wellness journey in an easy-to-understand format. You can check out specific metrics like how well you’ve been sleeping or your “Active Zone Minutes”. Also, it’ll highlight unique patterns it detects to help “make sense of your health”.
Availability
Besides all the wellness features, Google has tweaked Fitbit’s privacy controls to, as you probably guess by this point, make them easier to use. Managing your data has been simplified so you won’t have to go through a labyrinth of menus just to make a change. Detailed instructions on the new way to control your data can be found on the Fitbit help website.
Be sure to keep an eye out for the patch when it arrives on your device. It’s unknown if the release is global or if only a few countries will get it. We reached out to Google asking for clarification. This story will be updated at a later time.
If you’re thinking of buying a fitness tracker, but don’t know where to start, we recommend checking out TechRadar’s list of the best Fitbit wearables for 2023.