Google Health is replacing the Fitbit app, with a US$9.99-a-month Premium tier unlocking its AI health coach and other advanced features.
The new app includes all features of the Fitbit app and will become the companion app for all Pixel and Fitbit fitness trackers.
Users who already have the Fitbit app will not need to install a separate app.
The main new feature is a Gemini-powered health coach, designed to analyse health and fitness data and respond with personalised guidance.
Gemini is Google’s artificial intelligence model.
The feature, previously part of the Fitbit app, is coming out of preview and being renamed Google Health Coach.
Google says the Fitbit Air was built for Google Health Coach.
The tool analyses users’ goals, workouts, health data and sleep metrics to provide daily workout suggestions and proactive insights.
Users will also be able to tap an Ask Coach button and ask questions in natural language, such as when they last ran five miles or how to adjust their day after poor sleep.
Google Health also lets users add medical history, including medications, lab results and allergies.
Lab results are the findings from medical tests, such as blood tests, while allergies are reactions the body can have to substances such as foods, medicines or pollen.
Google says once this information is added, Health Coach will be able to tailor responses to the user’s body rather than offer generic recommendations.
The app will also include nutrition logging and menstrual cycle tracking.
Users can log meals manually or upload a photo of food so Health Coach can calculate macros. Macros, short for macronutrients, are the main nutrients people get from food, including protein, carbohydrates and fat.
Cycle tracking can be used to predict periods and fertile windows, which are the days when pregnancy is more likely.
As with the Fitbit app, Google Health will be split between free and subscription tiers.
The free tier will allow users to add basic health records and view core sleep, activity and health metrics.
Google Health Premium will unlock Ask Coach, Health Coach, adaptive fitness apps, detailed fitness plans and photo, video and voice logging.
The subscription rolls out on May 19 with an app update and will cost US$9.99 per month or US$99.99 per year.
Google said it will not use health data to show targeted advertising.
The company said: “Google committed to not use Fitbit users’ health and wellness data for Google Ads.”
This is not the first time Google has used the Google Health name.
The company first introduced a Google Health service in 2008 to give people online access to their health records.
Google said in 2011 that it had not “found a way to translate that limited usage into widespread adoption in the daily health routines of millions of people.”
That version of Google Health closed in 2012.
