Google Health updates itself by listening to user feedback

It has been a little over a month since the Fitbit app has changed its look, adopting the name Google Health. This transition was designed to better welcome the new Fitbit Air and to provide tailored guidance through Google Health Coach.

The Mountain View company has decided to maintain a rapid development pace, releasing the update to version 5.02, available simultaneously for both iOS-based devices and Android devices.

All things considered, this is the second major intervention on the software code since the start of June, the period in which version 5.01 had been distributed.

Through a detailed statement addressed to its community, the company outlined the numerous improvements introduced, confirming that further and ongoing updates will be made available over the coming weeks.

Google Health keeps improving, will it be enough to convince users?

Getting adequate rest at night is essential to maintain optimal physical and mental performance during the day, but a short afternoon nap also has its own specific value not to be underestimated.

To meet this need, the developers decided to isolate naps from the main sleep score display, placing them in a convenient dedicated section.

Daily users also gain a noticeably higher level of control over their nighttime measurements. This is achieved thanks to the definitive resolution of some glitches related to manual data edits and the introduction of the ability to delete entirely specific erroneous sleep sessions.

Moving the focus to nutrition monitoring, the nutritional panel on the daily summary screen has undergone substantial changes.

The interface has been redesigned to display the total calorie intake at the top and the remaining calories at the bottom in an immediately readable way, replacing the previous and sometimes confusing calculation based solely on net calories.

The app now provides a decidedly richer data view directly from the home screen. By tapping the small pencil icon, users can now select an expanded view option.

This feature allows viewing a substantially greater amount of information and vital metrics without needing to sideways-scroll or navigate between different tabs.

A welcome and requested return is the hourly activity monitoring, which enables precise tracking of the step goal for every hour of the day.

In addition to these notable additions, developers have worked hard on the app’s internal structure to fix several anomalies that occurred in very specific situations, ensuring overall high-level stability.

The full list of changes

Today tab updates

• Expanded metrics on Today: You can now expand the main metrics dashboard on the Today tab to view more data without having to scroll to the right or visit another tab. Tap the pencil icon and select “Expanded View” to see more metrics.
• Easier reordering of Today metrics: We simplified changing the order of metrics on the Today tab. In Edit mode (tapping the pencil icon), you can now tap a metric and then select the one you want to replace it with.

Health tab updates

• Easier reordering of Key Metrics (Android only): We made it easier to reorder metrics in the Key Metrics section of the Health tab. You can now drag and drop charts to rearrange them. Tap Customize, long-press the chart you want to move, and then drag it to the desired position. Available on Android in version 5.02. Coming soon on iOS with our next release (5.03).

Sleep updates

• Restlessness updates: The Restlessness bar is now placed closer to the Sleep Stages chart, so you can better view together data on restlessness and wake moments. We have also refined detection of brief wake moments, with further improvements coming.
• Naps (Android only): Recorded naps are now easier to find and view over time. You can now see your naps in separate tabs in the Daily Sleep Score view. Coming soon on iOS with the next release (5.03).
• Deleting sleep sessions: Deleting sleep sessions is now fully supported.
• Editing sleep sessions: We fixed an issue preventing some users from editing their sleep sessions.

Fitness and Activity updates

• Hourly activity: Hourly activity is back. View your hourly activity charts (steps goal per hour) on the Today and Health tabs. Use the pencil icon on Today or ‘Customize’ on Health to add hourly activity to your dashboards.
• Bug fixes and stability improvements: We fixed some issues with workout summaries, including:
• Steps and distance incorrectly reported as 0 for certain manually tracked activities.
• Automatically detected bike rides reporting distances lower than actual (distance reporting for automatically detected bike rides is not currently supported).

Nutrition updates

• Food search: Improved speed of search results on both Android and iOS. Results now show serving units and calories on Android. Coming soon on iOS.
• Macronutrient estimates during logging: Macronutrient estimates are now shown on the main logging page, letting you preview them before completing entry.
• Today tile updates: The Nutrition tile on the Today tab has been updated to include calorie intake (top number) and remaining calories (bottom number), replacing the previous metrics that focused on net calories.

Partner app data management

• You can now delete individual workout sessions, food logs, and weight logs synced from other apps directly in the Google Health app without having to visit the Privacy Center. In the Google Health app, tap the session or log you want to delete and then select the three-dot icon or the trash can icon.
• If the session or log was imported from Health Connect or Apple Health, you will be redirected to the respective platform to complete deletion. Note: this will also remove the record from that platform.
• If the session or log was imported via a direct integration, you will be able to complete deletion within Google Health.
• In the future, you will be able to delete sessions or logs imported from Health Connect or Apple Health in Google Health without having to delete them from Health Connect or Apple Health as well.