- Fitbit users are being forced to switch to the Google Health app
- The changeover process started months ago
- The switch has not been mandatory until now, and users aren’t happy
It’s been a few months since Google started encouraging Fitbit users to switch over to the company’s Google Health app, but the move has never been completely mandatory. That’s all changed now, though, as Fitbit fans are finding themselves forced onto Google’s platform — and many are deeply unhappy about the move.
As documented by users on social media, opening the Fitbit app now serves up a new prompt that reads: 'A newer Fitbit app is available. Updating is recommended.' The word “recommended” is doing a lot of heavy lifting there, as the only button available is one that says 'Update', and it’s impossible to tap away from the notification to make it disappear. In other words, this is a forced update for the last die-hards who are still using the deprecated Fitbit app.
When it became apparent that Google was compelling the last Fitbit users to jump over to its Google Health app, many took to social media to complain. “I hate the new Google Health app,” wrote one, before adding: “I routinely swiped back to view my workout and sleep data from previous days and that ability is now gone … I’m a Premium member so I’m paying for this new garbage.”
“Google health app is so baaad. I also want my Fitbit app back,” lamented another. When asked what made the Fitbit app so good, another said: “It was elite. The food tracking was next level. It always detected when I was getting sick with my HRV and all that. Tracked my sleep to a tee … I fear I’ll never have this kind of tracking again.”
A forced app migration
The Google Health app does not have a particularly strong reputation, in part thanks to its unreliable AI assistant. Users have documented it hallucinating phantom workouts, inventing food-tracking metrics, and much more. The situation got so bad that Google added a way for users to disable the app’s AI assistant altogether.
It’s this unreliability that could be behind a lot of the reluctance among Fitbit users to switch to Google Health. With something as important as your health and wellbeing, after all, you want to know that the advice an app is giving you is accurate and well-founded.
Another issue centers on tools that many people feel are missing from Google Health. It’s something brought up by several people on social media, who noted that features like estimated health for your age and a simple and intuitive layout are absent in Google Health. “None of the features I liked from Fitbit’s app are left,” bemoaned one person.
If you’re one of the last remaining holdouts still rocking the Fitbit app, you’ll have to switch to Google Health imminently. If Google’s app isn’t to your taste, there are alternatives — but perhaps none quite like Fitbit’s discontinued offering. Let us know what you think about Google's latest move in the comments below.