Google renames Fitbit app to Google Health

More than a After a decade since its debut and five years after it was acquired by Google, Fitbit has officially been rebranded as Google Health. As part of the transition, Google also announced plans to discontinue the 12-year-old Google Fit app later this year, though details about migrating user data to Google Health will be released in the coming months.

Google introduced a radical redesign of the Fitbit app last year in public beta, centered around a new AI-powered Health Coach chatbot that can offer guidance on anything and everything from your health to fitness, and even analyze your medical records. Now, Health Coach is officially out of beta. Fitbit users will see an app update on May 19 that renames the Fitbit app to Google Health.

“The investment we’ve made in the last few years is literally designed for this moment,” Rishi Chandra, Google’s vice president of health and home, tells WIRED.

The new Google Health app will be an app update for anyone using the existing Fitbit app.

Courtesy of Google Health

Despite the app’s name change, Chandra says the Fitbit brand is still a big part of Google’s playbook: The company announced its first new Fitbit device in three years, the Fitbit Air, which you can read more about here. Designed as a screen-less health tracker, it’s extremely lightweight and comfortable to wear, debuting alongside the new Google Health app with simplicity at its core. Anyone — child, adult, or elderly — can easily understand the data produced by the device.

“Linking this wearable technology with the training experience is what we have been missing for a long time, so frankly, we were waiting for the trainer to be ready before we launched new devices,” he says. “Now that we have the coach, you should expect to see more machines coming.”

The Google Health app is designed to be a one-stop-shop for all your health and fitness needs. It supports Health Connect and Apple’s HealthKit platform, which means anyone with an Apple Watch can use the Google Health app to analyze their data. If you buy the new $100 Fitbit Air, Google plans to make it so that device data can be viewed in Apple Health as well, although this won’t be available at launch.

The app allows you to upload medical records, where you can search for your doctor’s name or address and log into the provider portal, meaning historical and future records will be synced with Google Health. Plus, you can log anything you want through Health Coach, whether it’s what you had for lunch to track nutrition, or if you broke your leg and want to recreate your weekly fitness routine. Chandra says the app is designed to be shareable, allowing you to share health data with family, friends or a doctor.