The Google Health app has been a flashpoint for those who are not happy that it’s taken the place of the discontinued Fitbit app. But today brings some good news for users, particularly those with Android devices.
Google just released Google Health version 5.02 for both Android and iOS, with several Android-specific updates.
Android gets improved customization and a separate space for Naps
Google Health on Android now allows for dragging and dropping of metrics in the Key Metrics section of the Health tab. This level of customization lets users see what’s most important to them without having to scan. This addresses one of the major complaints of Google Health burying the data that users rely on seeing at a glance.
In the same vein, food search now surfaces more relevant information, with results showing both serving units and calories. It’s a very welcome return of a feature for former Fitbit app users who could look up food items and see both the estimated calories and serving sizes.
And Android users can also count their midday ZZZs better. Naps now appear in a separate tab in the daily Sleep Score view.
Broader changes for all users
The updated version of Google Health has a host of other improvements and, in some cases, the return of features.
One of the latter is hourly activity charts in both the Today and Health tabs. This lets you see if you’re meeting hourly step goals throughout the day.
For anyone who tosses and turns at night, sleep data is now more easy to discern, with the restlessness bar moved closer to the sleep stages graph. It’s also more accurate, with improved minor awake moments detection.
Fix goes a way toward winning back fans of Fitbit app
The update should ease some of the concerns users had with Google Health.
Google’s Known Issues post for Google Health from the end of last month also shows that many bugs and requested improvements have been handled or are in progress.
The full update details are below.
Today Tab Updates
- More metrics on Today: You can now expand your focus metrics dashboard on the Today tab to see more metrics without having to swipe right or visit another tab. Tap the pencil icon and then select “Expanded view” to see more metrics on Today.
- Easier re-ordering of your metrics on Today: We’ve made it easier to change the order of your metrics on Today. In Edit mode (tap the pencil icon), you can now tap a metric and then select the metric you want to replace it.
Health Tab Updates
- Easier re-ordering of Key Metrics (Android only): We’ve also made it easier to change the order of your metrics in the Key Metrics section of the Health tab. You can now drag and drop to re-arrange your charts. Tap Customize, long press on the chart you want to move, and then drag it to your desired location. Available on Android in 5.02. Coming soon to iOS in our next release (5.03).
Sleep Updates
- Restlessness Updates: The Restlessness bar is now closer to your sleep stages graph, so you can better see Restlessness and Awake data together. We’ve also improved minor awake moments detection, with more improvements to follow.
- Naps (Android only): Recorded naps are now easier to find and view over time. You can now see your naps on separate tabs in your daily Sleep Score view. Coming soon to iOS in our next release (5.03)
- Deleting sleep sessions: Deleting sleep sessions is fully supported.
- Editing sleep sessions: We’ve fixed an issue where some users could not edit their sleep sessions.
Fitness and Activity Updates
- Hourly Activity: Hourly activity is back. See charts for your hourly activity (step goal per hour) in 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’ve fixed issues with exercise summaries including:
- Steps and distance being incorrectly reported as 0 for certain manually logged activities.
- Automatically detected bike rides reporting low distances when they shouldn’t (distance reporting for automatically detected bike rides is not currently supported).
Nutrition Updates
- Food Search: Improved speed in search results on both Android and iOS. Results now show serving units and calories on Android. Coming soon to iOS.
- Estimated macros when logging: Macronutrient estimations are now displayed on the main logging page, so you can preview them before completing your log.
- Today tile updates: The Nutrition tile on the Today has been updated to include calorie intake (top number) and calories remaining (bottom number), replacing the previous metrics which focused on net calories.
Managing Logs from Partner Apps
- You can now delete individual exercise sessions, food logs, and weight logs synced from other apps directly in the Google Health app without having to visit Privacy Center. In the Google Health app, tap on the session or log you want to delete and then either the three-dot or the trash can icon.
- If the session or log was imported from Health Connect or Apple Health, you’ll be directed to the respective platform to complete the deletion. Note: this will delete the record from that platform too.
- If the session or log was imported from a direct integration, you’ll be able to complete the deletion in Google Health.
- In the future, you’ll be able to delete sessions or logs imported from Health Connect or Apple Health in Google Health without having to also delete them from Health Connect or Apple Health.
