What you need to know
- Fitbit announces that it’s expanding its personal health coach to more countries, such as the U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore.
- Additionally, it’s bringing its Public Preview access to iOS users this week, though it might take a few days before everyone sees it.
- Fitbit’s personal health coach is its largest update yet, and it truly digs deep to understand the user’s data by asking questions and keeping things “conversational.”
Fitbit’s ready to bring its personal health coach to more places and people today (Feb 10), as the company announces what users can expect.
Fitbit’s personal health coach is an AI-driven experience that’s starting to arrive in more places around the world, per a press release today. A Keyword post states that this feature is headed for Premium users in the U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. The post informs users that this rollout could take a “few weeks” to complete its arrival in these countries.
Beyond that, Fitbit is preparing to welcome iOS users from these countries and the U.S. into its current Public Preview experience.
Fitbit takes over, reporting that iOS users joining the Public Preview for the personal health coach will find what Android users have had for a while now. Users with iPhones must have a Premium subscription to be eligible to join this test. There are some other aspects iPhone users must adhere to, such as having iOS 16.4 or higher, being at least 18 or older, and more.
As the personal health coach arrives, Fitbit directs users to the Today tab (or your settings) to sign up. The company says iOS users should expect this to appear “over the next few days.”
What iOS, and others, can expect
Fitbit’s personal health coach was an extensive update is launched in October within its Public Preview experience. This AI-driven feature provides users with an AI Coach that works with you to achieve your health/workout goals while also building a multi-week plan to get it done. There’s a ton more to unpack with this, but after spending a month with it, Android Central’s Derrek Lee is about ready to make Fitbit his go-to fitness app.
It’s a bit of a process to get things set up, but once you’re in, Fitbit invites you to have a chat with the AI Coach. The point of this is to get to “know you” and to see your goals (think daily steps and sleep), and more. The personal health coach is powered by Gemini, so you can expect that same sort of “conversational” touch.
Once this is all done, the Today tab is fully decked out with this personal health coach. Users will find AI-generated insights about their health data under its AI Insights. The personal health coach also brings a permanent Ask Coach button to the app that’s readily available for your health needs.
Android Central’s Take
I would suggest reading through my colleague’s write-up about his time with the Fitbit personal health coach. There’s a lot more to dig through than what’s possible in a post like this. However, the root of it is that the personal health coach is quite useful for people really looking to dig deep with their health, workouts, and sleep. There are areas where Fitbit can improve, that’s a definite. As Derrek says, “Despite its shortcomings, I think Google is on the right track with this new Fitbit experience.”
