Why longtime Fitbit users are rebelling against the new Google Health update: ‘It’s an atrocious app'

Google announced a major transition earlier this month when the company unveiled the Fitbit Air. Apart from the new screenless health tracker, the tech giant also said it was ending the Fitbit app on smartphones and replacing it with the new Google Health app.

While Google was aiming to create a consolidated health and fitness hub with Google Health, the execution has led users to rebellion, complaining about broken features, cluttered design, missing workout data, syncing problems and the forced integration of AI-powered Health Coach.

Across social media platforms, users have begun criticizing the update, claiming it has completely ruined the Fitbit experience.

One Reddit user, who started a thread titled “Google Health Ruined Fitbit”, wrote that the update was “so horrible” that they could no longer properly customise the home screen.

“They only have 2 large tiles available and I can't just scroll down to see everything. Idk why they butchered it so badly,” wrote the user.

The new redesign faced the bulk of the wrath from netizens, with one user noting that the app looked “like something a college student threw together as an assignment rather than a new app from a huge tech company,” while another said Google had made “a mediocre app worse for absolutely no reason.”

Some users also complained about poor integration with third-party services like Strava, claiming that instead of merging the metrics cleanly, the background sync was duplicating the exact same workout multiple times.

"I get like 3 times the same activity due to Google Health syncing with them, and then a Fitbit device logging it as well directly in Google Health," complained one user.

Many users were not happy with Google's Gemini-powered AI features either. One user commented, “I just wish that the AI stuff was optional,” while another complained about the “smarmy, obsequious, condescending platitudes that the AI bot graciously bestows upon my efforts every day.”

Users also complained about the accuracy of tracking features on the new app, with one Redditor claiming that the app incorrectly showed them being awake for over four hours during sleep despite feeling fully rested, while another said manually logged workouts were no longer calculating calories or heart-rate data correctly.

Many users have also started claiming that they are cancelling their Fitbit Air orders. One such user wrote, “I just canceled the Fitbit Air preorder as now I want to see some reviews etc before buying it.”

Users have also begun feeling nostalgic about the Fitbit app. One user on a Google Help Centre page wrote, "This app is a huge disappointment and a total time drain to get minimal results. How can I get back to using what worked?!”

Notably, Google had also faced flak online after some early FitBit Air users complained about not being able to use the health tracker because of not getting the Google Health update on time.