Fitbit users complain about forced migration to Google Health app

Source: Mashable Tech

Google should be celebrating the release of the Fitbit Air this month. The new screen‑less fitness tracker gives competitors like Whoop and even aspects of the Apple Watch a run for their money with a number of unique features.

Instead, Google is now dealing with backlash from some of Fitbit’s existing user base after the company retired the Fitbit app and replaced it with a new AI‑focused Google Health app.

User backlash on Reddit

Reddit users have expressed strong dissatisfaction with the forced migration:

“Thanks, Google, for ruining Fitbit,” reads one post that has received nearly 2,000 upvotes on r/fitbit. “I’ve been using Fitbit for over 10 years and I canceled my premium membership today. The Google Health app is awful. No one asked for this. Google owes us all a refund on these watches.”
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Other users criticize the new interface for being less intuitive and customizable, and they note that certain data—such as specific sleep‑tracking stats and in‑app challenges—are no longer available.

Complaints about AI features

The AI coach was introduced in trials within the original Fitbit app, where users could enable or disable it. In the Google Health app, the AI is forced on users:

“Beyond frustrated with the forced ‘Google Health’ update,” writes another Redditor (1,200 + upvotes). “I participated in the public preview for the new version of this app, and turned it off after a week. It was clear that Gemini was extremely poorly implemented, and the new version was not ready for public use. It appears that they have launched in exactly the same state as it was.”
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“Why must I now scroll through paragraphs of AI slop on every tab before I can actually see my activities and data?” – same user.

Negative reviews on Google Play

Since the release of Google Health, the app has attracted a wave of low ratings on the Play Store:

• “The overhaul of the original Fitbit app is absolutely terrible. It forces AI on you at every turn, all the information in the app is AI‑based, besides the raw data collected by your Fitbit device. Awful app, 0/10. CANNOT recommend. Give me back the Fitbit app over this trash any day.” – Google Play review.
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• “Lacks most of the information that was available on Fitbit, can’t track just daily activity, no stress component. I guess I will get an Apple Watch.” – Google Play review.

Google’s response

Google acknowledges the issues and has published a roadmap outlining upcoming improvements and bug fixes for the Google Health app. The list of planned changes is available on the Google support site and will begin rolling out this week.

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The Google Fitbit Air is a screenless fitness tracker.
Credit: Google