I've used Apple Health, ChatGPT Health and Google Health, but I keep coming back to Google since the recent update. The redesigned app has gotten mixed opinions from long-time users online, but I've found myself checking it much more throughout the day lately. It gives me one place to see my sleep score, step count, calories burned and other health data without making me hunt for every number.
Plenty of longtime Fitbit users hate the change, my own mother being one of them. When Google Health replaced the Fitbit app in May, users complained about missing badges, sleep animals and social features. The new Gemini-powered AI Coach hasn’t won everyone over, either.
Those complaints are fair, but my personal experience has been different. Google Health has made the information collected by my Fitbit easier to follow. More importantly, its AI Coach can look across that information and help me understand how one part of my routine may be affecting another.
For the first time, my Fitbit data feels connected and my goals are easier to achieve.
Everything I want to see is in one place
The first thing I look at is my sleep score. I can see how long I slept, how much time I spent in each sleep stage and whether my night was considered poor, fair or good.
From there, I can check my steps, exercise and calories burned. Each number is useful on its own, but having them together makes the app more valuable. I don’t have to remember how active I was after a bad night’s sleep or guess whether I moved less on a particularly busy day. What I like about the redesigned Today tab is that I instantly get a quick picture of how I'm doing overall.
And, if I want more detail, I can move into the Fitness, Sleep and Health sections without losing that larger view.
Google Health is highly customizable, too. I can decide which metrics deserve space on my main screen instead of scrolling through information I rarely use. Google Health still collects plenty of data, with your approval, but it does a better job of showing me the numbers I care about.
The AI Coach knows more about my routine than I expected
The dashboard tells me what is going on day-to-day with my body and The AI Coach tries to explain what it means.
Google’s Coach is built with Gemini and can use information shared through the app to answer questions about fitness, sleep and general wellness. Depending on what you allow it to access, that can include sleep and activity metrics, workouts, nutrition, cycle tracking, location, local weather and personal medical records.
It can also remember information you provide during its onboarding conversation. By the way, I encourage you to take the five minutes to have that quick chat. You can tell it about your goals, daily routine, available exercise equipment and any injuries or limitations it should consider.
That gives it far more context than an ordinary chatbot.
Prompts to try with Google Health Coach
The best way to understand what the AI Coach can do is to ask it about information that would normally require comparing several parts of the app.
Instead of asking a general question such as “How am I doing?” give the Coach a period of time to examine and tell it which parts of your health data you want it to compare.
1. Find patterns in your sleep
Try this prompt: Looking at my data from the past month, what patterns do you notice in my sleep?
The Coach can examine your sleep duration, scores and consistency instead of giving you generic advice about maintaining a regular bedtime. You can follow up by asking which nights were your best and what those nights had in common.
2. Learn how sleep affects activity levels
Try this prompt: How does the amount of sleep I get affect my activity the following day?
This is the kind of comparison I could technically make myself, but I probably wouldn’t. I would need to move between different parts of the app, compare dates and remember what else was happening on those days. The Coach can look across your sleep and activity history to see whether your step count, workouts or calories burned tend to change after a particularly good or bad night.
3. Ask what workout makes sense today
Try this prompt: Based on my recent activity and recovery data, what kind of workout makes sense today?
Google wants the Coach to do more than summarize what has already happened. It can use your recent exercise, sleep and readiness to suggest what you might do next.
If you slept poorly or recently completed several demanding workouts, it may recommend something lighter. If your recovery looks good, it could suggest a more challenging session.
This is where the Coach has the potential to be the most useful. Fitness trackers have always been good at telling us how far we ran, how many calories we burned and how long we slept. They have been less helpful at telling us what to do with that information.
That doesn’t mean I would follow every recommendation without question. A fitness tracker cannot know exactly how my body feels, and Google says the Coach is not intended for medical purposes. I treat its suggestions as another piece of information rather than an instruction I have to obey.
4. Find your most and least active days
Try this prompt: Which days of the week am I usually most active and least active? Compare my steps, workouts and calories burned over the past month.
The Coach may be able to find routines that aren’t obvious from looking at one day at a time. Once it identifies a pattern, you can ask why it reached that conclusion and request the numbers it used.
5. Ask what the Coach knows about you
Try this prompt: What information about me are you using to make your recommendations?
Depending on what you allow it to access, it may be drawing from a detailed record of when you sleep, how much you move, when you exercise and how your body responds.
Google says users control what they share with the Coach. It has also committed not to use Fitbit health and wellness data for Google Ads. Still, this is sensitive information, especially once medical records, cycle tracking or location enter the picture.
The Coach becomes more useful as it gains more context, but that means giving it access to more of your life. It is worth reviewing the app’s privacy controls and deciding which information you are comfortable sharing.
How to get Google Health Coach
Google Health Coach became globally available in May after an earlier public preview. It is included with a Google Health Premium subscription, which costs $9.99 per month or $99 per year in the United States.
Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers receive Google Health Premium at no additional cost. The Coach launched first for eligible Fitbit and Pixel Watch users, with support for additional devices planned.
After opening Google Health, look for the Ask Coach button. The onboarding conversation gives you a chance to explain your goals and routine. You can return later and update those details if your goals change.
The app can be used without the Coach, and Google provides controls for limiting the information it accesses. Availability and features may vary depending on your device and location.
Final thoughts
I've tried ChatGPT Health and Apple Health, but after experimenting with each, I keep coming back to Google Health.
And, yes, I totally understand why longtime Fitbit users are frustrated. Google removed familiar features and placed an AI assistant at the center of an app that many people used simply to check their numbers.
But Google Health has worked for me because it makes those numbers easier to understand. I can see my sleep, steps, exercise and calories in one place, then ask questions about how they may be connected.
The AI Coach isn’t a doctor, and it won’t always tell me something I couldn’t figure out myself. What it can do is examine weeks of information in a few seconds and point me toward patterns I might otherwise miss.
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