Google Fit iOS App Update Switches Focus to Step Goals

[MacRumors]

Google's fitness tracking app Google Fit is getting a redesign this week that puts the user's step count front and center.

The app launched on iOS in April 2019 with an interface oriented around Move Minutes and Heart Points, based on American Heart Association and World Health Organization recommendations for weekly physical activity.

These activity data points were visualized with two rings that tracked progress throughout the day. After this week's update is installed, the Move Minutes goal is replaced with your steps goal, and Heart Points get a more prominent visualization under the rings.

There are new celebrations when a daily goal is met, while the update also introduces a bolder and brighter design overall, which should make it more enjoyable to use, whether or not you have a Wear OS smartwatch.

The fitness tracking app can track workout sessions completed with both an Apple Watch or a Wear OS smartwatch, and it also integrates movement data from apps connected to Apple Health, such as Sleep Cycle, Nike Run Club, and Headspace.

The Google Fit app for iPhone is free to download from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Google Fit iOS App Update Switches Focus to Step Goals

 

[Vol Braakzakje]

Hmm, those rings look familiar..

 

[grobik]

Classic google. Can’t stick to one thing for longer than a few months. They’re probably gonna rebrand the whole thing by the end on the year.

 

[Singin Hobo]

I wish Apple would do this. I love my Apple Watch but the thing I dislike about it under my old Fitbit is the focus on vague goals. The Fitbit had me getting out of the house at 8:30 at night to make two laps around the block to get another thousand steps and hit my goal.
The prospect of filling in fraction of a red circle doesn't really tell me anything about where I am and where I should be. "Oh wow, I'm 47º to completing my exercise goals for the day! This is such useful information! Wait, now that I've clicked on it I can see it's actually 107 calories to burn. More information that is totally useful and measurable for me in my day-to-day life."

 

[V_Man]

I wish Apple would do this. I love my Apple Watch but the thing I dislike about it under my old Fitbit is the focus on vague goals. The Fitbit had me getting out of the house at 8:30 at night to make two laps around the block to get another thousand steps and hit my goal.
The prospect of filling in fraction of a red circle doesn't really tell me anything about where I am and where I should be. "Oh wow, I'm 47º to completing my exercise goals for the day! This is such useful information! Wait, now that I've clicked on it I can see it's actually 107 calories to burn. More information that is totally useful and measurable for me in my day-to-day life."

I have a Apple Watch and still use my Fitbit to count steps. The watch is not an accurate step counter at all.
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Hmm, those rings look familiar..

Not really and what would you use on a round watch.

 

[ftaok]

I wish Apple would do this. I love my Apple Watch but the thing I dislike about it under my old Fitbit is the focus on vague goals. The Fitbit had me getting out of the house at 8:30 at night to make two laps around the block to get another thousand steps and hit my goal.
The prospect of filling in fraction of a red circle doesn't really tell me anything about where I am and where I should be. "Oh wow, I'm 47º to completing my exercise goals for the day! This is such useful information! Wait, now that I've clicked on it I can see it's actually 107 calories to burn. More information that is totally useful and measurable for me in my day-to-day life."

While counting steps might work for you, I think the majority of AW users are fine with the Move ring. Basing goals by using steps doesn't work for me because my excecise routine is more than just walking. On days that I run, I would end up either over-excercising or missing my step goals. It would be even worse on days that I ride a bike for excercise (or swim ... if I actually swam).

Using Move (which is basically calories burned) accounts for the intensity level of exercise.

 

[Alan Wynn]

I wish Apple would do this. I love my Apple Watch but the thing I dislike about it under my old Fitbit is the focus on vague goals. The Fitbit had me getting out of the house at 8:30 at night to make two laps around the block to get another thousand steps and hit my goal.

Switch to the Activity Digital face. It gives you the goal in numbers as well as your rings. Makes it easy to see how much one has left. Steps are one proxy for activity, active calories (those measured by the red Move ring) are a better proxy.

 

[spazzcat]

I have a Apple Watch and still use my Fitbit to count steps. The watch is not an accurate step counter at all.
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Not really and what would you use on a round watch.

Fitbit is known for overstating steps, and you need to do a tracked outdoor walk to improve AW step counting.

 

[Joniz]

Steps are meaningless if you bike, swim, do some stationary cardio, basically anything that is not walking. I found steps too limiting, which is why I got rid of the FitBit.

Seems like a step back.

Of course, I really with Apple would allow us to change the number of minutes of the exercise ring.

 

[V_Man]

Fitbit is known for overstating steps, and you need to do a tracked outdoor walk to improve AW step counting.

I can watch my fitbit count steps as I walk. I use a waist one. It’s dead on.

 

[ftaok]

I can watch my fitbit count steps as I walk. I use a waist one. It’s dead on.

In my opinion, the best pedometer of all time was the iPod nano 6G worn on the hip. It was the most accurate step counter I walked a mile once while counting each step in my head. At the end, the number in my head and the number on the iPod was with 5 steps.

 

[Cloudane]

Odd to backpedal on all the comments they made at the time about how step counting wasn't fit for purpose. But I guess that's Google for ya. You just start to like something that they do and then yoink!

Seems daft to me to be basing goals on steps when we're all supposed to be staying at home - there are ways to stay active indoors that don't necessarily increase your step count much. It's also not very useful or inclusive to anyone who either uses or pushes a wheelchair (I sometimes fall into the latter camp and most fitness trackers annoyed me as I'd do things like spending 4 hours pushing for Pokemon Community Day - 3 for the event plus picking up and dropping off etc - but because my wrist wasn't bobbing up and down it'd insist after I get home and collapse that I go and do another 9000 steps).

 

[jpn]

dowloaded the google Fit app.
i like it. especially because it is well focused on the benefits of generalized movement to overall fitness/health.

however, its also clearly google's attempt to extract more info than it has access to already just through its map app.
its after a large chunk of data contained in the apple Health app that it doesnt have access to yet.
you see this clearly when you set up the google Fit app's permissions.

 

[drumcat]

I still like the look of the phone where the screen has no abrupt cutout. Still staying with my 8 until these clowns lose the notch.

 

[BrandoCalrissian]

I wish Apple would do this. I love my Apple Watch but the thing I dislike about it under my old Fitbit is the focus on vague goals. The Fitbit had me getting out of the house at 8:30 at night to make two laps around the block to get another thousand steps and hit my goal.
The prospect of filling in fraction of a red circle doesn't really tell me anything about where I am and where I should be. "Oh wow, I'm 47º to completing my exercise goals for the day! This is such useful information! Wait, now that I've clicked on it I can see it's actually 107 calories to burn. More information that is totally useful and measurable for me in my day-to-day life."

Hard disagree. Step goals are not an accurate way to quantify people’s daily fitness. Apple is correct to de-emphasize step goals. My Watch tells me to take a brisk x minute walk if I’m not close to completing my goal, doesn’t yours?