You may have searched for countless information on the Google search engine. Perhaps, that’s why Google is familiar to you. However, this famous company has developed not only a search engine but also a health tracking app called Google Fit.
If you don’t have an idea about this health tracking app, don’t worry! Just scroll through this article as I explain everything about this wonderful app.
If you are searching for a simple health-tracking platform, then Google Fit might suit your needs. This App automatically tracks walking, running, cycling with the help of your phones’ sensors. Moreover, the app can also use your wearable devices’ sensors to track data. Google Fit keeps track of your activities and helps you monitor your overall health.
What Is Google Fit And How Does It Work?
Google Fit is a health-tracking App created by Google.
It tracks your exercises like walking, running, cycling, as well as offers over 100 workout modes. Moreover, this app tracks your weight and helps you be accountable.
However, this app might be too simple or just the basic savior; depends on different types of people. Although I admit that this is a simple app that focuses on a few useful health stats such as move minutes and heart points.
This health App works simply. This App needs your data such as height, weight, age, and gender to calculate calories burned, distance traveled, etc.
Moreover, Google Fit uses the sensors in your phone and smartwatch. Then, the app analyzes the data and gives progress on your health.
The best thing is that Google Fit is free on the Play Store and Apple Store. I’ve linked the download links below.
- For Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.fitness&hl=en
- For iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/google-fit-activity-tracker/id1433864494
Google Fit also works on OS smartwatches without the use of a phone App.
Here is a video demonstrating simply how you can use this wonderful app.
What Can Google Fit Do?
Google Fit can help you stay fit by tracking and displaying your data. Not only that but this app gives you heart point and move minutes to know the work that you should get into being fit. You will also get to know other useful features that Google Fit offers to you below.
Move Minutes
The minutes you spend exercising are tracked in this app as “move minutes”. This feature shows how “active” you were during exercising at what time of the day.
For example, how many minutes you walked or cycled on your bike, etc.
You can determine your move minutes on the app. The default is 60 minutes of activeness. However, you can reduce or increase the move minutes according to your liking.
This feature motivates you to up your exercising time every day.
Heart Points
Google Fit works differently, in the sense that it has collaborated with WHO to create a feature called heart points.
Heart Points helps determine how much exercise you should get to stay fit.
The more you exercise, the more heart points you get. And the more intense your workout is, the more heart points you are awarded.
If you are doing a partially intense activity such as jogging with your dog, then you get 1 heart point. Once you start running intensely though, you are awarded 2 heart points.
This will encourage you to complete the required heart points to stay fit. Daily running of 30 minutes for 5 days a week helps you earn a good amount of heart points.
Large heart points result in a healthy heart, mind, and spirit.
Guided Breathing
Google Fit offers guided breathing exercise is only in Wear OS and watches compatible with it. Sadly, this is a disadvantage for those who use different fitness trackers/watches.
You can swipe up on your watch screen and check out the guided breathing exercise. Then, inhale and exhale as the watch tells you to.
After you have done the exercise, the watch displays your breathing time and how many deep breaths you managed at that time.
Overall, this exercise is a great meditation tool.
Don’t worry if you don’t have an OS Wear. You can try out the following link to meditate through guided breathing.
https://www.headspace.com/meditation/breathing-exercises
Analyzes Your Data And Gives Live Stats
The visual data of your activities motivate you to exercise even more.
Perhaps the most amazing thing about this app is it displays live stats while you’re doing your task.
Google Fit can connect with third-party apps and give a holistic view of your health.
Tracks Some Activities Without Help Of A Wearable Device
With the help of the GPS of your phone, this health app can track activities like walking, running, cycling, and distance. So, you don’t need to buy a smartwatch for these activities.
So long as you let your phone assess your location, you don’t need a smartwatch to track your walking, running, and cycling.
However, activities like sleep detection, heart rate, floors climbed, and so on are displayed if the watch you use has sensors that can detect such activities.
More Than 100 Workout Modes
Overall, this app offers you 100 workout modes. I’ve listed some below:
- Walking
- Running
- Badminton
- Basketball
- Aerobics
- Boxing
- Curling
- Diving
- Fencing
- Football
- Frisbee
- Golf
- Hockey
- Indoor volleyball
- Kayaking
- Open water swimming
- Rugby
- Skiing
- Squash
- Soccer
- Yoga
- Zumba
You can track even more activities through this wonderful app. What a brilliant feature!
What Is Lacking In Google Fit?
Google Fit is just a basic health tracker, and nothing more. Although this app has its upsides, I’ll list some downsides below.
You Can’t Have A Healthy Competition
Apps like Fitbit and Strava help you to socialize with like-minded people who are interested in fitness activities. This is greatly beneficial as it fosters healthy competition between people.
People can update their activities, ask for advice, join health groups, and so on through the Fitbit app.
However, all these features are lacking in Google Fit. The person you compete with? It’s you, yourself!
No Browser, Only App
Previously, you could access Google Fit through a browser like Google Chrome, Firefox, etc. However, that feature has vanished into thin air.
Now, it is compulsory to download the Google Fit app on the Play Store or Apple store.
Can’t Monitor Progress Over Months
Activities like running, walking, cycling, and so on are signs of progress in your life. You would want to look at your previous data and better yourself.
All of these data should be displayed in the app for as long as you want to. But, sadly, that’s not the case for this app.
Google Fit can store data of heart rate, weight, move minutes, heart points. However, this app cannot store other useful data progress over the months.
Simplicity
Perhaps the debatable thing about Google Fit is its simplicity. This App is really simple as it only can monitor simple health metrics and not anything more.
Moreover, this simple app doesn’t have training programs like other Apps.
You can take the simplicity of this app with a grain of salt as most people find this app to be sufficient.
Apps Compatible With Google Fit
You might find Google Fit to have a few features you like. And you might have some useful features in the app you’re currently using. So, can you mash these two apps or connect them in some way?
Yes, you can! This wonderful app offers to connect with third-party apps for your convenience.
Wear OS device is connected with Google Fit. However, you can connect this health app with a third-party app. After that, your Wear OS can use the third-party app and reap benefits from it!
I’ve listed some famous apps compatible with Google Fit below:
- Runtastic
- Runkeeper
- Strava
- Withings
- Noom Coach
- Nike + Run Club
- My Fitness Pal
- Lose It
- MapMyFitness
- Fitwell
- Pokémon Go
You can find the rest apps compatible with Google Fit in the link below:
Wearable Compatible With This App
Wear OS is android wear that is compatible, by default, with Google Fit. If the Wear OS watch has sensors to detect sleep, heart rate, 02 saturation, and so on, then this app can store such data and give you progress over months.
Other than Wear OS smartwatches, there are some other fitness bands compatible with Google Fit. These watches don’t need a third-party app to connect at all.
Moreover, some smart weight scales are also compatible with Google Fit.
- Xiaomi Mi Band 3
- Xiaomi Mi Band 4
- Huawei Band 3 Pro
- Withings Move
- Move ECG
- Body And Body Plus Smart Scales
- Withings Body Cardio
- Eufy Smart scale
- Smart Scale C1
- Sony Smartband
- All polar devices
FAQs
How Does Google Fit Count Steps?
You can open the app and tap on the steps below your avatar. That’s how you’ll know the number of steps you’ve taken.
This app uses various sensors like an accelerometer and pedometer through your phone or smartwatch to calculate the number of steps.
Is Google Fit Accurate?
Google Fit on manual mode is pretty accurate. Once you turn on the location, then this app can easily track your whereabouts.
However, if you want this app to automatically track, then the results might not be as accurate.
Conclusion
I hope you got to know the information about Google Fit through this article.
Since this app is free, you can give it a try! Who knows if this app will suit your needs?
