The Fitbit app is no more. Along with the launch of the new Fitbit Air device, Google has officially replaced it with Google Health, as previously announced. The transition, however, has not been smooth. Many users have taken to forums and social media to express confusion, frustration, and a desire to return to the familiar interface of the old Fitbit app.
One post on Reddit highlights a common complaint: “I can’t even completely fill up my home screen. They only have 2 large tiles available and I can’t just scroll down to see everything.” The landing page now reserves a significant portion of screen real estate for recent activity updates and chatty notes from Google’s AI health coach. This redesign has left many users feeling that their essential fitness data has been pushed aside in favor of an AI chatbot.
The AI health coach has received mixed reactions. Some users find it intrusive and unnecessary. One person commented, “Why must I now scroll through paragraphs of AI slop on every tab before I can actually see my activities and data? I don’t want or need to read platitudes about my 15 minute walk to the grocery store. I want to see my stats from my morning run.” Another user described the new graphic UI as “something an 8 year old would make.” A post on Google’s help center summed up the sentiment: “This app is a huge disappointment and a total time drain to get minimal results. How can I get back to using what worked?!”
However, not everyone is unhappy. Some users have embraced the AI coach. One person noted, “When I ask it to design a moderate workout using my office gym equipment, circuit style, I usually end up feeling great afterwards.” Another called it “quite a helpful feature,” sharing how they were able to update their sleep log with a missed session by chatting with the AI bot.
The interface changes have been particularly disruptive for long-time Fitbit users. In the old Fitbit app, the “Today” page allowed users to scroll down and see all their health metrics—steps, sleep, heart rate, exercise logs—in a single, customizable view. In Google Health, that information is fragmented. To access detailed data, users must swipe left in the small top box on the “Today” page or navigate to the separate “Health” tab. Finding specific logs, such as rowing workouts, requires digging into “Health,” then “Fitness” under “Focus areas,” where they are buried under “Exercise days.” This extra effort has been a source of frustration for those who relied on quick access to their stats.
Google’s acquisition of Fitbit in 2021 for $2.1 billion always raised questions about the future of the platform. The promise was that Google would enhance Fitbit’s capabilities with its AI and data integration, while respecting user privacy. Over the years, Google has gradually integrated Fitbit features into its ecosystem, culminating in the launch of Google Health. The company’s Rishi Chandra told The Verge earlier this month that Google Health will eventually support third-party wearables, offering more flexibility. But for now, the new app is heavily focused on Google’s own hardware and the AI coach.
For users without a supported wearable, the experience is even more limited. Google Health normally shows two additional tabs—Fitness and Sleep—for those with a connected wearable. But prior to the redesign, those tabs were unnecessary for many. Users with unsupported devices, such as the Nothing Watch Pro 3, cannot unlock these extra tabs, making the app feel incomplete. This has led to speculation that Google is pushing users toward its own hardware, including the new Fitbit Air.
The AI coach itself can be disabled through the app’s Feature Privacy Controls, but this does not reclaim the screen space it occupies. The large activity window and chat interface remain, leaving many users with a cluttered home screen that they cannot fully customize. As one user put it, “It’s no longer a genuine fitness app.” The loss of the old app’s simplicity and directness has been a major point of contention.
Despite the backlash, Google has defended the redesign as a step toward a more integrated, AI-driven health experience. The company envisions a future where the AI coach proactively suggests workouts, analyzes sleep patterns, and offers personalized insights. For some, this vision is appealing. The ability to ask the AI to design a workout or log missed sleep via conversation is seen as a convenience. But for many, the trade-off—losing the straightforward, data-centric interface—is not worth it.
The transition also raises broader questions about the direction of health tracking apps. With competitors like Apple Health and Samsung Health offering robust, customizable dashboards, Google’s approach feels like a gamble. The company is betting that AI will become an indispensable part of the user experience, but early feedback suggests that most users prefer control over their data display over conversational interaction.
Even the author of this article, who was aware of the impending switch, found the first experience disorienting. The hours spent learning the new layout, hunting for familiar data points, and adjusting to the AI presence left them frustrated. It took several minutes just to find basic workout logs that were once at their fingertips. This anecdote mirrors the broader user sentiment: change is hard, especially when it feels like a step backward in usability.
The Fitbit user community remains vocal, with many calling on Google to provide an option to revert to the old app interface, or at least offer more customization. Some have even started petitions and organized threads discussing workarounds. While Google has not yet responded to these demands, the company typically monitors user feedback closely. Future updates may address some of these concerns, but for now, the Google Health app stands as a polarizing entry in the health tracking space.
Source: The Verge News