After teasing a major overhaul for the Fitbit app earlier this year, Google is now rolling out the new experience for select users. This brings an entirely new look to the app, making it a much more visual experience, complete with a new layout and revamped navigation. However, it's much more than just a visual overhaul.
In addition to the new look, Google is rolling out a new AI-powered health coach to help you set up a personal fitness plan. This is sprinkled throughout the new UI, making it easy to access the coach from wherever you are to provide contextual responses to your performance and metrics.
So how can you get started with the new Fitbit preview, and how can you revert to the previous version of the Fitbit UI?
Who can try the new Fitbit preview?
The main prerequisite for trying out the new Fitbit preview is that you must be subscribed to Fitbit Premium. This costs $9.99 per month, or you can sign up for a yearly subscription at $7.99/mo. equivalent. You may also qualify for a free trial if you've recently purchased a new Fitbit device, such as the Pixel Watch 4.
Google also notes that the preview is only available to U.S. Fitbit subscribers, but that may change down the road as testing furthers.
How to join the Fitbit preview
1. Open the app. You may see a banner at the top, highlighting the "new Fitbit features." Tap Join.
2. Review the following page and tap Join public preview.
3. The next page will highlight how the Fitbit preview utilizes Google AI, noting that it will have access to historical and future Fitbit data, as well as other "Things to know." Once you finish reviewing the page, tap Agree.
4. The next page will ask if you want to allow your data to contribute to health research "to develop health and wellness features at Fitbit and Google," although this is optional. Review the details on how it works and what data is used, then tap Agree or No thanks at the bottom.
5. Tap Start exploring to enter a quick introduction about the new Fitbit features available in the preview.
6. After the intro, you'll be prompted to begin chatting with the AI to begin setting up your goals. You can tap Continue to start chatting or Explore the app now, chat later to jump into the new Fitbit experience.
7. The AI health coach will present a short introduction about itself and the goal of the initial chat. Begin by telling it what you want to achieve. You can say things like "I want to lose weight," "I want to gain muscle mass," "I want to improve my running endurance," or any combination of goals you would like to achieve. Talk to it naturally.
8. Continue conversing with the AI coach as it asks you about past or current approaches to achieving your goals, your motivations, and more. At the end, it will summarize the conversation.
9. The coach will ask you if you want to build a workout plan based on your goals. Tap Continue to setup workout plan or Explore the app to set up the plan later.
10. When setting up the workout plan, the AI coach will use the previous conversation about your goals and motivation to begin suggesting a plan. You can use this time to inform the coach of any current fitness activities you do so that it can take these into account when forming a more specific plan for you, such as the days you would like to incorporate certain activities.
11. Continue to converse with the AI coach, which will adjust its plan based on the information you provide. It may ask you about the equipment you have access to or any medical conditions you have that may impact your workouts.
12. At the end of the conversation, the AI coach will summarize the conversation. Tap Take me back to the app to visit the new Fitbit.
Your plan will take a few minutes to generate and will appear on the Today tab when it's finished, as well as the Fitness tab, where you can adjust the plan or discuss it further with the AI coach.
Exploring the new Fitbit preview
The new Fitbit UI now features four main tabs at the bottom, each focusing on a different aspect of your health.
The Today tab has been revamped, showing relevant updates and insights from today's activities, your sleep, and a recap/summary of the previous day's activities/metrics. Tapping the pencil icon lets you change the focus metrics that appear at the top of the Today tab.
The Fitness tab replaces the previous Coach tab. This is where you can view your workout plan, exercise days, recent activities, key metrics, and more. You can also view your current goal at the top and adjust it if need be.
The Sleep tab provides insights into your sleep with easy ways to view your sleep consistency and key metrics like how much time you spend in each sleep stage.
The Health tab provides an overview of your vitals and general health. This is where you can enable detection features, such as high and low heart rate warnings, Irregular rhythm notifications, and ECG.
An Ask Coach button is present in each tab for easy access to the AI health coach. You'll also find prompts throughout the app that let you dive into conversations about various metrics, such as your sleep and readiness. You can also adjust your workout plan if necessary, such as if you're going on vacation and would prefer a lighter load.
Google strongly encourages talking to the AI coach so that it can remember your preferences, make changes on the fly, and give you advice.
How to switch back to the previous version of the Fitbit app
1. Tap the preview icon at the top right corner, next to your profile icon.
2. Tap Switch app version.
3. Tap Relaunch Fitbit app.
Once you're in the previous version of the app, you can switch to the preview at any time by tapping your profile icon > Switch app version.
Keep in mind that if you don't use the preview version of the app for 30 days, your data will no longer be processed in the preview.
Limitations of the Fitbit preview
Since this is a preview, users should be aware that the experience isn't one-to-one with the standard version of the app. Therefore, several features are not yet available, though this may change as development progresses.
Here are just some of the features Fitbit lists as unavailable in the preview:
- Heart rate zone analysis (including time in zones) in exercise summaries
- Sedentary time and hours
- Advanced running metrics for Pixel Watch 3 and 4 users
- Cardio Fitness Score
- Menstrual health logging and tracking
- Nutrition and hydration logging and tracking
- Blood glucose logging and tracking
- Body temperature logging and tracking
- Stress Management Score, Body Responses, mindfulness days, and mood logging
- Manual editing of sleep sessions and data
If you need access to these features, you can always switch back to the classic app. Fitbit also encourages users to provide feedback within the app to help improve the experience.
Fitness made easy
The Pixel Watch 4 builds on our favorite smartwatch with a new chipset, the latest Wear OS 6 software, and a Fitbit experience designed to make tracking your workouts easier than ever.
