- Fitbit rolls out some “major updates” to its app for Premium subscribers
- This will include a 15% increase in “sleep staging accuracy.”
- Google also lets you link your medical records to the Fitbit app in the US.
If you subscribe to Fitbit Premium, you’re about to get some new features within the Fitbit app, as part of the Personal Health Coach feature that launched last year, and one of the updates is a better detection algorithm for judging when you’re actually asleep.
According to Google’s announcement, the incoming updates will apply “an additional 15% increase in sleep stage accuracy” to your stats. The algorithm should be better than ever at recognizing when you’re sleeping and when you’re just relaxing with a good book.
Google says it has injected more training data into the sleep tracking AI, so your naps and sleep stages should now be tracked more accurately. This, in turn, will mean more useful information and tips on how to improve your sleep schedule and overall health.
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The updates will track “not only how much deep sleep you got, but also how long it took you to get there,” Google says. These updates should start appearing in the coming days for those using Personal Health Coach (which remains in “Public Preview” status).
A more complete health picture
There are other improvements to talk about as well. Google says it’s adding the ability to link your health records to the Fitbit app, for users in the US; Again, this only applies to Premium subscribers with access to the Personal Health Coach Public Preview.
Connecting health data will mean you get a “more complete picture of your health” according to Google, and it wants to emphasize the strict security and privacy controls around the feature. None of this health data will be public or used for ad targeting.
An example Google gives of how this can be helpful is if you’re trying to lower your cholesterol – the health coach will be able to see exactly where you are with this, rather than giving you generic guidance that could apply to anyone.
Other imminent updates include support for continuous glucose monitoring devices in the Fitbit app. If you are a Premium subscriber and have not yet registered for the Health Coach Public Preview, you can check your eligibility here.
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