- Fitbit just expanded its AI health coach to iOS users
- Previously, the feature was only available on Android.
- Use Google Gemini to analyze your metrics and give health advice
Fitbit has been testing an AI health coach on Android for some time now, using Google Gemini to analyze your health metrics and give you tips to improve your well-being. Its Android-only availability has been a sticking point for some, but Fitbit just announced that iOS fans can now join in too, and the feature will roll out to interested users in the coming days.
An official post on the Fitbit community forums explained that the health coach now supports iOS users with the Fitbit Premium subscription. To sign up, customers will need to join the Fitbit Public Preview and meet other eligibility criteria specified by Google.
Once they join, users will gain access to Fitbit’s AI-powered health coach, which offers a conversational chatbot that you can ask to research your health statistics, make plans for an exercise regimen, point out suggestions and areas for improvement, and more.
It can track your heart rate, temperature, blood oxygen levels, and your sleep over time, plus provide information about your health in the morning, after exercise, and before bed.
That makes it a pretty competent wellness assistant if you need something that’s available all day, every day, at no extra cost. But as with many AI tools, it may not always get things right and is not a complete replacement for a doctor or personal trainer.
Getting ahead of Apple
Fitbit’s move comes amid rumors that Apple is reconsidering its own health coach plans. Although previous rumors had indicated that Apple was developing a service called Health+ with a built-in AI health coach, a recent Bloomberg report suggested that Apple had decided to integrate the tool into its existing Health app.
Expanding Fitbit’s own AI trainer to many more users, then, represents a very different approach. It suggests that Google has confidence in Fitbit’s AI trainer and the progress it’s made on Android so far, as well as indicating that Google believes the decision to release the trainer as a standalone feature is the right one.
It’s worth remembering that Fitbit’s health coach is currently in public preview stage, on both Android and iOS, and that means it’s a work in progress where there may be bugs and unfinished features. Still, it could be seen as a rough indicator of the type of product Apple might be working on for its own devices in one form or another.
We won’t know for sure what Apple is planning until the company reveals its own health advisor at some point in the future. But with Fitbit’s offering expanding to more and more users, Apple will have its work cut out for it to catch up with its rivals in this area.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to receive news, reviews and opinions from our experts in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form and receive regular updates from us on WhatsApp also.
