The Fitbit name is fading. Here’s what Google replaces it with and what that means for you.
Vanessa Main Orellana Senior Editor
Vanessa is a senior editor at CNET, reviewing and writing about the latest smartwatches and fitness trackers. She first joined the brand as an on-camera reporter for CNET’s Spanish-language site, then moved to the English side to host and produce some of CNET’s YouTube videos and series. When she’s not testing smartwatches or dropping a phone, you can catch her hiking or trail running with her family.
Skill Consumer technology, smart home, family, apps, wearables
Google is reshaping its healthcare product portfolio with three announcements Thursday that signal a clear shift from hardware tracking to software coaching.
There’s a new fitness tracker, a rebranded app, and an AI health coach coming out of beta. All of this won’t be good news (especially for longtime Fitbit users), but together it’s a clear signal of the direction Google thinks it’s taking health tech.
New hardware: the Fitbit Air
Google’s latest wearable device is the FitbitAira $100 screen-free fitness band and a direct play on the growing category of workout-focused trackers like the Whoop band. There’s no display, no notifications, and no time telling, just passive health tracking while the app decodes all that data to determine your personalized fitness plan.
The Fitbit Air has a removable sensor under the bracelet.
GoogleThe group is just the entry point. The biggest play is its access to the Google Health Premium subscription ($10 per month or $100 per year, with three months included). This now includes Google’s Health Coach, an always-on AI concierge that translates all that data into a game plan.
The Fitbit Air works with both iOS and Android, is available for pre-order Thursday, and hits stores May 26. A special Stephen Curry edition is also available for $130.
Fitbit Air first look here.
The secret weapon: Google Health Coach
Google’s AI health coach has been in public preview in the Fitbit app since October and is now rolling out to all Google Health Premium subscribers. Built on Gemini, it transforms health data into personalized fitness plans, recovery tips and sleep insights, surfacing recommendations without prompting.
Three phone screens showing nutrition and fitness recording from Google Health Coach.
GoogleAI health coaches are not new. Whoop, Garmin and Oura already offer similar tools, but Google is betting that its Gemini foundation gives it a greater software advantage.
With today’s launch, the company also announced that Coach can now process uploaded medical records, PDFs and photos, making its advice more personalized and actionable. It is available on Android and iOS with compatible Fitbit devices.
Goodbye Fitbit app, hello Google Health
Arguably the most impactful change is not the hardware or AI, but the application. Starting May 19, the Fitbit app will automatically update to version Google Health app for all existing users. No action required and all historical data is retained. Google Fit users will also be migrated to Google Health later this year.
The redesigned app consolidates data from wearables, Apple Health, Health Connect and medical records into a single interface organized into four tabs: Today, Fitness, Sleep and Health. The experience is more focused on recovery and training, with structured plans now centered in the Fitness tab and sleep trends appearing more clearly.
For longtime Fitbit users, this will likely seem like the most significant platform change in years. Whether this is an unwanted upgrade or compromise will depend on how deeply you’re already integrated into Google’s ecosystem.
What this means for Google’s health vision
Taken separately, these look like incremental updates. Together, they define a clear strategy: an integrated health ecosystem in which hardware captures data, software interprets it and where AI coaching becomes a main selling point.
Google is positioning the Fitbit Air as the entry point, Google Health Coach as the subscription engine, and the Google Health app as the unified hub that ties everything together. The change is less about tracking steps or sleep and more about owning the health data interpretation layer.
One detail worth monitoring is privacy. When it acquired Fitbit in 2020, Google committed to separating health data from its advertising business. The company reiterated that commitment Thursday alongside this rebranding, but as more sensitive health and medical data flows through Google’s ecosystem, that boundary will continue to come under scrutiny.
CNET will be testing the Fitbit Air and Google Health Coach over the coming weeks. Check back for our full review.
Vanessa is a senior editor at CNET, reviewing and writing about the latest smartwatches and fitness trackers. She first joined the brand as an on-camera reporter for CNET’s Spanish-language site, then moved to the English side to host and produce some of CNET’s YouTube videos and series. When she’s not testing smartwatches or dropping a phone, you can catch her hiking or trail running with her family. See full bio
