It may not be the wellness ap we were expecting for Android Pie, but Google is updating an aspect of its approach to keeping you fit.
Your phone can do all sorts of things. It can check your email, play games, tell you where to go on a map, and even (heaven forbid) make a phone call here and there.
One of the other things it can do quite well is track your fitness, and that comes down to that whole “convergence” side of smartphones. You probably don’t carry around a camera anymore because your phone can do it, and the same is likely true of a media player as well. When’s the last time you saw anyone with a dedicated iPod?
The same sort of convergence can also work with phones and keeping fit, because if we’re carrying our devices everywhere, it makes sense for them to track footsteps, movement, distance, and more. Many of these devices will even kick the fitness apps on by default, tracking your movements and telling you how much fitter and more active you are on a regular basis.
Without doubt, this is becoming more of a thing for smartphone makers, and Google this week is highlighting just that, announcing that its updating its Google Fit app available for Android, iPhone, and even the few Android Wear OS smartwatches you can find about the place.
While the update still keeps Google Fit about your health, Google says its focus is now around the amount of activities you do as well as the intensity needed to improve health, and this comes from working with the American Geart Association and the World Health Organisation. Together, Google has come up with a system that tracks how often you moved in “Move Minutes”, as well as how intense your activities were, revealing “Heart Points” in an almost gamified approach to keeping you fit.
There’s also a new design for the app, as well as integration with other major fitness apps, including Endomondo, MyFitnessPal, Strava, and Runkeeper, while the phone will do its thing to track you, storing the information gleaned from the phone’s sensors in Google Fit.
The end result will be hopefully getting us to recognise that we could all be moving a little more, and also a little more rapidly, doing what we can to stay fit and active.
Possibly the best part of all of this is that you don’t need any special hardware to try it out, with Google Fit being compatible with pretty much any Android phone or iPhone, as well as wearables running the recent Wear OS platform. That should mean that pretty much anyone and everyone should be able to download the update to Google Fit, log on, and start making a change in their life.
