Google is eliminating all these Fitbit features as part of Google Health changes

Google just announced the Google Health app yesterday, which is effectively a rebranded Fitbit app. The company outlined the new app’s features at the time of the announcement, but quietly revealed some bad news for Fitbit app users.

a google support page (viewed by 9to5Google) shows that several of Fitbit’s features have been removed or substantially changed as part of the changes to the Google Health app. For starters, badges from the Fitbit app are disappearing entirely.

Google states, “Badges will no longer be supported. New badges will not be generated and your historical badges will be deleted.” Instead, the company says Google Health Coach will “help you celebrate your progress and accomplishments.” Yes, Google thinks its AI chatbot is a replacement for the badge system.

Google is also turning off social features in the Fitbit app as part of the switch to Google Health. However, the new app will remove a variety of old social options. This includes the ability to choose a unique username and profile picture, support for direct messages and notifications, groups, and community feeds. The company also says child profiles can no longer contain or add friends, while the weekly leaderboard now supports steps and cardio load.

There are also a lot of deductions in the health and wellness section. For one, you can no longer see graphs of your stress test in the mobile app. Instead, Google recommends you use the Scan quick reset option on Fitbit Charge 5, Charge 6, and Sense wearables. The company is also saying goodbye to minute-by-minute skin temperature data, and asking users to check daily and weekly skin temperature trends instead.

The changes in health and fitness don’t end there. Google will no longer allow you to set calorie goals through meal plans, although you can set them (as well as macronutrient goals) through the nutrition section of the Health tab. The company also says that Recipes are no longer available to Google Health Premium users, while weekly fitness plans replace the daily plans seen in the Health Coach public preview.

Google is also removing several sleep-related features from the Fitbit app as part of the switch to Google Health. This includes sleep profiles, monthly sleep animals and estimated oxygen variation (EOV). In lieu of sleep profiles, Google is directing Premium customers to health coaches for personalized sleep-related responses. Big fan of the EOV feature? The company says that you should check your SpO2 data to track oxygen saturation levels. Google is also turning off the snoring detection feature on the Fitbit Sense and Versa 3, but it hasn’t offered any workaround via its support page.

Google is also making changes to third-party health/tracking connections. On the other hand, the company had earlier confirmed that the app can connect to Health Connect, Apple Health, and many other third-party apps.

Unfortunately, there’s bad news for diabetics and others who need to check their blood sugar levels:

Connections to LifeScan devices will no longer be supported. However, you can still log your glucose data manually.

If that’s not bad enough, Google says you can no longer add symptoms to blood glucose tracking. Additionally, this feature will no longer remind you to check your levels.

Needless to say, it’s hard to shake the feeling that the switch from the Fitbit app to Google Health was extremely hasty given all these missing features. This is especially concerning given that the company is abandoning key blood glucose features it first introduced.