While Google has made some progress in recent years at product consolidation, it now finds itself with two health claims. For couples in the past, the “better” service was often straightforward, but that is not the case today. Fitbit brand appeal seems to be one of the things that contributed to getting it, while Google Fit is actively developing to the point where both can apply for the future. as the company’s premier health offering.
Getting better all the time
In February, Google announced that Fit would be able to measure your heart rate and breathing rate using your Android phone’s cameras. How often you breathe is measured per minute by marking the front lens of your upper body to monitor chest movement. At the same time, heartbeat detection involves placing your finger on the rear camera as Fit looks for color changes as blood flows.
The features were released earlier this month to Pixel devices and have proven quite accurate. While fitness trackers and smartwatches with heart rate sensors are now ubiquitous, breath measurement is not as great.
For Google, these capabilities are born out of a desire to use powerful tools that are already available to “give people the information and insights they need to take control of the Cheers. ”
Day and night broadcast
Meanwhile, Google Fit’s latest capability is seen as better than Android (including Wear OS) and iOS as the weekend for the Nest-powered “Sleep Sensing”. Radar works to monitor overnight movement such as flailing limits and your chest rising / falling during breathing, while Google records coughing, snoring, and other hearing disturbances, as well as light and ambient temperature. All of this information is neatly explained on the Nest Hub, but is also available in the Google Fit app.
It is a unique extension for the service and works to give it a more complete picture of your health. In addition to stats, the app will also show a number of personalized tips on how you can improve your sleep. Coupled with sensors to measure your environment, this is helpful in a way that’s a bit like Google Assistant. There is no obvious help branding for Sleep Sensing – beyond Nest Hub being a vessel for the voice experience, but it really feels like part of Google ‘s long – term goal of being helpful. As smart assistants become more important and capable, they need to take care of it and improve your health, and Google is starting that today.
With the launch of the 2nd-gen Nest Hub, Google is the first to recognize how Fit is doubling capability from its recent acquisition. Officially, it is “looking for ways to integrate with Fitbit’s sleep detection features to bring together the best in the future. ”
This week ‘s integrated talk has been Google’ s most notable roadmap of its plans for Fitbit. In January, hardware chief Rick Osterloh noted in a nutshell how the two will “work closely together to create new tools and services that will help you enhance your experience, success, health and happiness. . ”
Sisyphean Task
From an end-user level, Google hasn’t been very specific on what Fitbit’s build means. Let’s say a person has been using a phone-based pedometer and exercise tracking features for a while, and recently started recording their heart and breathing rate with the app. They then purchase a Hub to monitor their sleep and get a more complete picture of their health around the clock.
If they want to duplicate health and fitness, this user decides to get a fitness tracker. They can choose from Wear OS and several other devices that integrate with Google Fit, or Fitbit. The latter has a better reputation and network, but all your data is before.
The obvious solution in that case is that Google would build in some sync capabilities, but the big question is which side it shows. If Google wanted to replicate Fitbit, which added just two really great features and is more native / Google-y, it would accept data from Fitbit devices.
However, this scenario would see Fitbit smartwatches and a fitness tracker become sexual sensors. If Google continues to fly on Fit, is the Fitbit team getting ahead to do the same? It has over 28 million active users, including those on iOS, and more social and training community than Google offers largely stats-heavy.
From a corporate point of view, it does not make sense to develop and invest in two services that are almost identical. You have two inner teams doing the same thing and competing with each other. It is not sustainable.
Assuming there is only one app left, it’s not very obvious, as both are excellent. There could be a new app together that brings the best of both worlds but requires a major engineering resume. A world where only one client wants Google Fit would put all the social features of Fitbit, video coaching, and of course device repair / management. At the same time, the Fitbit needed to be more of a Google application at every level, especially design-wise.
One thing is for sure
That said, no matter what the experience lasts, it will certainly be accepted as “Fitbit”. Brand awareness and cachet may be the big reason behind Google getting Fitbit – wearable engineering talent is the other side. In recent history, the well-known brand “Nest” has become the name for all of Google’s smart home offering, replacing the long-established “Google Home” moniker. It could be just “Fitbit,” and “Google Fitbit” and “Google Fitbit” are also visible.
Getting two successful apps is a good problem, but it seems inevitable to go under the sun – and annoy one group of users.
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