Google Health app version 5.11 is rolling out now, and it brings expanded automatic workout detection to watches people already own. Pixel Watch 3, 4 and 5 and Fitbit Air can now recognize up to 100 activity types, up from 10. The Fitbit Edge listed this as a launch spec, and it gets the feature when the device becomes available on October 27.
Google Health 5.11 activity detection: what changes
Until now, your watch only logged a short list of workouts on its own. Google described the change in its 5.11 announcement:
We expanded the number of activities your Fitbit tracker or Pixel Watch can detect from 10 to up to 100, including strength training, swimming, and racket and team sports.
A workout gets logged automatically when it meets the minimum duration, which is 15 minutes by default. Your heart rate also has to stay elevated through it. Google says a summary typically reaches the app within 30 minutes. The model also learns from activities you confirm or edit.
Google claims the new model makes nearly twice as many accurate detections and cuts missed workouts by more than half. Those figures come from Google’s own offline evaluations. It compared the new model with the old one on manually tracked workouts. Real-world results on your wrist may differ.
Google’s post says detection draws on workout routines, historical data and your manual edits. 9to5Google reports it also uses location, which requires your permission. So the feature involves a location permission you can choose whether to grant.
Health Guardian setup on Fitbit Air
Fitbit Air owners can now set up Health Guardian in version 5.11. It requires a Google Health Premium subscription. Google says the first monthly summary arrives at the start of November.
- Blood pressure trends: need the Air worn for at least 5 consecutive days in October.
- Insulin resistance trends: need at least 7 days and nights of wear in October.
Google also states that these blood pressure, insulin resistance and breathing metrics do not pre-screen for hypertension, diabetes or sleep apnea. Treat them as trends, not a diagnosis.
Glucose tracking changes
- New name: the Blood glucose section is now simply called Glucose.
- Custom goals: set your own time-in-range goal for a connected CGM under Health tab > Metabolic > Glucose > Settings > Set goal.
- Lingo by Abbott sync: direct sync for US users aged 18 and up with a Lingo biosensor. Data appears within 30 minutes of a reading, after a 24-hour warm-up.
- Health Coach: answers about your glucose data also require Premium.
Sleep tracking fixes
Awake detection now uses your step data to catch short awakenings, such as a trip to the bathroom. You can also remove a nap directly from the nap card.
Rollout timeline
Version 5.11 started rolling out on October 23 for Android and iOS. Google says it will continue over the next week in phases, depending on carrier and device. The previous release, Google Health 5.10, brought AFib alerts to Japan.
Sources: Google Health Community, 9to5Google
