- Fitbit rolls out “significant updates” to its app for Premium subscribers
- This will include a 15% increase in “sleep staging accuracy”
- Google also lets you link your health records to the Fitbit app in the US
If you subscribe to Fitbit Premium, you’re about to get some new features in the Fitbit app, as part of the Personal Health Coach feature launched last year – and one of the upgrades is a better detection algorithm to judge when you’re actually sleeping.
As per Google’s announcement, incoming updates will apply “an additional 15% increase in sleep classification accuracy” to your stats. The algorithm should be better than ever at recognizing when you’re sleeping and when you’re just relaxing with a good book.
Google says it has fed more training data into the sleep tracking AI, so your naps and sleep stages should now be tracked more accurately. This in turn will mean more useful information and advice on how to improve your sleep schedule and overall health.
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The updates will track “not only how long you slept, but also how long it took you to get there,” Google says. These upgrades should start appearing in the coming days for those using the Personal Health Coach (which remains in “Public Preview” status).
A more complete health picture
There are also other improvements worth mentioning. Google says it’s adding the ability to link your health records to the Fitbit app, for users in the United States. Again, this only applies to Premium subscribers with access to the Personal Health Coach public preview.
Connecting health data means you’ll get a “more complete picture of your health” according to Google, and it’s keen to emphasize the strict security and privacy controls around this feature. None of this health data will be public or used for advertising targeting purposes.
An example given by Google of how this can be useful is if you’re trying to lower your cholesterol levels: the health coach will be able to see exactly where you are, rather than giving you generic advice that could apply to anyone.
Other upcoming upgrades include support for continuous glucose monitoring devices in the Fitbit app. If you are a Premium subscriber and have not yet signed up for the Health Coach public preview, you can check your eligibility here.
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