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Google Rolls Out Screenless Fitbit Air as Google Health App Swap Trips Up Early Buyers

The speed of Google’s app fixes will determine whether longtime Fitbit users accept the AI‑led redesign.

Overview

  • Fitbit Air shipments arrived in late May but many early buyers could not pair the new tracker because phones lacked Google Health version 5.0, forcing Google to speed up the Android app rollout so devices could connect.
  • Google published a detailed roadmap on May 27 that lists specific bug fixes and feature restorations, including correct run labeling, run split summaries, nutrition logging fixes, sleep view improvements, and better Coach behavior.
  • Some fixes — notably run relabeling and splits — began rolling out quickly, while Google said it will continue staging updates for exercise tracking, food logs, sleep scores, dashboards, and account migration.
  • User reaction has been sharply negative on app stores and social forums, with complaints about a redesigned UI that foregrounds an AI Coach, missing or relocated historical data, and feature gaps prompting mass 1‑star reviews.
  • Hardware reviews praise the Fitbit Air’s comfort, roughly seven‑day battery life, and baseline tracking accuracy at its $99 price, but the broader move to an AI‑driven Google Health platform and a paid Premium tier has raised concerns about data access and subscription push.