The Fitbit app has become the Google Health app, launching with the ability to connect information from a variety of different sources to offer a “comprehensive view” of health.
The app offers four tabs: Today, Fitness, Sleep, and Health, providing insight into different areas of health, customisable dashboards, and visibility of data and trends. It also reportedly connects with a wide range of apps and devices through Google Health APIs, Apple Health, or Health Connect, enabling data ranging from workouts and meals to be incorporated in one place.
Links with Google Health Coach built with Gemini promote personalised coaching from within the app, with the “Fitness” tab serving as a weekly plan for workout suggestions, and the “Sleep” tab sharing information on weekly consistency and progress toward getting better rest.
US users will be able to link their health records to the app to view information like lab results and medications, with Google noting that data will be “securely stored” within the Google Health app to ensure control over its use.
The new functionality will be rolled out as an update to existing Fitbit users, with Google Fit customers set to be invited to migrate their data over later in 2026.
Wider trend: Apps and wearables
We were joined late last year by a panel of experts to discuss digital apps and wearables in health and care, exploring how these technologies can be integrated into the health system now and in the future. Our panellists included Gail Lowe, high intensity users lead & county integrated discharge hub lead across Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent and Soo Hun, innovation & digital eco-system lead at Digital Health & Care NI.
Microsoft has launched Copilot Health, said to provide users the ability to bring together data from across their health records, wearables, and lab results, applying intelligence to turn insights into “a coherent story”. Copilot Health is positioned to support people understand the information they have, part of a “secure space within Copilot where medical intelligence makes sense of your information and delivers personalised health insights that you can act on”. With Copilot Health, users will be able to record activity levels, sleep patterns, vital signs, visit summaries, medication lists, and test results from more than 50 wearable devices and health records from over 50,000 US hospitals and health providers. AI is then used to identify patterns in health data, reportedly surfacing proactive and actionable insights.
NHS England has awarded a contract with a value of up to £160 million to IBM as a strategic delivery partner for the future of the NHS App. “Following the completion of a competitive procurement process and due governance, IBM has been formally appointed as a strategic delivery partner as we continue to develop secure, reliable and user-centred pathways and services at scale,” NHSE states. The contract is due to begin on 1 May 2026, ending on 31 March 2028.
