Google Fit: The new update on the tour
A COLUMN of David Haydl 
on August 27, 2018, 15:13 pm | Write a comment | Note: Column - More
An big update for google fit has been distributed to users in chunks since last Tuesday. Now the new version of the sports app has also made it onto my devices. An overview of all changes.
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Design and construction
In short: there is pretty much nothing left of the look and structure of the older versions of Google Fit. Material Design 2 has now been implemented everywhere. For all texts in the app, the font *Product Sans* used by Google itself, all backgrounds are now white. It is also noticeable that the plus icon on the bottom right now has the colors of the Google logo. Such an icon can also be found in the Web versions of Gmail and Google Drive.
From now on, all of Fit's content can be found behind the three tabs at the bottom of the screen. On the start page, the first tab, the top of the page in the form of colored rings shows how many minutes of activity and cardio points you have already achieved - more on this below. You can also see the steps taken, the pulse, which is over a Wearable with Wear OS can be recorded, and its own weight, which can be updated regularly using the plus icon.
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- On the start page you can see the most important information and how far you are from your goals (screenshot: TechnikNews, 2018)
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- All completed workouts are listed in the training overview (screenshot: TechnikNews, 2018)
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- Under ,,Profil" all personal data and the set activity goals are listed (screenshot: TechnikNews, 2018)
In the training overview, for which the second tab was reserved, all completed workouts are displayed. These can still be added manually via the plus icon or recorded via a Wear OS wearable. At his Profil, which can be found behind the third tab, you can edit activity goals and personal data. The latter include, among other things, the age and the current size.
Focus on activity minutes and cardio points
Previously, you could only set the number of steps you took as an activity goal pro want to cover the day. Now two more goals have been introduced to achieve every day: Activity Minutes and Cardio Points. Both were developed in collaboration with the World Health Organization. Just like steps, you can set how many activity minutes and cardio points you want to achieve each day.
Activity minutes can be achieved by simply moving. Whether it's walking, running, biking, or doing simple chores around the house, pretty much anything gets counted in the form of activity minutes. On the other hand, cardio points are awarded for activities that increase the heart rate. Here, Google gives an example of a walk with more than 100 steps pro Minute. Additional points are awarded for intensive activities. With these two goals, Google clearly follows the motto that every type of movement counts. From my point of view, the progress rings give you extra motivation to reach your goal for activity minutes and cardio points.
Changes to Wear OS too
In addition to the app on the smartphone, the app for Google Fit on the Wear OS smartwatch platform has also been updated. The first thing you notice is that a new dial is included. In addition to the time, this shows how many minutes of activity and cardio points you have already achieved. To display these two statistics, Google decided to use the colored rings here as well.
This is what the new clock face looks like (screenshot: TechnikNews, 2018)
In the app itself, it is noticeable that it shows everything that can be seen on the start page in the app on the smartphone. A perfect job was done in adapting the content to the size of the displays of the clocks. A very practical innovation is that you no longer have to start recording sports manually - it is automatically recognized when you start which sport, so that tracking can be started automatically. That works surprisingly well: walks and bike rides are correctly recognized and recorded. However, I prefer to continue recording my running units myself.
In the app on Wear OS everything is displayed that you can see on the start page in the app on the smartphone (screenshot: TechnikNews. 2018)
I think it's a shame that the playback of music can no longer be controlled via the tracking screen. Hopefully this feature will come back with an update.
