The Fitbit Air arrived this month. Screenless. Sleek. A genuine threat to Whoop, maybe even Apple Watch in its own lane. Google should be popping champagne.
Instead? Chaos.
Google retired the old Fitbit app. Replaced it with Google Health. AI-heavy. Less flexible. A decision that has ignited a firestorm among people who have worn a rubber band on their wrists for over a decade.
The backlash is loud
“Thanks, Google, for ruining Fit bit”
One post on Reddit. Almost 2,000 people agreed. The poster cancelled their premium subscription. Right now. They want their money back. The feeling is that no one asked for this. No one.
It is not just about pride. The new interface feels wrong. Less intuitive. Harder to customize. Users are reporting missing data. Specific sleep stats are gone. In-app challenges have vanished into thin air.
AI or annoyance?
There are the AI features too. The AI coach was coming, everyone knew that. Google tested it inside the old Fitbit app for a while. Back then? You could turn it off. You had control.
Google Health changes that equation.
Another angry Redditor, backed by 1,200 votes, detailed the frustration. They previewed the update. Hated it after a week. Gemini, the AI model behind it, felt broken then. Now? It seems unchanged. Unready.
The user asked a good question: “Why must I now scroll through paragraphs of ‘AI slop’ on every tab just to find my actual workout data?”
It is a fair complaint. Why bury the needle in more than just one haystack, but an endless pile of digital chaff?
Star reviews vanish
Google Play reviews have taken a beating. The sentiment is unified in its negativity. One user gave it zero out of ten. Called the whole experience trash. Demanded the old app back. Another noted the loss of stress tracking. No more raw daily activity visibility. Their conclusion? Buy an Apple Watch.
Simple as that.
Google knows the blood in the water is real. They are reacting. At least, they claim to be.
Is there a fix?
The company says work is already underway. A roadmap exists. Bug fixes and improvements are promised. The support site lists these changes, set to roll out starting this week.
It might help. Or it might be too late for those who have already pulled the trigger on new hardware.
For now, the finger-pointing continues.
