Google is going all in on health and fitness
Google Fit is mostly fine, but it feels lacking when put up against the health and fitness ecosystems of Apple, Fitbit and Garmin. Google knows this too, and has said it plans on making the newly dubbed Wear OS better at health and fitness.
And now we have a look at how thanks to a report from the reliable Android Police. Google is working on a health and fitness assistant called Google Coach, which is going by the codename Project Wooden. It will apparently use all of the data Google has about you to come up with workout routines, meal plans and more.
Essential reading: Pixel Watch investigation
Google Coach will get all your workout data, such as your heart rate and step count along with what workouts you do to recommend workout routines. If you miss a workout, it will tell you what you can do to make up for it.
It’s not just about fitness either, as Google Coach can also monitor your nutrition. While you’re out and about, Google Coach can use your location and food patterns to recommend a healthy place to eat. If you want to eat at home to save some cash, it can also recommend meals to cook and will send you shopping lists to your email.
It can even access your Google Calendar to figure out how many days a week it needs to plan. Android Police also says that because all these recommendations could turn into a “notification overload” Google is hoping to make them more conversational. For instance, it could combine reminders and alerts into a singular notification. So instead of getting one notification to remind you to stand and one to tell you how close you are to your goal, it’ll send you one with both pieces of information.
Google Coach will initially roll out on Wear OS, which makes sense because Wear OS devices can use fitness tracking and heart rate data to better inform Google Coach of your routines. Google Coach will also be available on your phone, presumably as a place where you can take a deeper dive into your data and recommendations.
Interestingly, Google wants to put Google Coach everywhere. Android TV and Google Home are two places it wants to see it expand to. We’re just spitballing here, but Google Coach recommending healthy meals and Android TV playing your workout routine seem to make sense.
A big AI push on health and fitness seems like the perfect feature to debut on, say, a Pixel Watch. We know Google is working on a Pixel-branded smartwatch, and Google has used its Pixel brand to show off how its AI can be used to improve the services of devices. For instance, the Pixel uses AI and data to take incredible pictures. A Pixel Watch that uses artificial intelligence to superpower your health and fitness lifestyle would definitely be something we’d like to see happen.