Google Health 5.11: Detection jumps from 10 to 100 activity types

Google is pushing version 5.11 of its Google Health app this week, and the change at the center of it is a tenfold expansion in what the software can recognize on its own. Devices that once auto-detected 10 kinds of activity now handle 100, a jump the company says comes with a claim of nearly twice the accuracy.

The company attributes the gain to what it calls contextual reasoning, drawing on a user's workout routines, historical data and manual edits. Google says this approach cuts missed workouts by more than half. A session runs its course unattended if it clears a 15-minute minimum duration threshold with a sustained elevated heart rate, and a summary typically lands in the Google Health app within 30 minutes. Confirming or editing a logged activity feeds back into the system to refine later predictions.

The expanded detection is live now on the Fitbit Air and the Pixel Watch 3, 4 and 5. The Fitbit Edge will pick it up when that device launches on October 27. Version 5.11 is available on iOS and still rolling out to Android users.

Two Health Guardian features for blood pressure and insulin resistance trends are landing for Google Health Premium subscribers who own a Fitbit Air or Fitbit Edge. Setup is open now, with first reports due at the beginning of November. Blood pressure trends appear for users who wore a Fitbit Air five or more consecutive days in October; insulin resistance trends require seven or more days and nights of wear during the month.

The app also renames "Blood glucose" to "Glucose" across its charts, and users can set custom time-in-range goals through the Metabolic section of the Health tab. In the US, Lingo by Abbott connects directly to the app, with glucose readings arriving within 30 minutes. Sleep tracking now factors in step data to capture short awakenings, and a nap that does not match a user's day can be removed from the nap card.