When Google Health launched with its new Health Coach, I had high hopes. It promises to turn my years of Fitbit data and health tracking into something useful and actionable for me — something the old Fitbit app never did.
But the reality turned out to be more disappointing than this. I’ve been giving Coach some slack over the last few months, hoping it would turn things around with some promised updates, but to no avail.
So I bit the bullet and decided to remove the band-aid: I turned off Google Health Coach, and I don’t regret it.
Google Health Coach isn’t that useful to me
I already know everything he told me
My main complaint with Google Health’s new Coach is that it doesn’t tell me anything I don’t already know. He spent his time analyzing my sleep and activity and telling me exactly what the charts were showing.
I didn’t need to read many words to know that two hours of sleep a night wasn’t enough, that my heart rate was increasing, and that I needed to relax. But I had an early flight and couldn’t sleep past that! I know the context that the coaches don’t.
I also don’t need a mother’s disapproving stare every time I push myself and walk more or take a tough hike while traveling. That’s the essence of travel; I don’t need reminders that I need to rest. I’m not resting on holiday.
Even on a typical day, coaches provide little in the way of additional context. The only external data my Pixel Watch 4 in use doesn’t collect is the weather. It said I should walk before 10am to avoid the midday heat wave. First milestone.
I slowly realized that I was not the target market for Health Coaches. I’m a pharmacist who understands the importance of health metrics, and I’ve been a Fitbit user for over 10 years, so I know how to read graphs better than words.
Turn off the trainer and get a Fitbit-like experience
Once you have successfully found the option
Gradually, I realized that Google Health Coach was using more apps than I liked and hiding the graphs I wanted to see. So I decided to turn it off. This option is hidden under a bunch of menus, so let me walk you through it:
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Tap your profile photo at the top right of the Google Health app.
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Choose Google Health Settings.
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Scroll down and tap Manage data and privacy.
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Go to Manage everything.
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If the trainer is enabled, you will see a Google Health Coach options at the bottom.
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You finally can Turning off coach.
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And, again, read the warning pop-up, and be firm Turning off.
Google explains that turning off the trainer will stop its analysis and disable some additional features. No more chatting with a trainer, no more note-taking activities by speaking natural language, and no more customized fitness plans.
Personally, I’m fine with the trade-off. And as you can see in the two screenshots above, it simplifies my Google Health experience with simple graphs and cards for activity and sleep — no need to say more.
It’s easy to turn it back on
Google Health’s simpler, easier-to-understand experience isn’t for everyone. The app seems simple without a trainer, as if Google had designed the entire experience based on its insights and made the app more… boring without it.
To me, that’s an acceptable compromise. I expanded the widgets in the Today tab to occupy six rows instead of three, giving me quicker access to more health data points, like the old Fitbit app. Underneath, I just get simple cards to track activity and sleep.
But if that doesn’t work, it’s very easy to reactivate Google Health Coach. Use the top card on the Today tab that prompts you to do so Start your journey with Google Health Coach or tap blue chat button to talk to a coach.
Both options take you through onboarding steps to reactivate Health Coach, see what kind of information it can access, and authorize it. Once you do, the trainer will come back to the app and ask you to go to bed early and not exercise in the heat.
I’ll come back to see a trainer when Google makes improvements
For now, Google Coach will remain disabled on my phone. I know Google is planning some updates to make it more insightful and tailor its feedback to users, so this may change soon.
The company has made a lot of improvements to the entire Google Health app, proving that they are listening to users, so I hope the same enthusiasm and changes extend to coaches as well.
I want a more personalized Fitbit experience that understands my years of tracked data, knows the impact of various changes on my body, and most importantly, can access other Google services to see if I’m commuting or working late.
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