Google Health's latest update cleans up nutrition tracking and workout mix-ups

Google is rolling out version 5.01 of its Google Health app on Android and iOS. This is the first update for the app after its recent name change and redesign.

The latest Google Health update introduces a mix of new nutrition tools and bug fixes to improve food tracking, fitness data accuracy, and sleep insights.

Google’s community post notes that the update is beginning to roll out today and will continue expanding over the next week, with availability varying by device and carrier.

What’s new in Google Health?

One of the biggest additions is support for viewing and logging previously created custom foods. While users still can’t create new custom foods inside the app, Google says that capability is coming in a future update. The company has also added guidance for setting macronutrient goals, which should make it easier for users to understand and configure nutrition targets.

Food logging is getting several quality-of-life improvements as well. Google has fixed issues that caused some meals imported from third-party services such as MyFitnessPal, Cronometer, and Lose It to appear under the wrong meal category. The app also handles duplicate logs more intelligently when users connect the same service through multiple integrations, and it now assigns default names to unnamed food entries imported through Apple Health.

On the fitness-tracking front, Google notes that it has fixed a bug that incorrectly labeled some runs as other workout types, and that both new and historical runs now display correctly. Users should also see missing split data restored in affected run summaries, and GPS-based workout maps now load more reliably.

Sleep tracking is also receiving attention, with Google fixing a problem that prevented some users from seeing sleep scores in the Sleep tab.

Elsewhere, the company has resolved the problem of stale information appearing in the Today feed on Android, Fitbit account migration failures on iOS, and slow-loading Friends and Family screens. Accessibility improvements for VoiceOver and TalkBack users are also included.

While there aren’t many new features here, the update should improve the Google Health experience overall. Google also previously revealed a massive list of changes, new features, and updates coming to Google Health over the next few months.

Full changelog (as provided by Google)

Nutrition Upgrades

• Custom Foods: You can now view and log previously-created custom foods. Adding new custom foods is coming soon.
  Macronutrient Goal Guidance: Added explanations and guidance for setting macronutrient goals.
• Third-Party Food Log Improvements:
  Fixed issue where some meal logs from MyFitnessPal, Cronometer, and LoseIt via Apple Health were labeled as “Other” meal type, instead of the correct type.
• Improved handling of meal logs received from the same third-party app when that app is connected to Health Connect and to Google Health directly.
• Added default food names when logs from Apple Health do not have a name.
• More Controls when Logging on iOS: Made it easier to switch between measurement units when logging meal items from search results.
• Chart Improvements: Nutrition and calories charts are now more consistent across the Today, Health, and nutrition deep dive views.

Fitness and Activity Updates

• Corrected Workout Labels: Fixed issue where some runs were labeled as other types of workouts. New and previous runs will now be correctly labeled as runs.
• Missing Splits: Resolved issue where splits were missing from some run summaries.
• Map Loading: Improved loading states for maps from GPS exercises.
• Mobile Step Counting on iOS: Fixed issue where steps were counted twice for some users who had turned on both Apple Health and Mobile Track.

Sleep Updates

• Sleep Score Reliability: Resolved issues where the Sleep tab was not showing sleep scores for some users.

General Updates

• Today Tab on Android: Fixed issue where some users were not seeing up-to-date information in the Today feed on Android. Updated defaults for Cardio Load supported devices for new users.
• Account Migration on iOS: Fixed issue blocking some users from migrating their Fitbit account to Google account. If you start the migration flow again, you will be able to move to a Google account.
• Friends and Family on iOS: Fixed issue where Friends and Family screen was slow to load or unable to load for some users.
  VoiceOver on iOS: Enhanced buttons and charts for VoiceOver and TalkBack.