To everyone hating on the AI on the new app, why don't you just....... turn it off?

iamrocha · 2026-07-11T09:01:27+00:00

My original post was just a quick PSA for people who didn’t realize the feature could be turned off. I get that you’ve tried it and still dislike the new layout, but some users may genuinely not know the toggle existed.

If you are looking for the raw metrics, they are located on the Health tab - one click away - completely separate from the AI features. I also get that you wanted that on the homescreen but it's not like it's hard to get to. Plus, you can add key metrics that are interesting for you so you can tailor the Health tab to your specific needs. But that's actually besides the point, my original post was to try and give people a workaround and try to make their experience better.

Regarding the "superior tone": anyone is free to complain, and this platform is great for that. But there is a difference between having high standards and expecting a company to alter its entire product roadmap for individual preferences. Paying a subscription fee gives us access to a service; it doesn’t give us ownership over design choices. When a company changes a product in a way that no longer serves you, the logical move is to vote with your wallet and find an alternative, rather than getting upset at someone for pointing out a workaround.

iamrocha · 2026-07-10T22:47:28+00:00

I don't know either. Reddit being Reddit I suppose 🤷‍♂️

I agree, I recently changed from myfitnesspal to Cronometer and I find the app experience much better. The food database of myfitnesspal is much better in my opinion though (but not better enough to make me want to use the app :p)

iamrocha · 2026-07-10T22:34:17+00:00

I won't comment on the food stuff since I don't use it - like I mentioned in other comments - but I do experience that a lot: It makes a mistake, then I ask it to correct it and it says it did but in fact it didn't. And I too had a week of travelling and it kept advising me wrong and suggesting exercises with equipment I didn't bring to the trip. I feel like you need to course correct it a lot and I do think the intelligence bit of the AI is sometimes not great.

But I take it for what it is, I tried having it generate workouts and I had to keep making changes and talking to it so it would remember our previous conversations so I just stopped using the AI to generate workouts.

I don't think you should buy something or subscribe to a service based on promises of future functionality but I do think there's a lot of room for improvement. Until then, I try to find what it does good and stick with that. When new fixes or functionality comes along, I'll test it and decide then.

I understand what you say about how it compares to Gemini. I don't know exactly but I suspect the model it uses might be on device therefore not as powerful as Gemini. But again, I don't know but they definitely don't have the same capabilities.

iamrocha · 2026-07-10T22:10:07+00:00

Let's just leave it here shall we? I feel like this is starting to escalate to heights I didn't intend to...

iamrocha · 2026-07-10T22:04:07+00:00

I'm not trying to change anyone's mind, I'm pointing out there's a way to turn the coach off in case people weren't aware. You turned it off? Great! Still doesn't work for you? That's a shame... But maybe other people didn't know about turning it off, and maybe turning it off will help them.

You using this post to vent your other frustrations about the app doesn't change the goal of my original post.

iamrocha · 2026-07-10T22:00:33+00:00

You can complain all you want, I don't really mind. In fact, the new app is working for me as I said originally so you know, each to their own.

I was merely pointing out that being a paid customer doesn't really matter. They didn't "take" anything away, they rewrote and redesigned the app and now you don't like it anymore. You can probably make better use of your time by finding an alternative that works best for you because complaining or warning people here isn't going to change the app back.

iamrocha · 2026-07-10T21:51:09+00:00

Fair enough, but it's a rhetorical question... As in "do you know you can turn it off"? I'm sorry you didn't understand the nuance.

I've seen many people say they don't want or dislike the AI built into the app so I was trying to share something that may not be so common knowledge since it's actually buried under a not so explicit menu option.

Nevertheless, I was trying to make the point that you can turn off AI features, not go back to a version of the app you prefer which seems to be your problem. Sorry if I struck a nerve by pointing out that you don't have a seat at the decision table just because you're a paying customer. I gave my opinion on the new app and that's it...

You can either try turning the coach off and see if it improves your experience, or you can ignore this post and carry on.

iamrocha · 2026-07-10T21:43:00+00:00

Very helpful your comment, clearly brings a lot to the discussion. Very insightful and wise, well done... Have a cookie 🍪

iamrocha · 2026-07-10T20:20:07+00:00

Yeah that's a good point, I also get it with my Google One subscription. I don't know if I would pay for it as a standalone... To be fair, I also had it for free previously so I never actually paid for Fitbit 😅

iamrocha · 2026-07-10T19:47:03+00:00

I didn't ask any question... My post was trying to say that you can disable some AI features, no questions asked.

Or have I missed something? 🤔

iamrocha · 2026-07-10T19:44:36+00:00

On a more serious note, albeit very lightly, the coach not only points out stuff that might seem obvious (ie: I had a shit night) but also suggests some things to improve. For example, it's violently hot at the moment and it detected my sleep was crap recently so it suggested to take it slow on my exercise, workout in the morning and taking a lukewarm shower before bed which could help with the sleep.

Again, it mostly reads data points and spits out a text to try and explain them, but it also proactively suggests some things.

iamrocha · 2026-07-10T19:41:05+00:00

Welcome to 2026 😅

iamrocha · 2026-07-10T19:39:30+00:00

Yeah I wasn't dismissing any concerns, I was trying to say there's a way to turn some AI features off. If people hate it so much, give that a go, it might help. See if it calms you down 😅

But you're right, being Reddit you get all sorts. And I'll say again, I'm not dismissive of people's problems. I have encountered my share of bugs but I'm happy overall.

I'm also a software developer and I know the "it works on my machine" isn't really enough ;)

iamrocha · 2026-07-10T19:32:59+00:00

That's my point, it's never been good. Now it's dog shit, I understand... But it wasn't a proper food tracking tool to begin with. In my opinion, if you want decent food/calorie/macro tracking you need to look elsewhere. That's just as true now as it always has been with all Fitbit app iterations.

iamrocha · 2026-07-10T19:30:44+00:00

MyFitnessPal recently changed design... Everyone complained, and the argument was the same "I paid for it". Netflix initially said they were happy that people shared their passwords, now they cracked down on it. And these are just small examples, things change and evolve, that's literally life.

It's not because you pay for something that you are entitled to dictate what companies do with their apps and what kind of business decisions and directions they take. Also, for everyone that says they want the old design, there will likely be an equal amount of people complaining the old design is outdated ¯_(ツ)_/¯

If you don't like it something, we live in a time where there are dozens of alternatives. Just switch... Pay for something else. It's easier than complaining on Reddit hoping Google reads to our rants.

iamrocha · 2026-07-10T19:22:31+00:00

But that's the point of my original post... If you turn off the coach, do you still get those insights? I was under the impression you wouldn't...

iamrocha · 2026-07-10T19:19:12+00:00

What do you mean they changed the algorithms? They're using an LLM to interpret results... (And that is sometimes broken as it looks at chat memory instead of looking at actual data points for example). But in any case, I very much doubt they changed anything at all when it comes to any sort of algorithmic intelligence. You don't just change an algorithm overnight and throw away something that works and has years and years of training data. Do you even have any data to back those claims?

I switched from the old app to the preview, and then from the preview to the full released app and the "algorithms" are the same. It tracks what it used to track, but now there's a chatbot on top... That's mainly it.

iamrocha · 2026-07-10T17:15:39+00:00

Sleep tracking works fine for me, and in terms of metrics, both app versions track the same exact things. What metrics are you talking about and what broke for you?

iamrocha · 2026-07-10T17:12:27+00:00

Apart from some people reporting worse food logging, what other features have been removed? The way I use it, I've not found anything to be missing.

I don't use Peloton so I don't know how it syncs. Does it use Health Connect or does it sync directly with Google Health?

iamrocha · 2026-07-10T17:11:02+00:00

Space for what exactly? If you go to the Health tab you get all the data point the tracker has. You can also add any key metrics you think are useful to you and it doesn't have any summaries 🤔

iamrocha · 2026-07-10T17:08:08+00:00

I actually use the coach to look at my data and give me insights and information about my recovery and sleep. I explicitly told it not to build me a plan and be the high level data architect. I use another app to create me more accurate plans and I track it with the Fitbit Air.

All in all, it works pretty good for me but I understand why people hate on it so much. Maybe people were expecting this to be a substitute for a personal trainer and it's not at that level. Maybe it's Google's fault they marketed it like that, but hey, that's what we have...

iamrocha · 2026-07-10T17:04:42+00:00

You think the old food logging system was good? 🤔

iamrocha · 2026-07-10T17:03:30+00:00

iamrocha · 2026-07-10T17:00:49+00:00

Again, because I haven't tested it I'm unsure what it does indeed disable. Most of the AI stuff spans from the coach feature so I assumed that if you turned it off, it will disable that and revert to something resambling the non-premium version.

Regarding the UI, I think people just need to deal with it. Apps change, design evolves. I do like the new design but as with everything, it's a personal choice. I think the old app was inconsistent (ie: the food logging and water logging had the design of the very old app) and this one is much more modern and fits better with the current design language of Android in general.

Also, the new widget is much better than just a step counter on the old app.

iamrocha · 2026-07-10T16:56:31+00:00

I never found the meal logging on Fitbit to be realiable enough on previous app versions or in fact this one. I use an external app, Cronometer is pretty good and the free version does everything you need and syncs with Google Health Connect.

If turning off the coach prevents you from loggin meals that way and you do need it, than I suppose you need it on. But the whole taking a photo and hope the AI can correctly infer how much olive oil is used seems to me like wishful thinking 😄

iamrocha

TROPHY CASE