Google's fitness watches now spot 100+ workouts on their own

Google's fitness watches are getting much better at noticing when you exercise. With Google Health app version 5.11, the Fitbit Air and Pixel Watch 3, 4 and 5 can automatically detect more than 100 activities. Until now, they spotted 10. The upcoming Fitbit Edge will get the same upgrade.

What changed

If your heart rate stays elevated and the workout lasts long enough, the watch logs it for you. A summary notification arrives in the app, typically within 30 minutes. Google says the system looks at your routines, past data, manual edits and, if you allow it, your location.

Google claims detection is nearly 2x more accurate and that missed workouts drop by more than half. Those figures come from Google, not from independent testing.

What to do

The update is widely available on iPhone and still rolling out on Android. After updating, you should see a screen titled "Expanded activity detection, built to learn." Google says the feature improves when you help it:

• Confirm or edit workouts it logged
• Add workouts it missed
• Allow location access if you want it used

The material does not say which 100-plus activities are covered, how long a workout must last to count, or whether older devices will get the feature. Those details are not known yet.