Google Fit calls time on 10,000 steps goal with new healthier metrics

Gone are the days when walking 10,000 steps was the ultimate health goal, thanks to Google.

The tech giant is releasing a new version of its Google Fit app that encourages its users to earn Move Minutes and Heart Points rather than simply counting their steps.

Every time you carry out an activity, such as a brisk walk, a run or a kick-boxing class, you will earn points for each minute of the exercise.

Move Minutes is one set of the goals on the app, something Margaret Hollendoner, senior product manager for Google Fit, says is a better metric than simply step count. Heart Points is another goal that users will be encouraged to reach by engaging in activities that pick up their heart rate.

The app will work with most fitness trackers, particularly ones which boost Google’s Wear OS software, that can track your heart rate directly and automatically detect when you start exercising.

According to Google’s research, people found the idea of doing 10,000 steps a day an “intimidating goal”. Instead, it found that those looking to get fit were more responsive to making small pieces of progress on a regular basis.

So the company turned to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and American Heart Association to create its new metrics, basing the new design on the science of fitness instead, and ensuring that Google Fit users meet the WHO and AHA recommended daily amounts of exercise.

Google said: "When it comes to your health, it's important to move more and sit less. Earn Move Minutes for all of your activity and get motivated to make small, healthy changes throughout your day, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or catching up with a friend over a walk instead of a coffee.

"Activities that get your heart pumping harder result in even greater health benefits.”

WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "Digital technologies offer limitless possibilities to improve health, from personal fitness to building stronger health systems for entire countries.

"We're delighted to be working with Google Fit and others to harness the power of technology to maximise the impact of WHO's evidence-based recommendations for healthier living."

In addition, the new version of the app will support data from other fitness apps and trackers, including Strava and Runkeeper.

The tech giants are increasingly becoming focused on the health of its customers. Recent software updates to both Google and Apple’s mobile operating systems sees the two companies introduce digital detox measures to encourage people to put down their phones more.

Apple in particular has been capitalising on the fitness tech market with its Apple Watch series, which sold 3.5 million devices in the second quarter of 2018.