What you need to know
- Google Health app is rolling out v5.04, which focuses on Nutrition Logging.
- Users are introduced to "custom foods," which brings a more seamless and personalized touch to logging what you've eaten, alongside more freedom with entries.
- The Health app is also adding Quick Logging for food, refining Cycle trends, and more.
We've just gotten comfortable with Google Health's last update, and now the company is rolling out another. This time, your daily food intake is taking center stage.
Late this week, Google announced v5.04 of its Health app is rolling out on Android and iOS. This update "builds on improvements" it's made in recent history, but the main highlight is its Nutrition Update. Google is introducing "custom foods" with v5.04. The goal is to make logging seamless and personalized. With custom foods, users can "create, edit, and delete" their entries with more freedom.
A search function for custom foods is included, making it easier to log what you've eaten throughout the day. Joining this are Quick Logging "calories and macro estimates." This is an alternative route to logging what you've eaten. Google says users don't have to "search or add" the specific name of what they've eaten. Users can "log an entry by just adding calories and macronutrients." Rounding out the Nutrition Update is a fix for macronutrient percentages.
Cycle Health is getting refined this week. Google is making it easier for users to view trends in chronological order (designed for long-term viewing).
Naps head to the Today tab, while Google rolls out a fix for "incomplete heart rate charts and maps that did not represent the full duration of the exercise." This final fix concerns iOS users. Google states users with an iPhone can now properly invite friends.
Continuing the trend
Since introducing Google Health, the company's been fairly consistent in fixing problems and introducing new features. The last update, v5.03 of the Health app, only rolled out a week ago. Health metrics were where Google placed its focus. A huge selection of metrics via tiles was added to the app. Tiles for "heart rate variability, breathing rate, oxygen saturation (SpO2), resting heart rate, skin temperature variation, blood glucose, mindful days, mindful minutes, resilience, protein intake, fat intake, carbohydrate intake, and your friend leaderboard" were added.
On the other hand, what we're seeing for naps in this week's version builds on what we received last week. The Google Health app will include any naps you've taken (20 mins or more) in your main sleep session stats.
Android Central's Take
Nutrition is a huge part of our everyday lives. They always say "breakfast is the most important meal of the day," yet many of us skip it. For multiple reasons, I'm sure. What we eat matters. Getting enough calories, protein, carbs, what-have-you. Keeping track of that, if you're working out or managing your diet, is also important. I like that the Health app is taking this seriously since it matters to so many of us.
