Apple Fitness vs. Google Fit | Which Fitness App Is Best for You in 2021?

Google is everywhere at this point. Want to upload pictures or files to the cloud? You can use Google Drive or Google photos. Want to listen to podcasts but don’t know which app to use? Try Google Podcasts. Or maybe you’re looking for a new way to track your daily activity and record every workout? Well, now you can do it with the help of Google Fit.

Google Fit’s approach is a bit more simplistic than other fitness apps, and so it’s easy to start using. However, there are other apps that might be better than Google Fit, including Apple’s very own Fitness app, which has everything you need to stay on track with your fitness goals inside the Apple ecosystem we all know and love.

So, which one is better for you? Apple’s Fitness app? Or Google Fit?

Let’s break them down.

What Is Google Fit?

Even if it’s not that popular, Google Fit has been around for over six years, but it wasn’t until recently that Google finally made this app available for iPhone users as well.

Google Fit is a fitness and health tracking app that helps you record your daily activities like any other fitness app. But it does have features that separate it from the pack.

What’s Good About Google Fit?

What Google Fit does differently is that it doesn’t show your progress the same way most apps do. You can still keep track of the calories you’ve burned, miles, and active minutes during the day, as well as your sleep and heart rate – but Google Fit focuses on two main goals: steps and what Google calls Heart Points.

So, what are Heart Points? Heart Points are points you score for doing activities at a higher intensity. The more intense an activity or a workout is, the more Heart Points you earn. It’s basically Google’s way of gamifying your tracking so you can push yourself into doing more activities.

Instead of a stand goal, move goal, and exercise goal, Google simplifies this, so you only have to focus on your steps and your Heart Points.

Google Fit also has a journal where you can record your daily workouts. You can add how much time you did a workout, and Google Fit will store that information and tell you how many calories you burned and what your heart rate was, and even the route you took if you went biking. You can also keep track of your weight and sleep in your journal. It’s a nice way to look back and see how much you’ve progressed over time.

Google Fit and Apple Health

Another great thing about Google Fit is that you can connect it to Apple Health. When you first start using it, you have the option to share your Apple Health data with Google Fit. This makes it easy for Google Fit to keep track of everything your Apple Health app has, including sleep and heart rate. That being said, Google Fit has nowhere near the same amount of health categories Apple Health has. Google Fit doesn’t track things like mindfulness and nutrition, which are two big factors in a person’s health.

The Downside of Using Google Fit

As mentioned before, Google Fit is a minimal and straightforward app to use. This might be good for some people, but others might miss a few features exclusive to the Fitness app. First, the awards. Although Google Fit does track your goals and lets you know when you’re crushing them, the Fitness app gives you a medal for every milestone you achieve. Seeing a new badge on your Awards list is a gratifying sensation you won’t get from Google Fit.

Another big thing missing on Google Fit is a social feature. In the Fitness app, you can share and invite friends or family to work out and do activities together. There’s even an award for completing a seven-day competition. When you start working out, having someone exercising with you is one of the best ways to keep yourself accountable and consistently hitting your goals. That’s just something Google Fit won’t do for you. If you love the Fitness app’s social aspect, Google Fit won’t be a good fit for you (pun intended).

There’s Also Apple Fitness+

Even though it’s not free, the Fitness app also offers Apple Fitness+, a subscription-based fitness service Apple introduced in 2020. It has a bunch of workouts for you to start your fitness journey, each tougher—and more fun—than the last. Google Fit, on the other hand, doesn’t really help you with workouts. It’s just there for the ride.

Should You Use Google Fit?

If you’re an Apple user and don’t plan to change any time soon, you should probably skip Google Fit. Even though it’s a simple fitness tracking app to use, you won’t get more out of the app than you do with Apple’s Fitness app.

Not to say Google Fit is bad, by any means. But the Fitness app offers more features that will keep you motivated and on track with your fitness goals.

On the other hand, if you’re constantly switching devices, or you don’t see yourself as an iPhone user for a long time in the future, Google Fit is a good option. You can start to keep track of your progress on your iPhone, and you know you’ll be able to carry your progress over to other devices, similar to what you can do with every other Google app.

The best part is that if you just want to try it out, you can use both Google Fit and the Fitness app at the same time. Both apps can work simultaneously, and you can get the most out of both of them and try for yourself which one you like best.