Three different things, not two
Start with the mix-up itself: Google Fit, Google Health, and Health Connect are three separate products, not a naming quirk around one idea. Here is what each one actually is.
Google Fit is Google’s original fitness app and its developer APIs, and it is being wound down. Google closed new developer sign-ups for the Fit APIs back in 2024, and the app itself is being retired as Google Health takes over. If you still have Fit installed, treat what it shows you as legacy, not the current picture.
Google Health is not a myth and not another name for Health Connect. It is a real, shipped product with its own Help Center and its own API at health.googleapis.com/v4/. In May 2026, Google replaced the Fitbit app outright with the Google Health app: existing accounts rolled over automatically between May 19 and May 26, and a Google Account is now required to sign in (see Google’s own rundown of what changed). If you used to open the Fitbit app, you are opening Google Health now, whether you renamed anything on your end or not.
Health Connect is neither of those. It is Android’s on-device data-sharing layer, the connector that lets separate health and fitness apps read and write the same records so a workout logged in one shows up in another. Google Health can connect through it, so can Samsung Health, so can Wellness Project, but Health Connect is not owned by any single app and it is not Google Health under a different name. Google’s own answer on using Health Connect with the Google Health app treats them as two separate things you connect together, not one product with two names.
Side by side
Because these are three different jobs rather than three competitors, the useful comparison is what each one is and what it is responsible for.
| Feature | Google Fit | Google Health | Health Connect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Legacy fitness app + API | Fitbit's successor app | System-level data connector |
| Actively developed by Google | No | Yes | Yes |
| Has its own screens and history | Yes | Yes | No |
| Shares data between apps | Limited | Limited | Yes |
| On-device storage | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Per-app permission control | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Read by Wellness Project | Via Health Connect | Via Health Connect | Yes |
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The takeaway is the same shape as before, just with a third column: Fit tracks and displays but is being retired, Google Health is the current tracking app and the Fitbit successor, and Health Connect carries data between whichever apps you actually use. What matters for your results is not which one you open, but whether anything reads across everything they collect.
What changed, and when
The timeline matters more than the definitions here, since most of the confusion comes from Google changing the pieces mid-search.
2024: Google stops onboarding new developers to the Google Fit APIs, the first public signal that Fit was being wound down rather than maintained.
May 12, 2026: Fitbit social features, friends, and leaderboards are locked ahead of the app transition.
May 19 to May 26, 2026: The Fitbit app is replaced by the Google Health app for existing users, rolling out automatically. A Google Account becomes required to sign in.
September 30, 2026: The legacy Fitbit Web API is decommissioned. Third-party apps and integrations that read Fitbit data through the old API must re-authorize through the new Google Health API before this date, since OAuth tokens do not transfer automatically. This affects outside integrations, not Fitbit devices or the Google Health app itself.
Which one you actually need
The right answer depends on the device in your hand, not on picking a favorite of the three.
Android phone, no Fitbit: you do not need to install anything extra. Android already runs Health Connect, and any modern fitness app, including Wellness Project, reads through it directly. Google Fit still works if you happen to use it, but it is being retired, so treat it as optional rather than something to set up fresh.
Fitbit owner: your app is now called Google Health, not Fitbit. If you have not opened it since May 2026, your account has already moved over automatically, and you need a Google Account to sign back in. If you connect Fitbit data to a third-party app or coach, that connection needs to re-authorize before September 30, 2026, when the legacy Fitbit Web API shuts down. Your Fitbit device keeps working exactly as it did; it is the account and the connections built on top of it that need attention.
iPhone: none of this applies the same way. Apple Health, not Google Health or Health Connect, is the on-device hub on iOS. Wellness Project reads Apple Health directly, so whatever your Google Health app shares into Apple Health is what shows up on your end, regardless of which Android products exist behind it.
Track in any app, coach from all of it.
Connect Health Connect and let Google Health, Google Fit, and your other apps sync into it, then get coaching that reads across everything you track. Free during early access. iPhone, Android, and web.
