Google Fit changes how distance and calories are calculated, deleting old data in 30 days

Abner Li | Jun 18 2021 - 7:58 am PT

Google today notified users of a change to how Fit works to calculate some metrics. End users of the Google Fit apps should not see a real impact due to this, but “some data” will be deleted in 30 days.

Google changed how “Cumulative distance” and “Calories consumed” are calculated “to make it easier for other apps to connect to Google Fit.” Those data types are used to “calculate more detailed metrics for some activities,” but are not actually what end users directly see in the Fit apps.

Data added to these types prior to this change is no longer compatible with Google Fit. As a result, this data will be deleted from your account in 30 days.

As such, “this change won’t affect any of the data or activities you see in Google Fit, and your connected apps will continue to work as normal.” The company has not specified how third-party apps will precisely benefit from this change, or whether there are any associated improvements to accuracy.

You’ll be able to download this Google Fit data from Takeout before it’s deleted in 30 days.