Google Confirms Fitbit Air Will Get Sleep Breathing Quality Feature Soon

Have you ever had a full night’s sleep of eight hours but were unsure if you had a good sleep? The number of hours you sleep is important, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. Your breathing patterns during the night can also offer useful clues about your sleep and this is where wearable technology can help.

So, Google is bringing this kind of insight to Fitbit Air, thanks to the Fitbit Air Sleep Breathing Quality function. The function was earlier available in Pixel Watch and those who own Fitbit Air have been asking why the latter doesn’t have this function too. However, Google has already confirmed that the support for this function will be extended to Fitbit Air shortly. However, there is still no confirmed release date and Google has yet to clearly explain whether users will need a paid subscription to access it.

Google Confirms Sleep Breathing Quality Is Coming to Fitbit Air

Recently, Google has shared some very important news with the team of Android Authority. Google has revealed that the feature to measure breathing quality during sleep via the Fitbit Air is coming soon. The information came as a relief to many consumers who have been patiently waiting for the arrival of this feature. Actually, there were many people who purchased this particular gadget anticipating its availability as soon as they unboxed it. Hence, it was indeed an interesting piece of information for consumers to learn about the development of the tool.

But they have not provided any precise date for its release. This means we need to wait for some time until we have our data. Nonetheless, this confirmation is a really good thing for us. This proves that Google is taking into account all users’ suggestions and complaints about Fitbit devices. As a result, the present owners can now expect a much more complete health monitoring service in the nearest future. As a result of high popularity of the Fitbit Air sleep breathing quality feature, this information spread quickly throughout the internet. In addition, this software upgrade will assist users to monitor their night rest habits much better. Thus, having received additional data, users will receive a more effective wellness gadget. The availability of the Fitbit Air sleep breathing quality parameter will significantly increase the effectiveness of the fitness band.

Why Was Sleep Breathing Quality Missing From Fitbit Air?

You might be wondering why the sleep breathing quality feature was missing till now. Google has first introduced this feature to the Pixel series like the Pixel Watch 3, Pixel Watch 4 and even in Pixel Watch 5. At the same time owners of the Fitbit Air had one frustrating thing about it. Whenever users opened the Google Health App, a message would appear on the screen. This warning message clearly stated that the Fitbit Air sleep breathing quality was simply not supported. As a result, many loyal users felt confused, disappointed and left out of the new ecosystem.

Because the Fitbit Air sleep breathing quality was completely absent from the feature list, shoppers assumed the new device would never actually get the tool. This widespread confusion led independent tech experts to investigate the missing Fitbit Air sleep tracking tools, which eventually pushed Google to clarify its plans. Ultimately, the company simply delayed the Fitbit Air sleep breathing quality rollout due to software constraints. The physical hardware is fully capable, but the internal software was not ready yet, which completely explains the initial absence.

What Does Sleep Breathing Quality Actually Measure?

In order to be able to properly understand this upcoming update, we first need to explain the functioning of the Fitbit Air sleep breathing quality measurement itself. While we fall asleep, our body naturally goes through various phases of rest. During the night, the body is experiencing various natural fluctuations in terms of the oxygen level in our blood. Due to those small fluctuations, the smartwatch is capable of assessing the quality of breathing. Hence, the Fitbit Air sleep breathing quality uses the fluctuations of nighttime blood oxygen to assess our rest.

By monitoring these metrics, Google Health app gives daily insights and demonstrates long-term trends over many weeks. Nevertheless, it is important to note the difference between this and in a real test. Because this is a screenless fitness tracker, so alterations in this metric should not be considered a diagnosis at all. Indeed, Google specifically notes that the Fitbit Air sleep breathing quality monitoring is merely a wellness insight. This means that it definitely cannot be used as a diagnosis test for sleep apnea or any other breathing disorders. It is merely an additional tool. If there are any peculiarities in your Fitbit Air sleep breathing quality charts, you might just choose to show them to your doctor.

Will Fitbit Air Owners Need Google Health Premium?

Even though it is good news that the new feature has been launched, there still remains the important issue of cost related to its usage. The main question of many people is whether the sleep breathing quality feature of Fitbit Air will be available for free or not. Google has not yet stated the subscription plan for the new feature.

Still, it is possible to evaluate the approach to the other tools and try to guess whether the same situation exists in this case. For instance, all advanced Health Guardian features for this gadget are available only through the paid subscription. Thus, monitoring of the blood pressure and the tracking of insulin-resistance trend are only available to the subscribers of Google Health Premium service. As the advanced features are paid, there is a high probability that the same is true for the sleep breathing quality insights by Fitbit Air. In consequence, it is necessary to wait until the official launch takes place to check the real subscription requirements. In other words, do not hope that this feature is totally free.

What About Fitbit Edge?

Besides the Air, there is one more highly similar device within the existing product range. This device is known as the Fitbit Edge. As it happens, just as the Air, the Fitbit Edge is currently missing this particular night breathing monitor. But the difference in the situation with the Edge is very large at this moment in time. Google has confirmed the information on this matter, but only about the Air model. Because they used very specific wording, they completely ignored the Edge. 

Because of this, there is no possibility of the Edge getting the update. Hence, we cannot say anything about its possible future upgrade. Since the two devices are not alike, you should not make any presumptions about other similar devices updating their trackers in the exact same moment. Right now, the only Fitbit tracker that got the official permission for the update is the Fitbit Air.

When Will Fitbit Air Get the Update?

For now, Fitbit Air users will just have to wait a little bit longer. Google has made it clear that the Sleep Breathing Quality feature will be available on Fitbit Air “soon,” though there has been no specific release date announced.

This means the feature is confirmed, but it does mean that it hasn’t actually been released yet. At this point, Google has yet to confirm whether this update will be made available all at once or gradually.

Once the Fitbit Air sleep breathing quality feature becomes available, users should be able to access their breathing insights through the Google Health app. Until then, it is worth keeping an eye on Google Health app updates and Google’s official support pages for details about availability and access requirements.

So, the situation is fairly simple right now: Sleep Breathing Quality is coming to Fitbit Air, but exactly when it will arrive remains unclear.

Wrap Up

The new update on the Fitbit Air that will allow users to track the quality of their breath during sleep is something that will help people learn about their sleep patterns better than just counting the amount of time they have slept. The exact release date and whether users will need to subscribe in order to get access is still unknown.

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