Google has begun rolling out version 5.12 of its Google Health app on Android and iOS, bringing several new tools aimed at improving how users track blood pressure, pregnancy, and metabolic health. The update delivers more control for manual logging, enhanced visualizations, and boosted support for medical record integration.
Key Health Tracking Enhancements
One of the headline features in Health 5.12 is support for manually entering blood pressure readings. Users can tap the “+Log” button in the Today tab and select “Blood pressure” to input values manually. The app also allows syncing these readings from other apps using Apple Health or Health Connect. For Premium users, there’s an extra option: logging readings via chat with the Google Health Coach. A new section under the Health tab called “Heart” displays the logged blood pressure values on a graph for clearer tracking of trends.
Also new is an improved glucose tracking feature. Glucose charts now overlay contextual data such as sleep, nutrition, and exercise. Users can directly log relevant events from the graph, making it easier to spot correlations in the Metabolic Health section.
Pregnancy tracking has been integrated too. Users can start logging pregnancy either through the Cycle Health settings or by interacting with the Health Coach (for Premium subscribers). When pregnancy is logged, traditional cycle predictions and period notifications pause automatically. The cycle tracking screen shifts to show current pregnancy week. Premium users also get personalized coach interactions and feed insights tied to their pregnancy.
Additional Utilities and Fixes
Medical records: For users in England, Google Health now supports syncing medical records from many NHS GP practices and secondary care organizations through Patients Know Best. Additionally, users who use Function Health can sync their lab results by selecting that provider during setup.
Nutrition grouping: The app now groups food items logged within a 60-minute window to give users better meal insights.
Resilience scores: A bug that caused unusually low Resilience scores has been fixed. Moving forward, new scores will be calculated accurately, and past incorrect scores will be revised over time.
Health Coach goals: Premium users will see tailored progress summaries for fitness plans in the Fitness tab, helping them stay motivated and informed.
Note that some Premium-only features—such as coach conversations and personalized insights—remain behind a paywall. The medical records feature is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice or official clinical records.
These updates follow closely on the heels of another substantial release last month, signaling Google’s push to make its app more versatile and useful. The combination of user-entered data, coach-driven features, and medical record integration reflects growing demand for health tools that are both personalized and clinically relevant.
This update shows Google’s commitment to leveraging its Health app not just for basic wellness tracking but for more comprehensive health management. Going forward, it will be interesting to see how users respond to the premium tools and whether more medical systems outside England are brought into the syncing fold.
