UMVA has learned that a growing number of Google Health app users are seeking a way to escape the constant nudges and feedback from the app's AI-powered Health Coach, a feature that has become an unavoidable presence on the Today screen for Premium users.
The Health Coach is the brainchild of Google's efforts to inject AI into the app, providing users with personalized feedback on their workouts, sleep patterns, and recovery. However, many users have grown increasingly frustrated with the Coach's intrusive updates, which can appear several times a day, and have taken to social media to express their discontent.
One user, still recovering from surgery, reported that the Coach repeatedly tried to dissuade them from resuming their normal workout routine, earning it the scathing label of "Demotivation Coach." Others have pointed out that the Coach often misinterprets data, providing inaccurate feedback that can be demotivating.
The tone of the Coach has also drawn criticism, with many users finding its excessively positive and sometimes negative commentary to be grating. A more neutral and factual approach, or simply the option to opt out, would be preferable for many users.
Fortunately, UMVA has uncovered a way to disable the Health Coach, and it's surprisingly straightforward. The process begins in the Google Health app, where users must tap their profile picture in the upper right corner and navigate to "Your data in Google Health."
From there, users can tap "Manage feature privacy controls" and locate the Google Health Coach option, which allows them to turn it off. When they return to the app, they'll still see previous Coach updates, but no new ones will appear.
A card will invite users to re-enable the Coach, but they can simply tap "not now" to decline. The option to re-enable the Coach remains available at any time, accessible via the "Ask Coach" button in the corner.
