- Code has leaked from the latest Fitbit for Android app update
- It suggests Google might be working on a hypertension study
- This could inform high heart rate alerts in future Google Pixel Watch models
When Apple announced the Apple Watch Series 11, it said that this device – alongside previous Series 10 and Series 9 models – would be able to send users hypertension notifications that alert them of high blood pressure. Now, it looks like Google wants to get in on the act with its own Pixel Watch lineup.
According to code spotted by 9to5Google, version 4.53 of the Fitbit for Android app contains hints that Google is planning to roll out a “Fitbit Hypertension Study” in the near future. The purpose of this study would apparently be to “advance research for hypertension screening with the Pixel Watch.”
Once a user has signed up for the study, they’ll be sent a questionnaire. Selected participants will “have sensor data collected from their watch during normal wear,” although Google warns that doing so might result in increased battery consumption.
As well as that, a random group of study applicants will be asked to “wear a monitor to measure blood pressure for 24 hours.” Those users will be sent $50 as compensation after the monitor has been used and returned.
Questions remain
Although 9to5Google didn’t say which Google Pixel Watch models will be required for the study, the outlet noted that it would “not require the latest model” of the company’s smartwatch. That could help to increase the number of participants, thereby improving the data collected by Google.
Apple’s own hypertension notification system was enabled thanks to a large survey, which the company said involved 100,000 users.
The resulting notifications use the Apple Watch’s heart rate sensor and a custom algorithm that analyzes “how your blood vessels respond to beats of the heart” in order to alert you of any abnormal patterns detected over a 30-day period. It doesn’t tell you your actual blood pressure, though.
We don’t know how Google’s own hypertension notifications might work, but the suggestion that the company is planning to collect important data in a wide-ranging study should be encouraging. Now we just need to wait for further announcements from Google to learn exactly what its plans are.
