Google has started pushing the Fitbit Air’s first post-launch firmware update, including general bug fixes and performance improvements, with a strong hint that automatic workout detection may finally get better.
For a fitness tracker, the difference between “working” and “trustworthy” can come down to one annoying detail: whether it understands what you’re doing.
Google has begun rolling out Fitbit Air’s first post-launch firmware update. and it’s arriving with a mix of routine improvements and a possible fix for one of the tracker’s biggest early complaints. The company’s new software build focuses on bug fixes and general performance improvements. but it also points toward improvements in automatic workout detection—an area Google had already promised to work on.
The update is launching gradually, so not every Fitbit Air user will get it right away. When it does arrive, you’ll see a notification inside the Google Health app letting you know the firmware is available for your tracker.
Version numbers are slightly different depending on the platform: the update is listed as 20001.253.2 for iOS and 67.20001.253.2 on Android. Despite those differences, both packages reportedly contain the same update.
Google isn’t providing a detailed changelog. The only explanation so far is the standard: bug fixes and general improvements. Still, the update lines up with what Google signaled last month—when it said it was working to expand the range of exercises the Fitbit Air can detect automatically.
That matters because automatic workout detection is supposed to do two jobs at once. A tracker should catch the moments you’re actually training—whether that’s a walk. hopping on a bike. or fitting in a quick gym session. But it also needs to avoid logging activity when it shouldn’t, like workouts happening while you’re asleep.
If this firmware update includes the automatic detection improvements Google previously hinted at, it could be the kind of quiet change that makes the Fitbit Air feel far more reliable in daily life—especially when you don’t want to keep correcting what the device thinks you did.
The timing is also notable. Google recently expanded its Health platform with new wellness features such as nap tracking. additional health metrics. and more granular controls over health data. Those changes are aimed at the broader ecosystem. but this firmware update is aimed at something simpler and more immediate: making the Fitbit Air itself a better everyday tracker.
For now, the rollout is still early, so availability is expected to broaden over the next several days.
Fitbit Air Google Health app firmware update automatic workout detection iOS 20001.253.2 Android 67.20001.253.2 wearable tracking nap tracking health data controls
So it finally tells the truth about workouts? Mine just guesses I’m dead asleep every time.
I don’t even get updates half the time, like the app just says “checking…” forever. If this fixes the workout detection tho, cool. I kept having “gym session” logged when I literally just walked to the mailbox.
Bro version numbers are weird… iOS 20001.whatever and Android 67.whatever, so it’s probably not the same update? Like one is gonna be better and nobody will admit it. Also nap tracking is cool but I don’t wanna be monitored while I’m unconscious lol.
My Fitbit Air (if that’s what it is, mine might be the knockoff one from Facebook) detected me “running” while I was in my car at a stoplight. So if this is supposed to expand exercise detection… wouldn’t it also detect driving and be even more wrong? Anyway I’ll wait for the update notification in the Google Health app. Hopefully it actually understands when I’m just standing there.