Google is aiming to put your menstrual cycle data alongside your sleep and activity stats in one place. Beginning early next year, people who use Flo Health will be able to sync their cycle data with the Google Health app. It’s the first tangible outcome of a new partnership between the two companies.
The partnership’s bigger promise is hardware, though Google hasn’t shown any of it so far.
For now, the hardware is a single sentence
Google described the agreement as a way to get more menstrual health data into the Google Health app and to build future products based on those insights. On the devices themselves, the company said very little.
Its only description is that the products would bring together “a deep integration of Flo’s women’s health insights and algorithms with our expertise in wearable hardware and advanced sensors.” Google gave no form factor, no release window and no pricing. This part of the deal is best read as a plan until an actual product appears.
Google called the partnership long-term. The agreement also includes a plan to start research initiatives into areas of menstrual health that have been underserved.
Syncing is opt-in, and Google laid out the terms
Few kinds of personal information are as sensitive as cycle data, which makes the privacy terms more important than the features. Google said users will have to opt in to the integration.
“No data will move between the apps without your explicit permission,” the company wrote in a blog post. It added that permission is “given separately for each type of data and each purpose” “and you have the control to withdraw permission at any time.”
Google also said Flo data won’t be used for advertising, and that it won’t be sold or shared with other apps or developers. Those are the right promises to make. Whether Google keeps them will only become clear after the sync launches and users can see exactly how the permission screens work.
What you get from syncing
With the feature turned on, data from the Flo app will appear in Google’s app next to your other health metrics. Data also moves in the other direction, so Google Health information shows up in Flo.
Google Health Premium subscribers get more out of it. Their Flo data will also be fed to the Google Health Coach, which Google says will use it to offer more personalized guidance.
“Connecting the dots across sleep, daily readiness, activity, and recovery gives a clearer picture of your overall health across the different phases of your cycle and stages of life,” Google said in its announcement.
In short, Google is offering readiness and recovery scores that take your cycle phase into account. If you already use both apps, trying the sync early next year won’t cost you anything. Before you turn it on, though, go through each permission separately and only share the data types you actually want Google’s coach to see.