Summary
Whether it's getting detailed insights into your sleeping habits or tracking your sleeping patterns, you can do it all with the sleep tracker on your Apple Watch. Thanks to the built-in tracker, you no longer need a third-party app to monitor and track every aspect of your sleep.
The sleep app on the Apple Watch uses motion to determine the sleep time, and the data is transferred to your iPhone so you can monitor your sleep patterns.
With a simple and easy-to-use interface, you can set your preferred bedtime schedule. Plus, it is super convenient and accurate. Just set the schedule, and it will track your sleep without you having to do anything.
Designed to improve health and productivity, the Apple Watch sleep tracker is suitable for anyone looking to achieve a better sleeping routine or enhance sleep quality.
The Apple Watch sleep tracker is highly precise. Just make sure your watch has enough battery to last you throughout the night.
How Apple Watch Sleep Tracking works
Sleep tracking on the Apple Watch is undeniably basic as it does not track light or deep cycles or REM sleep. According to Apple, a user can’t directly improve these factors – and we couldn't agree more.
The Apple Watch sleep tracker records the sleep duration while analyzing the behaviors that are in our control, such as bedtime and spending a reasonable amount of time with your gadgets.
Apple's sleep tracking works with the existing sleep feature on the iPhone to help you set a schedule. Half an hour before the allocated bedtime, the iPhone and watch go into bedtime mode. All notifications are muted, and the screen dims in order to get you ready for bed.
The Do Not Disturb mode also automatically turns on so you can enjoy a sound sleep. An accelerometer and motion sensors are used to monitor your rest. Meanwhile, the heart rate sensors keep track of bpm (beats per minute) and blood oxygen.
You can look at the results of your sleep the following day in the Sleep section of the Sleep app on your Apple Watch. You can also find an option at the bottom to view a graph of your previous night's sleep duration.
Unique Features
The new Apple Watch is equipped with the necessary hardware to accurately monitor your sleep patterns and sleep duration.
This is possible because of the following features:
Sleep App
The sleep app on the Apple Watch helps you create bedtime schedules. All you need to do is set the schedule and wear the watch to bed. The set-and-forget functionality will keep track of your sleep duration while allowing you to enjoy a good night's sleep.
Ease of Use
The best thing about the Apple Watch sleep tracker is its user-friendly operation.
You can access and edit the Sleep settings on various platforms, including the Sleep in the Sleep app on the Apple Watch or the Apple Watch app on the iPhone. You can also configure it in the Health app on your iPhone.
Sleep History Analysis
Apple sleep tracking allows you to track the previous night's sleep duration and the average duration over the last 14 days.
You can tap on the options to see the goal or result of particular days along with the associated details such as the sleep duration and wake-up times.
This helps you determine whether your sleep duration is decreasing, increasing, or is consistent.
Relaxation Time
The Sleep app even allows you to set a relaxation time before you actually go to bed. You can simply link it to an automation device like Siri to automatically turn off the lights at home or play music at the allocated time.
Sleep Mode
The Sleep mode helps reduce distractions before bedtime. It dims the screen and enables Do Not Disturb. The usual watch face disappears, and the display only shows the current time and the time set for waking up.
Charger Reminders
You also have the option to set charger reminders.
If the battery is less than 30%, the watch will automatically warn you so that you can charge the watch so that it doesn’t run out of battery in the middle of the night.
Alarm
You can also use the Apple Watch to wake you up in the morning. You can set the alarm and even configure the alarm sound. If it's set to silent, the watch will only vibrate to wake you up.
How to Use the Sleep Tracking on Apple Watch
You can set your sleep schedule using the Health app on your iPhone or the Apple Watch itself in the Sleep app. Here’s how it’s done.
- Open the Health app on your iPhone or the Sleep app on the Apple Watch.
- Select Sleep to set the schedule.
- Choose the duration of the sleep, which is generally set to eight hours by default.
- Select your bedtime and when you want to wake up.
- Set it for every day or just weekdays according to your requirements.
Issues & Concerns
While the Apple Watch Sleep Tracker is a great device to monitor your sleeping patterns, it has some limitations.
Battery Life
While Apple claims 18 hours of run time between charges, realistically speaking, the actual number can be much lower, especially if you enable sleep tracking.
In fact, the watch requires at least 30% battery to start tracking sleep. Since it uses a lot of power, it won’t work through the night if the battery is less than 30%.
Modest Sleep Data
The watch does not monitor deep or REM sleep. Plus, it only displays a graphical representation of your total time asleep with sleep start and endpoints.
However, the Health app can help you determine the average time in bed and correlate your sleep pattern with the overnight heart rate data.
Similarly, while the app gives you information about sleep interruptions, there is no simple way to determine if the bar gaps are related to an increased heart rate or if something else is responsible for it.
Plus, you need to set a schedule for weekdays and weekends separately because the Watch might not record the data if you don't set a particular schedule to cover them.
Where to Buy
Interested in buying the Apple Watch to improve your sleep? Order yours now at the official Apple Store!
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