The ability to track sleep using the Apple Watch has been waiting for a long five years since the watch was released. In 2020, along with the release of watchOS 7, Apple provided its users with such an opportunity. But the number of indicators determined was very small. The watch still couldn’t recognize sleep phases. The maximum that could be seen was the time and heart rate, or, more simply, the pulse. watchOS 9 introduces significantly more sleep monitoring options. But the system will be released only in the fall and not on all devices.
However, if for some reason you want to see the exact picture right now, but don’t want to install the watchOS 9 beta, then we have selected some great apps for you with which you can monitor your sleep.
Content
- oneApple Watch – One uptime
- 2Best Sleep App – Apple Watch
- 3Free sleep app – Apple Watch
- fourSleep Quality – Apple Watch
Apple Watch – Uptime
The biggest concern for all users who use the Apple Watch while sleeping is its battery life. Unfortunately, they lack some kind of advanced power-saving mode. And the existing one leaves only the time on the screen and disables all other functions. If you have definitely decided that you need to sleep with your watch on, then you will have to rearrange your daily routine in such a way that you can charge the device.
When I was the owner of the Apple Watch Series 4 , I also used them at night. But not for monitoring sleep, but for an alarm clock. The melody on the smartphone either woke up the whole apartment with me, or no one heard it. Therefore, I had to switch to the use of hours. So that I had enough charge for the whole night and for the whole working day, I put the watch on charge when I got home somewhere around 19.00-20.00 and put it on my hand at about 23.30. In this scenario, Apple Watch quietly survived until the evening of the next day. Often even 30% of the battery remained. Of course, the battery life of Apple smartwatches is their Achilles’ heel. Let’s hope the next generation at Cupertino will sort that out.
After resolving the issue of autonomy, you need to decide which sleep indicators you are interested in and with which application to track them. For me personally, the most important are the phases of sleep and heart rate. The watch can track the heart rate without additional software, but to determine the phases, you must use a third-party program.
Of course, there is an option to do without installing applications from third-party developers, but simply roll up the beta version of watchOS 9. We have separate instructions on our website on how to do this. But sincerely I do not advise you to do this, because, in case of some errors and failures, you will not be able to return everything back. Moreover, for the watch to work on watchOS 9 on iPhone, you will need to install iOS 16. Too many betas for a few features. So let’s take a look at three of the most popular sleep monitoring apps:
- AutoSleep .
- Sleep++.
- NapBot.
Unfortunately, the Pillow app is no longer available in the Russian App Store. A nice enough program with a good and user-friendly interface, but you won’t be able to download it. If you have an account from another region, you can try that one too.
Best Sleep App – Apple Watch
AutoSleep is arguably the most popular sleep tracking app on the Apple Watch . It provides some of the most detailed data: sleep overview, quality, heart rate, sleep phases and more.
Automatic sleep detection will allow you to calmly go to sleep without thinking that you need to turn on something on your watch. In this situation, the app will use the sensors on your Apple Watch to evaluate your movement and heart rate and be able to determine what state you are currently in.
The downside of this app is its slightly complicated interface. It takes a little figuring out the cost. The program is paid – 449 rubles. But you have to pay once. This is not a subscription and does not have any in-app purchases. If you use the program as part of family access, which we talked about in a separate article, then its cost will not seem so high.
Free sleep app – Apple Watch
Sleep++ is another popular sleep tracking app for Apple Watch . It supports, as well as AutoSleep, automatic sleep detection, phasing and goal setting. The application shows a timeline in sufficient detail, including when you slept peacefully, when you were restless, and when you were awake, and determines the time when sleep was “best”.
Unfortunately, I did not find a smart alarm clock in the application. Perhaps something is wrong with my knowledge of English, but most likely it is simply not there. Sleep++ has several disadvantages that not every user will consider as such.
- Only English is supported.
- The application interface is quite ascetic.
- There are built-in ads.
But advertising can be removed in one payment for 179 rubles. And the austerity of the interface often helps not to get lost in a large amount of information. Adding another language, unfortunately, will not work in the application, and in fact this remains its only drawback.
Sleep Quality – Apple Watch
NapBot is a relatively new sleep monitoring app for the Apple Watch . It appeared two years ago and is rapidly gaining popularity. NapBot uses machine learning to track sleep and lets you see detailed information about phases, trends, and more.
The program interface is built on the principle of the application “Calendar” . By going to a specific day, you can see all the information about sleep. The most interesting thing is that the NapBot app for Apple Watch can work independently of the iPhone. To read and commit data, it does not need constant synchronization. Currently, only the statistics of the previous day can be viewed through it, but over time, the developer plans to expand this time interval.
The program can be downloaded from the App Store for free, but it has a subscription model. For 75 rubles per month or 799 rubles per year, you can unlock the ability to record your sleep history and main trends, which will allow you to determine how your habits will affect your sleep.
