Among the various features offered by the Apple Watch is sleep tracking. Understanding patterns in sleep activity can help to improve the quantity and quality of the sleep people get. That, in turn, can improve our overall health and wellbeing, which is a central focus of Apple's smartwatch and the reason sleep tracking functionality was introduced.
Interestingly, sleep tracking was only introduced natively to the Apple Watch with watchOS 7 last year. Apple has pioneered a number of features on the Watch but it was relatively late to the sleep tracking game, with a number of other sleep tracking apps for the Apple Watch having picked up the slack. However, when functionality arrived, it used the Apple Watch's high-quality accelerometer to detect micro-movements during sleep, including respiration. This means it can offer a good sleep tracking solution.
The Sleep app on the Apple Watch allows users to capture when they go to sleep and wake up as well as how much sleep they get during the night. This is tracked over time to show users their weekly sleep trends. This information, in turn, can be used to help users set sleep goals and schedules, functionalities that are also offered by the Apple Watch.
Setting Up Apple Watch Sleep Tracking
To begin with, users just need to open the Sleep app, which is represented by a bed icon. Once in the app, they can set up their preferred bedtime and wake-up time, with the option of setting an alarm for the latter. Tapping 'Full Schedule' then allows users to add a new sleep schedule or change an existing one by setting a sleep goal for the desired amount of sleep and setting the amount of 'Wind Down' time in which the Apple Watch goes into sleep mode by turning off its display and enabling Do Not Disturb mode. Schedules can be set for particular days and adjusted when required. Sleep history can be viewed by scrolling down from the home screen of the app, with the previous night's sleep shown and an average over the past 14 days.
There are a number of settings that can be adjusted to do with sleep tracking on the iPhone, including whether or not the time is shown when the Apple Watch is in sleep mode, whether and when charging reminders should be given to ensure the Watch is adequately for sleep tracking, and whether to wake up to an alarm or haptic taps. These and more can be accessed via the Settings app of the Apple Watch. There is also a version of the Sleep app for the iPhone to which a user's sleep data can be synced, as well as a Night Shift feature that reduces blue light.