Understanding Sleep Tracking Apps

What are Sleep Tracking Apps?

Sleep tracking apps are an ideal way to measure the movement of your body while you sleep. These apps track the times you are inactive and create a detailed report on the duration of your sleep, your movements, and even the quality of your sleep. The report could include the times you woke up and how long you were in a deep sleep.

Waking up from a deep slumber refreshed and energized can positively impact your entire day. Getting sufficient sleep is important to ensure optimal physical and mental health. Unfortunately, many people suffer from low-quality sleep, insomnia, and sleep loss, which impacts their overall well-being. The major causes of interrupted sleep include work stress, a sedentary lifestyle, and other problems. Even if you sleep for six to eight hours, sleep quality plays an integral role. However, it can sometimes be challenging to determine how well you are sleeping. Fortunately, multiple sleep-tracking apps can give you better insight into your sleep patterns and allow you to improve your sleep.

Types of Sleep Tracking Apps

There is a range of sleep-tracking apps in the market nowadays, with new and improved ones being introduced every now and then. Many come in the form of wearable trackers that you can wear like watches, while others can be clipped on a pillow to track your sleep patterns.

Almost all of these apps have similar features that help in measuring multiple sleep-related insights, including:

• Duration of Sleep: These devices track the period you stay inactive, fall asleep, and move throughout the night or in the morning.

• Quality of Sleep: These trackers can also monitor interrupted sleep and identify when you woke up in the night or tossed or turned during your sleep.

• Phases of Sleep: Many tracking devices can also monitor the sleep phases and determine the best time your alarm goes off, particularly when you are in a less deep sleep. This makes it easier for you to get up.

• Environmental Factors: Some sleep tracking apps also track environmental factors, like the temperature and light in your room.

• Lifestyle Factors: These sleep monitoring apps can also allow you to include information related to activities that could impact your sleep, like the amount of coffee you drink, stress levels, and food you consume.

Top Sleep Tracking Apps

Here are three of the best sleep-tracking apps in the market:

1. Sleep Score

SleepScore is one of the leading sleep-tracking apps in the market, recommended by the New York Times. It accurately tracks the sleep cycle and provides professional insights and advice on enhancing sleep quality.

This sleep monitoring app provides personalized information about your sleep patterns that you can use to make changes in your lifestyle. The app uses sonar technology, offering precise results on both iPhones and Android devices.

2. Pillow

The Pillow app is a smart assistant that is ideal for those having issues falling asleep or if you want to monitor your sleep cycles. Pillow is ideal for Apple users and can be synced with your Apple Watch. Moreover, you can also simply place your phone with the app installed under your pillow or on your mattress.

This sleep-tracking app also comes with additional features, like personalized insights, sleep trends, tips for quality sleep, and audio recordings.

3. Sleep Cycle

Sleep Cycle is another sleep-tracking app recommended by New York Times. It is an in-built alarm that allows you to sleep better, relax, and track your sleep routine. The app provides a detailed sleep cycle analysis by monitoring your sleeping pattern to help you improve your sleep.

This app is available for both Apple and Android users and only wakes you up during your light sleep pattern to make it easy for you to get up.

How Do These Apps Differ?

Here are the many ways these three apps differ from one another to help you decide on the right one:

Sleep Score

The main features of this app include everyday sleep ratings, insights on four sleep stages – sudden awakenings, REM, deep, and light sleep, a smart alarm clock, thoroughly researched information related to your sleep patterns, and tips to enhance the sleeping stages. It also provides a sleep pattern comparison with those of the same gender and age.

Pros

● Utilizes sonar technology for accurate tracking

● Can sync with Apple Watch and other wearables

● Easy to comprehend sleep scores and sleep pattern analysis

● Measure of noise and light levels in the room

Cons

● Must manually stop and start the tracker

● Slightly negative reviews by Android users

Pillow

Pillow offers a comprehensive sleep analysis, including heart rate monitoring and a sleep cycle diagram. This app also shows your sleep trends over time and provides regular tips to enhance sleep, along with personalized insights.

Pros

● Audio recordings can record your talk, cough, or snores while you sleep

● Personalized tips and insights to enhance sleep

● Displays deep, light, and REM sleep patterns and wake time in coded graphs

Cons

● Only available for Apple users

● Apple Watch pairing provides more accurate results

Sleep Cycle

The sleep cycle app gently awakens you through its natural wake-up alarm. It also offers personalized and detailed sleep pattern analysis. It can track your sleep even when the device is on the nightstand. You can personalize the alarm sounds and attain accurate sleep insights.

Pros

● Audio recordings overlay sleep cycle analysis for a better understanding

● Compare your sleeping data with the sleep statistics of other users.

● Sleep data comparison with other users your age

● Ability to identify multiple sounds, like baby fussing, snoring, talking, and coughing

Cons

● Analysis is not as in-depth as other apps

● Need to be manually stopped and started the tracking

● Poor descriptions of metrics

Wrapping Up

Enjoying sufficient, deep sleep is essential to maintaining ideal overall health and avoiding drowsiness or fatigue throughout the day. Therefore, having more insights into your sleep cycles can be a great way to enhance your sleep. Getting a sleep-tracking app can help you monitor your sleeping patterns and get insights about your sleep cycle to improve the quality of your sleep. Sleep patterns and reports can also be helpful for multiple medical purposes, particularly if you suffer from sleep apnea or other disorders. These apps can be great tools to help you attain your sleeping goals to enjoy a healthier lifestyle.