Sleep is vital for our physical and mental health, which is why the Apple Watch tracks not just exercise and calories, but time spent sleeping too. However, setting a sleep goal isn’t as intuitive as closing the Apple Watch’s iconic activity rings. In fact, I owned an Apple Watch for years before I decided to try out Apple’s sleep features. To be fair, the company was also late to the game, and did not introduce any nativesleep tracking featuresuntil 2020. Even then, the information Apple provided was minimal, with no data about different sleep stages. With the launch ofwatchOS 9 in 2022, sleep tracking on theApple Watchfinally became more useful with the introduction of features that were already offered by brands such asFitbitandGarmin.
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While turning on sleep tracking isn’t difficult, there are a few requirements you have to meet for the feature to work properly. How do you start tracking your sleep in the first place? Where can you find your sleep data? Here’s what you need to know.
Apple Watch Series 9
How does Apple Watch sleep tracking work?
You’ll need to meet a few requirements first
When sleep tracking first arrived on the Apple Watch in 2020, it integrated the Bedtime feature on the iPhone’s Clock app, but things have changed a little since then. The Bedtime feature is now called Sleep, and it’s part of theFocus modesthat work acrossiPhone, Apple Watch andMac.
to track your sleep, you need to make sure you’re doing all the following:
How to track sleep on Apple Watch
Setting up Sleep takes just a few minutes
Once you enable Apple Watch sleep tracking, the Health App will deliver insight on how well (or how poorly) you slept. However, activating the sleep tracking also enables other features, including a Focus Mode that helps you avoid doomscrolling before bed. Here’s how to track sleep on Apple Watch.
A sleep goal isn’t tracked in the iPhone Fitness app like your rings (you can view it in the Health app on iPhone).
The good thing about Apple Watch sleep tracking is that it is set-and-forget, so your sleep will be tracked without you having to do anything once Sleep Focus is on. However, you will have to find a time during the day to charge your watch. If you have a newer Apple Watch, like theWatch UltraorWatch Ultra 2,Watch SE,Watch Series 8orWatch Series 9, you’ll almost certainly be OK to go through the night if you charged for a bit during the day at some point. Sleep tracking uses around 10% battery in total, though Apple wants you to have at least 30% charge to ensure your alarm goes off. Witholder Apple Watch models, you will likely need to fully charge in the day to last the night.
You can disable Sleep Focus if you want, but your Apple Watch won’t track sleep if you do this. You can also opt out of sleep tracking entirely, even if you have Sleep Focus enabled.
How to add or adjust your Apple Watch Sleep schedule
You can set a different schedule for the weekend, or modify an existing schedule at any time
The Apple Watch allows you to set more than one sleep schedule. For example, you can set a different sleep schedule for the weekends. The steps below are also the ones you would take if you wanted to modify an existing sleep schedule.
How to see your Apple Watch sleep tracking results
You can view your sleep data on Apple Watch, or for more details, on an iPhone
Once you’ve slept with your Apple Watch on after setting up a sleep schedule, you may start toview your sleep data, though long-term trends will fill in as you continue wearing the watch to bed. Viewing your sleep data on the Apple Watch is as simple as opening the Sleep app. But, for the most detailed information, you’ll want to view the data on your iPhone instead. The iPhone Health app shows a more detailed view of the data on a larger screen:
There are four tabs at the top: Day (D), Week (W), Month (M) and Six Months (6M). When on the ‘D’ tab, you will see a sleep graph broken down into the four stages of sleep that most devices use: Awake, REM, Core and Deep. At the top of the graph, you’ll see your Time in Bed, which is the time Sleep Focus was activated, and Time Asleep, which is the amount of time Apple Watch tracked you as being asleep. Tap Show More Sleep Data to display a breakdown of the times in each of the four sleep stages.
How I make sense of my Apple Watch sleep data using my iPhone
The bigger screen of an iPhone can make analyzing that data easier.
If you tap on any of the Week, Month or Six Months tabs, you will see the sleep stages condensed into a bar graph, allowing you to see your sleep compared to previous days in a week, month or over the last six months.
Again, you can also tap on ‘Show More Sleep Data’, which will give you more information about your sleep, including the amount of time in each of the four stages and the percentage of time in each of the four stages when on the Stages tab. There is also an Amounts tab that offers up a bar chart to show your time in bed against your time asleep and a Comparisons tab to show you how your Heart Rate, Respiratory Rate, and Wrist Temperature varied through the Day, Week, Month, or over the last six months.
Below the graphs at the top of the D, W, M, 6M tabs, you’ll find a Highlights section. This shows you your Respiratory Rate and Heart Rate. you may tap on Show All next to the Highlights section to see more information and trends over time.
What is Apple Sleep Focus, and how do you personalize it?
Sleep Focus helps minimize distractions during your sleep schedule
When Sleep Focus is on, all notifications will be silenced, though you canpersonalize the featureto allow certain apps or contacts to still appear on your Lock Screen. Your iPhone screen will look less cluttered, with the number of unread emails disappearing as another way of limiting distractions. When you set a sleep schedule using the steps above, sleep focus will start when your Wind Down time starts, according to the settings you selected. To personalize Sleep Focus, follow the steps below:
Along with the ability to allow notifications from selected contacts or apps, you may alsocustomize the Lock Screenand Home Screen on your iPhone, as well as personalize your Apple Watch screen. You can also toggle on a Sleep Screen for your iPhone and Apple Watch that simplifies your Lock Screens to reduce distractions, and you can toggle on or off Show Time depending on whether you want to see the time when your devices are in Sleep Focus.
You can also access your Schedule within the Sleep Focus, choosing a time to start winding down and a time you want to wake up.
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