With the arrival of watchOS 7, a feature that was highly anticipated by many users was included, the sleep mode. In this way, you can monitor the number of hours you sleep each night and the quality. Until now, third-party applications have always had to be used to track this sleep. We tell you all the details you should know about this new functionality.
This feature is only present in watchOS 7 which is currently in beta.
Track sleep hours
Through the sensors included in the Apple Watch, the sleep tracking algorithm is able to interpret how many hours one is in sleep and how many hours only in bed. The heart rate sensor is the one that plays a much more important role since it is through the heart rate that the hours of sleep are determined. In addition, other sensors can also be used to determine if you are moving in bed. Movement is key to determining whether a person is in deep sleep or is fully awake instead. In this way it is about achieving much more precision although important data such as sleep quality are still missing.
By default, sleep mode is automatically activated when it detects that you are in bed sleeping. But it can also be activated manually from the control center itself with a shortcut that has been added to the Apple Watch. When you wake up, the clock will help you not to be very aggressive. With this we mean that it will emit a pulsation that will increase so that you do not wake up nervous with a loud shrill noise.
Relax before bed
Before going to sleep it is important to have a relaxation method so that it is not difficult to sleep. This is why Apple has implemented a shortcut system to create routines that include the possibility of lowering the light intensity of the room or playing relaxing music . In addition, the do not disturb mode will be activated automatically and will not be deactivated until dawn. In this way you can completely avoid mobile notifications at night and minutes before going to sleep. It has been clearly shown that the use of electronic devices such as mobile phones or Apple Watch can affect sleep. This is due to the blue light from the screens and should always be avoided before going to sleep to be more relaxed.
Data storage
All the data that the Apple Watch is collecting will be stored in the iPhone Health application. In the Sleep section, the time you have spent in bed on a specific day appears and also the average within the time range that you have set. By clicking on each of the stripes you will see clearly when the dream has started and also when it has ended. In addition, you will find the bar in two different colors: light blue and dark blue. Dark indicates when you have been in bed without sleep, and light blue when you have been fully asleep. There are also some areas that do not have any kind of color and that are related to the hours when you got up from bed to go to the toilet or to drink water.
In this same Health window you can choose your times to go to sleep and when to wake up. In this way you will be taking a sleep routine that is highly recommended especially to improve your health. In this section you can change and choose what time you need to get up on business days and holidays.
In addition to all these data, a record of the heart rate that has been taken during sleep is also included. This is a fairly important piece of information, since it should always be kept constant and low. On the contrary, it can be a rather restless dream if there is a high heart rate.
Other important data is the average number of hours of sleep you have had or if you have had a constant amount of sleep. It is always recommended to have a constant 8-hour sleep every day. This can be achieved by having a correct sleep habit routine and also adequate pre-relaxation.
Apple Watch autonomy
One of the aspects that can worry the most when using the Apple Watch to be able to track sleep is undoubtedly the battery. It is logical to think that the fact that the Apple Watch is all night collecting data can sacrifice a lot of autonomy , having to recharge it in the morning to continue using it. Apple has wanted to think about this and that is why they have programmed a reminder to remind you to charge the watch before going to bed.
Something very good about the Apple Watch is that it can be charged really easy in a few minutes. That is why with the warning 15 minutes before going to bed you can put it on the charging base so that it is charged enough to spend the whole night on. In general, it should be known that it consumes around 30%, which a priori may be quite a lot, but it is on par with the third-party applications that can use that consume exactly the same. This is because heart rate measurements are taken from time to time.