How Apple Watch Series 6 Tracks Sleep

The Apple Watch Series 6 does track sleep. The Sleep app is a set-and-forget feature that runs each night automatically. It tracks your sleep duration, the average time spent in bed, and the average time spent asleep. It also tracks your sleep stages, such as REM, Core, or Deep Sleep, and when you were awake throughout the night. The Sleep app is free and convenient to use, but as far as sleep data goes, it's fairly limited. Many Apple Watch owners use third-party apps to supplement the Sleep app and collect more detailed information.

Sleep tracking with Apple Watch Series 6

Sleep tracking is available on the Apple Watch Series 6. The watch can track your sleep and add sleep data to the Health app on your iPhone. This data includes the time spent in each sleep stage (REM, Core, or Deep Sleep) and your sleep average over the last 14 days. You can also view your sleep history for the past week, month, or six months.

To use the sleep tracking feature, make sure your Apple Watch is charged to at least 30% before bed and wear it to sleep for at least one hour. You can also set up a sleep schedule with a sleep goal, bedtime, and wake-up time. The Sleep Focus feature will reduce distractions on your iPhone and Apple Watch before bedtime.

Third-party apps like SleepWatch, AutoSleep, and Sleep++ can also be used to track your sleep and provide additional insights. These apps can help you log your sleep history and times, as well as provide adaptive bedtime suggestions and sleep scores.

While the Apple Watch Series 6 does track sleep, it may not provide as detailed insights or data interpretation as other sleep trackers on the market. Additionally, the wrist temperature sensor on newer Apple Watch models is not used for sleep tracking.

SleepWatch app

SleepWatch is a top-rated sleep-tracking app that can be used on the Apple Watch. It offers advanced tracking and analysis of your sleep. The app can be used to monitor how rested, energised, and fatigued you feel, as well as tracking your sleeping heart rate, sleep rhythm, and sleep disruptions. SleepWatch can also record sleep sounds such as snoring, coughing, and flatulence, and provide personalised coaching to help you get a better night's rest.

The app provides a SleepWatch Score, which is a daily and monthly score that represents your sleep in an easy-to-track number. It also offers a smart alarm and bedtime feature, which allows you to find your ideal bedtime and wake up during your optimal sleep stage, helping you to feel less groggy when you wake up. SleepWatch also provides in-depth sleep reports that can be checked on your phone or watch.

To use SleepWatch, simply wear your Apple Watch to bed. When you wake up, check the Apple Watch App or iPhone app to see your auto-detected sleep details. It is recommended that you schedule 'Do Not Disturb' to turn on automatically during your typical sleeping hours to prevent any watch notifications from disturbing your sleep.

SleepWatch can be used to complement the built-in sleep-tracking features of the Apple Watch. With the Sleep app on Apple Watch, you can create sleep schedules to help you meet your sleep goals. The watch can estimate the time spent in each sleep stage, including REM, Core, and Deep sleep, as well as when you wake up. The Sleep app also allows you to view your sleep history and trends over the past 14 days.

Apple Watch's built-in Sleep app

The Sleep app on the Apple Watch is designed to help you meet your sleep goals, including getting enough sleep, getting to bed on time, and creating a pre-bedtime routine. The Sleep app allows you to track your sleep and wake up in the morning with alarm sounds or haptics. The Sleep app includes bedtime reminders, wake-up alarms, sleep tracking, Sleep Focus, Wind Down, and a view of your sleep trends over time.

To use the Sleep app, you can create a sleep schedule to help you meet your sleep goals. You can wear your Apple Watch to bed, and it can estimate the time spent in each sleep stage—REM, Core, and Deep—as well as when you might have woken up. When you wake up, you can open the Sleep app to learn how much sleep you got and see your sleep trends over the past 14 days. You can also ask Siri, "How much did I sleep last night?" on supported models.

To set up the Sleep app, you need to ensure your Apple Watch is charged to at least 30% before bed with Sleep Tracking enabled. You can then wear your Apple Watch to sleep for at least one hour. In the morning, you can receive a wake-up screen with the current battery life and today's weather forecast. You can also review your sleep statistics in the Health app on your iPhone, including sleep times, sleep stages, sleep goals, respiratory rate, and sleeping heart rate.

You can adjust your sleep schedule, wind-down time, and sleep goal as needed on your iPhone or Apple Watch. To change your sleep schedule, you can tap the current schedule and then tap "Add Schedule." To change your wind-down time, tap "Wind Down" and adjust the time you want the Sleep Focus to be active before bedtime. To change your sleep goal, tap "Sleep Goal" and set the desired amount of sleep.

Third-party sleep tracking apps

The Apple Watch Series 6 does have sleep-tracking capabilities. It can measure and record the number of times you breathe in a minute, allowing you to view your respiratory rate in the Health app on your iPhone or iPad. The Sleep app on the watch itself also displays your Sleep Stages data, Time Asleep, and Sleep Duration for the last 14 days.

However, if you're looking for an Apple Watch app to provide richer and more insightful stats, there are third-party apps available that expand the feature set beyond the standard watchOS experience. Here are some third-party sleep-tracking apps for the Apple Watch:

• SleepWatch - This app can log your sleep history and times to the Apple Health App. It provides a SleepWatch Score, a daily and monthly score that represents your sleep in an easy-to-track number. It also has a smart alarm feature that wakes you during a light state of sleep, which many find easier to awaken from.
• AutoSleep - This app automatically tracks your sleep from your Apple Watch without the need to press any buttons. It has no user analytics tracking, advertising plugins, or data uploads. It also has full integration with Sleep Stages from the Apple Sleep app, allowing you to view all the information in AutoSleep.
• Sleep Pulse 3 - This is a fully-featured standalone sleep app for your Apple Watch. It tracks your heart rate, motion, and resting heart rate, and there's a sleep view you can access when you wake up in the middle of the night. All the sleep analysis is done on the watch, not on your phone.

Sleep tracking limitations

The Apple Watch Series 6 does have sleep-tracking capabilities. However, there are some limitations to its sleep-tracking features that users should be aware of:

Battery Life

The Apple Watch Series 6 typically offers around 18 hours of battery life on a single charge. Therefore, if you plan to use it for sleep tracking, you will need to set aside time during the day to charge the device. It is recommended that the watch is charged to at least 30% before sleep tracking to ensure it has sufficient battery life to last through the night.

Accuracy

While the Apple Watch can provide insights into your sleep patterns, it is important to note that no wearable device can offer completely accurate sleep stage tracking. The data provided should be used as a general guideline rather than an exact representation of your sleep stages.

Blood Oxygen Sensor

The Apple Watch SE and newer models, such as the Series 9 and Ultra 2, lack the blood oxygen sensor that was previously used to enhance sleep tracking accuracy. This is due to a patent dispute, and Apple is working to resolve this issue. As a result, older models like the Series 8 or first-generation Ultra may offer slightly more accurate sleep tracking data due to their functioning blood oxygen sensors.

Wrist Temperature Sensor

The wrist temperature sensor, available on the Apple Watch Series 8 and later, is not currently utilized for sleep tracking. Instead, it provides separate data points that can be viewed in the Health app. This data is used to create a baseline of your nightly wrist temperature, which can be helpful for fertility tracking and cycle prediction. However, it is not incorporated into the sleep tracking calculations.

Sleep Focus

The Sleep Focus feature allows you to reduce distractions and notifications on your iPhone and Apple Watch during your scheduled bedtime. However, it is important to note that you will need to manually enable Sleep Focus or customize your notification settings to take advantage of this feature.

Frequently asked questions