How Series 8 Tracks Sleep: An In-Depth Analysis

The Apple Watch Series 8 offers sleep tracking capabilities, including tracking sleep stages such as REM, Core, and Deep sleep. The watch can also track metrics like heart rate and respiratory rate, which can be viewed in the Health app on the iPhone. Sleep tracking on the Apple Watch Series 8 can be enabled by creating a sleep schedule or manually turning on Sleep Focus. Additionally, the watch offers features like Wind Down and bedtime schedules to help users meet their sleep goals.

Sleep tracking capabilities

The Apple Watch Series 8 offers all the sleep-tracking features found on older models, along with more detailed sleep insights thanks to the watchOS 9 update. The Sleep app on the Apple Watch Series 8 also offers a Sleep Focus feature, which limits distractions before you go to bed and ensures you don't wake up accidentally due to your Apple Watch.

The watch's sleep-tracking functionality is robust, and it doesn't try to guilt you into not sleeping. The device will encourage you when you are hitting your sleep goals, but it will not admonish you for missing them. The Sleep app on the Apple Watch Series 8 lets you create Wind Down and Bedtime schedules to help you meet your sleep goals. It also tracks your sleep automatically when you wear your Apple Watch to bed. Once you wake up, you can view how much sleep you got the last night on the Sleep app. In addition, you can view your sleep trends over the past two weeks.

The watch uses its accelerometer and heart rate sensor to detect when you're in REM, Core, or Deep Sleep. It then displays this sleep stage data in the Sleep app. You can also view more details, like time asleep and time in bed, along with additional metrics, like heart rate and respiratory rate, in the Health app on your iPhone. The Sleep app on your Apple Watch can also help track your breathing rate as you sleep, which can give you greater insight into your overall health.

To use the sleep-tracking feature, make sure your Apple Watch is charged to at least 30% before bed with Sleep Tracking turned on. Wear your Apple Watch to sleep for at least 1 hour. In the morning, just glance at the greeting to see how much charge remains.

Sleep schedules

The Apple Watch Series 8 offers a range of features to help you track your sleep schedules and improve your sleep habits. The Sleep app on the Apple Watch allows you to create personalised sleep schedules and set sleep goals. You can set your desired sleep duration, bedtime, and wake-up times. Additionally, the Sleep Focus feature helps reduce distractions before bedtime and ensures a peaceful sleep by limiting notifications and simplifying your Lock Screen.

To enable sleep tracking, make sure your Apple Watch is charged to at least 30% before going to bed. The watch will then track your sleep and provide insights into your sleep patterns, including the time spent in each sleep stage: REM, Core, and Deep Sleep. It also records additional metrics like heart rate and respiratory rate, which can be viewed in the Health app on your iPhone. The watch can also track multiple naps or sleep intervals without requiring a set schedule, making it adaptable to dynamic sleep patterns.

The Sleep app also includes Wind Down schedules, which remind you to start preparing for bed 45 minutes beforehand. During this time, your watch enters a semi-locked state, dimming the screen and preventing accidental operation. After waking up, you can review your sleep data on the Sleep app, including sleep duration and trends over the past two weeks. This data can help you understand your sleep efficiency and make informed adjustments to your sleep schedule.

The Apple Watch Series 8's sleep tracking capabilities are an excellent tool for gaining insights into your sleep habits and making improvements to benefit your overall health. The ability to create personalised sleep schedules and receive encouragement for achieving sleep goals makes it a valuable companion for optimising your sleep routines.

Sleep insights

The Apple Watch Series 8 offers detailed sleep insights, building on the sleep tracking capabilities of previous models. The watchOS 9 update introduces sleep stages, providing users with information about their sleep patterns and sleep quality.

The Sleep app on the Apple Watch Series 8 allows users to create personalised sleep schedules, including wind-down and bedtime routines, to help them meet their sleep goals. The app can also be used to track sleep automatically without setting a schedule, using the AutoSleep app, for example. It can detect when the user is in REM, core, or deep sleep by using the watch's accelerometer and heart rate sensor. This sleep stage data is then displayed in the Sleep app, along with the time spent in each stage and the user's sleep average over the last 14 days.

In addition to sleep stage data, the Apple Watch Series 8 can also track the user's respiratory rate while they sleep. This data can be viewed in the Health app on the iPhone, providing insights into the user's overall health. The watch can also measure the time spent asleep and the time in bed, as well as heart rate and respiratory rate metrics.

The Sleep Focus feature on the Apple Watch Series 8 helps to limit distractions before bedtime and ensures a good night's rest. It also includes a semi-locked state while the user is sleeping to prevent accidental operation of the watch. The watch will prompt the user to charge it before bedtime if the battery level is less than 30%.

Sleep stages

The Apple Watch Series 8 offers sleep tracking capabilities. It can track your sleep automatically when you wear it to bed, or based on a sleep schedule you create. It also has a Sleep Focus feature, which limits distractions before bedtime.

Sleep tracking capabilities were first added to the Apple Watch Series 6, and the Series 8 includes all the sleep tracking features found on older models, along with more detailed sleep insights thanks to the watchOS 9 update. The watchOS 9 update introduces sleep stages to provide users with detailed information about their sleeping patterns.

The Apple Watch Series 8 uses its accelerometer and heart rate sensor to detect when you're in REM, Core, or Deep Sleep. It then displays this sleep stage data in the Sleep app. You can also view more details, like time asleep and time in bed, along with additional metrics, like heart rate and respiratory rate, in the Health app on your iPhone.

Sleep is broadly divided into two types: rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. NREM sleep is further divided into three stages. The first sleep cycle is often the shortest, ranging from 70 to 100 minutes, while later cycles tend to fall between 90 and 120 minutes. A typical sleep cycle lasts about 90 minutes, and a person will typically go through four to six sleep cycles per night.

The first stage of NREM sleep, N1, is when a person first falls asleep. This stage normally lasts just one to seven minutes, and it is easy to wake someone up during this stage. During this stage, the body and brain activities start to slow, with periods of brief movements. After N1, you move into N2 sleep, which is still light sleep but deeper than N1. During this stage, brain waves slow down and have noticeable pauses between short, powerful bursts of electrical activity. Experts believe that these bursts are the brain organizing memories and information from the time spent awake. N2 accounts for about 45% of your time asleep. After N2, you move into N3 sleep or REM sleep. N3 is the deepest stage of NREM sleep and makes up about 25% of your total sleep time in adults. During this stage, your brain waves are slow but strong, and your body takes advantage of this very deep sleep stage to repair injuries and reinforce your immune system.

Sleep data

The Apple Watch Series 8 offers sleep tracking features, including in-depth sleep tracking, cycle and basal temperature tracking for women, and split pace notifications for cardio workouts. The watch can track how long you spend in deep sleep, core sleep, REM sleep, and awake. It uses the watch's accelerometer and heart rate sensor to detect the different sleep stages and then displays this data in the Sleep app.

To track your sleep, you can create sleep schedules using the Sleep app on your Apple Watch. You can also set up sleep goals, such as the number of hours you want to sleep, and create a Wind Down period before your scheduled bedtime. The watch will remind you to get ready for bed and will put your watch in a semi-locked state to reduce distractions and ensure the light from the screen doesn't bother you.

Once you wake up, you can view your sleep data on the Sleep app. This includes the amount of sleep you got, the time spent in each sleep stage, and your sleep average over the last 14 days. You can also access more detailed sleep data on the Health app on your iPhone, including heart rate, respiratory rate, and sleep trends over a longer period.

It is important to note that the Apple Watch needs to be charged to at least 30% before bed to effectively track your sleep. Additionally, the watch must track your sleep for at least 4 hours each night to provide meaningful sleep data.

While the Apple Watch Series 8 offers robust sleep-tracking capabilities, it is important to recognize that it may not suit individuals with inconsistent sleep schedules or those who are not accustomed to sleeping with a device on their wrist.

Frequently asked questions