“We felt like that wasn't the best way Apple could add value here on sleep. “You can't really coach yourself to have more or less REM stages,” Apple’s VP of Technology, Kevin Lynch, told CNET. Based on their studies, the Apple Watch team felt that would be most useful. Heart rate variability, which other trackers use to define quality of sleep, isn’t a reliable yardstick, Valle explains, so it’s doubtful Apple will turn to that tool.Īnd although many competitors deliver a robust amount of data to consumers-like time spent in REM stages, blood oxygen measurement, and “bad night’s sleep” alerts- Apple’s sleep tracking feature will focus on two simple things: your bedtime routine and duration of sleep. But they’ve yet to unveil exactly how the watch will capture your sleep data, saying only that it will use the watch’s built-in accelerometer "to notice the subtle movements associated with breathing and differentiate between sleeping and waking states.” Sleep experts say that’s a good thing.ĭuring the company’s June keynote, Apple introduced their sleep tracker as a pared down, holistic approach to improving sleep. “Apple had no choice but to add a robust sleep tracker.”Īs with many things Apple does, the sleep tracking feature will look different than that of its competitors. “So now there’s competition for screen real estate on the wrist,” he explains. “Apple observes and learns from others, then improves on it,” he says.Īnother part of the equation, says Valle, is the fact that fitness trackers-which have long operated as bracelets-are migrating to watches with screens. One of the biggest, he says, is Apple’s overarching approach of refining features and processes, rather than creating them.
That will all change with the watchOS 7 software update, releasing this fall.Īccording to Carl Valle, lead writer at sports technology platform SimpliFaster, a few factors played into Apple’s decision to join competitors like Fitbit, Oura, and WHOOP in providing a sleep tracker. In a watch that can do seemingly everything, there’s been one glaring void in what the Apple Watch offers: sleep tracking.
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