How to Track Your Sleep With Apple Watch
Apple enhanced its sleep features with more sleep monitoring information and insights in iOS 16 and watchOS 9. To set up sleep tracking for Apple Watch, continue reading.
In watchOS 9, Apple significantly improved the built-in Sleep app on the Apple Watch by adding Sleep Stages. The Apple Watch can tell you how much time you spent during the night in REM, Core, or Deep sleep as well as how much time you were awake thanks to Sleep Stages.
Additionally, you can contrast this information with the readings your Apple Watch can capture all night long of your heart rate, breathing rate, and wrist temperature (on Apple Watch 8 and Apple Watch Ultra versions).
You must create a sleep routine on your iPhone or Apple Watch in order to start tracking your sleep with the device. The procedures are demonstrated in the steps below.
How to Set a Sleep Schedule on iPhone
- Launch Apple's Health app on your iPhone.
- Tap the Browse tab in the bottom-right corner of the screen.
- Scroll down and select Sleep.
- Tap Sleep Schedule under "Your Schedule".
- If Sleep Schedule is off, tap the switch to toggle it to the green ON position.
- Under "Full Schedule," tap Set Your First Schedule.
- Tap any of the blue circles under "Days Active" to disable Sleep Schedule on any days of the week.
- Using your finger, drag the ends of the sleep block to extend it around the clock graphic. This sets your sleep goal as well as your bedtime and wakeup time.
- Scroll down to reveal your Alarm options. Use the switch next to Wake Up Alarm to turn the alarm on/off. If you enabled the alarm, you can select the vibration type and sound you'd like to hear using Sounds & Haptics, adjust the volume using the slider, and allow for a snooze using the Snooze switch.
- Tap Add in the top-right corner when you're done.
- To add a different schedule for different days (the weekend, for example), tap Add Schedule for Other Days and customize your options as described in the previous steps.
It should be noted that if you are setting up a Sleep Schedule for the first time, you must first hit "Get Started" and pick a sleep goal after opening the Health app and going to the Sleep area.
How to Set a Sleep Schedule on Apple Watch
- Press the Digital Crown on your Apple Watch to open the App View.
- Launch the Sleep app.
- Tap Full Schedule.
- Tap the switch next to Sleep Schedule to toggle it to the green ON position.
- Now tap Set Your First Schedule.
- If you only want this schedule to apply on certain days of the week, tap Every Day, then uncheck the days to exclude. Otherwise, tap the button below Wake Up, rotate the Digital Crown to select a wakeup time, then tap Set.
- Use the switch next to Alarm to turn the alarm on/off. If you enabled the alarm, you can select the vibration type and sound you'd like to hear using the Sounds & Haptics button. Note that if your watch is in silent mode, your alarm will be replaced by a tap on the wrist.
- Your suggested bedtime is based on your Sleep Goal, which you can edit by using the back button to return to the Full Schedule menu screen. From there, swipe down and tap Sleep Goal, and adjust the hours and minutes to suit.
How to View Sleep Tracking Data
The Health app has charts that compare your heart rate and breathing rate while you sleep so you can evaluate how you're doing throughout the night. On your iPhone, follow these steps to locate them.
- Open the Health App.
- Tap the Browse tab, then select Sleep.
- Scroll down to see sleep tracking highlights, or view the full depth of insight data, including Stages, Amounts, and Comparisons, by tapping Show More Sleep Data below the sleep chart.
By using the Sleep app on your Apple Watch, you can also see this information on your watch.
