Sleep Tracking
This is arguably the biggest new feature to come to the Apple Watch in watchOS 7 this year, although it wasn’t really all that big of a surprise, as we’ve been hearing rumours that Apple has been working on it ever since it acquired Beddit a couple of years ago.
When Apple announced the new feature at WWDC, however, it noted that it was taking a more “holistic” approach to sleep tracking, and from what we’ve seen this definitely appears to be the case.
If you’re expecting the Apple Watch to provide a whole bunch of detailed metrics on your sleep, you’re probably going to be disappointed, as the actual tracking is fairly basic — at least on the current Apple Watch models. It remains to be seen whether the Apple Watch Series 6 will expand on these capabilities, especially considering that it may add some interesting new sensors that could track more detailed sleep information.
However, what the Apple Watch tracks in watchOS 7 as of right now is simply the time you’ve spent actually sleeping (as opposed to simply laying in bed) as well as monitoring your heart rate while you’re sleeping.
It doesn’t track whether you’re getting a “good” sleep in terms of measuring things like how soundly you’re sleeping, but simply how long you actually were asleep for.
It’s a definite improvement on the basic “bedtime” tracking that’s long been available on the iPhone, since that only measures “time in bed” based on when you put your iPhone down for the night and when you pick it up in the morning. The Apple Watch with watchOS 7 will contrast that to when you’re actually asleep, and not just staring at the ceiling and counting sheep. Of course, it still tracks everything else while you’re sleeping too — one night I even managed to get credit for a minute of “stand” time at 2 a.m., even while I was otherwise sound asleep.
However, where the “holistic” approach comes in is in Apple’s new features in iOS 14 and watchOS 7 that work together to help you wind down at the end of the day and wake up more gently in the morning. You can build a bedtime routine, including shortcuts for your home accessories, preferred music, podcasts, or meditation apps, and more. Shortly before bedtime, your iPhone will kick into a “wind down” mode that will present only those options in order to encourage you to stop playing with your iPhone and actually get ready for bed.
As cool as the sleep tracking feature is, it’s also worth noting that it will likely require a significant shift to your daily routine, since you’ll no longer be able to charge your Apple Watch overnight. For me, that was the hardest thing to get used to, since I’ve always taken the Apple Watch off right before bed, and then put it on as soon as I get out of the shower in the morning. Now I have to find some additional time to charge it, and with a full charge taking about two hours, you may find yourself having to charge it multiple times during the day. Hopefully the Apple Watch Series 6 makes some improvements in this area, but for older models you’ll have to decide whether the tradeoff of losing overnight charging is worth the benefits from the sleep tracking feature. For me, even after a couple of weeks of using it, it’s something I’m still on the fence about.