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Apple Seemingly Working on Sleep Score Feature for Apple Watch
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Yes. I find it’s useful to know how much I slept, but as some others have said here, the lack of actionable data that the AW produces is woefully behind the competition.
It doesn't have it yet? Usually Apple is fast to take 3rd parties out of business with their own built in implementation 😅
both devices have a lot in common but it’s what they do with the data that really sets the Garmin apart from the Apple Watch. The Garmin takes the data and presents it in an easily accessible way and makes recommendations. For example, my HRV on my Garmin is tanking and it’s telling me to take it easy (I’ve been pushing too hard lately) whereas my Apple Watch does nothing and doesn’t even try and interpret the data. With sleep tracking, my AW records my sleep and the Health app will pat me on the back for hitting my sleep goal on 3 of the last 4 days whereas my Garmin will say “You slept for 7 hours but it was poor quality sleep. Take it easy today”.
The thing I most love about my Forerunner 970 is I don’t need to even look through my watch most of the time, as I get the morning and evening report. With the morning report, it breaks down how I slept, my HRV trend, my readiness score, the impact the sleep had on my body battery. Whereas the AW just shows that pointless screen each morning.
Oh and I hate how, even though my Apple Watch Ultra 2 supports night mode, the screen is only red when the watch is unlocked. The sleep Lock Screen is white and blue.
Don’t get me wrong, Garmin’s aren’t perfect, but it’s so nice having a device that doesn’t require 5 additional apps and last for days.
Well, I mean, good sleep hygiene is not a bad thing by any means, and to each their own, etc.
But sleeping is resting. If instead of keeping a routine to wind down you're constantly changing things to achieve a higher score, are you truly resting any better despite getting better scores?
Turning sleep into yet another thing to be scored and optimized and constantly improved can turn it from resting into a stressor instead.
So, if there will be a sleep scoring feature on Apple Watch, I hope it will be optional. It's not suitable for everyone.
Just my two cents.
My Garmin gives me an updated training plan for the next 7 days each day, based on sleep, previous workouts, HRV etc. I don't care if my sleep is X or my HRV is Y, I just tells you what you should do for an optimal training.
And that’s your Series 11 exclusive feature right there
I don't mean to downplay any of these features, I think these are largely all thing Apple should push toward offering both on the watch and in the Health app on the phone, but many of these are things you can already get in some form or another via 3rd party apps — which is one of the main strengths of the Apple Watch. It would obviously be great if they were already built in, but going back the original post I was replying to:
This makes it sound like Garmins do a ton of things you couldn't get on an Apple Watch for any amount of money, which just doesn't seem to be true.
Key metric for myself is the HRV value - https://www.garmin.com/en-US/garmin-technology/health-science/hrv-status/ - that pretty accurate match how I feel and are able to perform genrally in life.
Periods when the Garmin says I'm stressed, I am really stressed and this is a sign to take it slower.
Also - getting consistent baselines I'd say is key to understanding any metrics.
I had both btw, AWU and Garmin Forerunner 255 and 955.
Apple's sleep tracking is far superior to Garmin. This is because Garmin sleep tracking is at times off by hours. These events cloud the rest of the "health/fitness" features. That why for example runners don't really pay attention to the body battery/sleep tracking.
So much this. What use are tons of data if you can‘t trust them? Compared to Garmin (and also Samsung etc.) I trust the quality of the Apple Watch sensors/data way more.
I’d like to know some sleep metrics but my AWU2 is too big to wear to bed.
Plus this may just be my brain, but after a long day, I want a break from all devices. I leave my phone downstairs at night and my watch, and go to bed without staring at a screen just me and my thoughts or a book.
Plus this may just be my brain, but after a long day, I want a break from all devices. I leave my phone downstairs at night and my watch, and go to bed without staring at a screen just me and my thoughts or a book.
You can? That’s how I have always done it. I set the alarm on my iPhone, then turn on the sleep focus. In the morning the alarm rings on my iPhone but can turn it off on my watch.
I love the morning report on my Garmin 965. It gives me deep data on my sleep including variations in my breathing. It is so easy to view it on the watch as soon as I wake up. There are about 6 screens that I swipe through to see different categories of information.
Garmin all day every day when it comes to data and ease of the presentation of that data.
This is my general feeling as well.
The fully integrated package on the hardware and software side is really nice.
Obviously, the way better battery life speaks for itself also.
I went Garmin for the better battery life and body battery etc. (Garmin Forerunner 965) But sold it again, waiting for AWU3 then pair it up again with Athlytic. I like the fact I dont have to bring my phone during runs, and still be able to get calls/messages if needed and overall features, like Apple Pay. (Garmin pay only support 3 banks in the Netherlands)
To each our own! Nice!
I have my iPhone with me on runs anyhow (in my hydration pack) so that one hasn't been an issue for me.
Most of the other wearables I've tried that excelled at sleep tracking (Whoop, Oura, Garmin) excelled because they don't require daily charging. Even with my Apple Watch Ultra, if I pull it off the charger at 5am and don't charge it before I go to bed, it's usually dead by Noon. This makes it difficult to sleep in my watch.
Apple may be developing a sleep score feature for the Apple Watch, based on code found in iOS 26 by MacRumors contributor Steve Moser.
An image buried in the Health app code features an Apple Watch with an "84" on it. Around the sides of the number, there are three bars that are the same colors as some of the sleep stages that can be tracked with the Apple Watch. The orange could represent time awake, the lighter blue may correspond with REM sleep, and the darker blue could be Core or Deep sleep.
The watch graphic is surrounded by sleep-related icons that Apple uses in different places in iOS, including a moon and stars, a "zzz," a bed, an icon representing sleep stages, an alarm clock, and in one spot, a thermometer.
Apple named the image "Watch Focus Score," suggesting that it is indeed some kind of sleep-related score that the watch will provide. With the focus name, it could perhaps provide a prediction on how well you'll be able to function during the day based on the amount of sleep that you got the night before.
Many health tracking devices offer a sleep score, but it's something that Apple has not provided with the Apple Watch yet. The Apple Watch has sleep tracking and separates sleep into REM, Core, and Deep, plus Apple provides time in bed and time awake metrics.
Based on the temperature icon, the future sleep score could take into account multiple health metrics, similar to the Vitals option that Apple introduced in watchOS 11.
We haven't discovered further signs of a sleep score feature, so there is a possibility that this graphic relates to something else. It's also possible that this is an option that Apple plans to introduce with the watchOS 26 update, and we're just seeing the first hints of it.
Article Link: Apple Seemingly Working on Sleep Score Feature for Apple Watch
