'AutoSleep 5' Brings Live Sleep Tracking to Apple Watch and iPhone X Support

[Bryan Bowler]

Apple needs to figure out the battery issue.

What battery issue? The battery life that Apple squeezes out of the AW, based on today's technology, is nothing short of amazing.

If you're an AW Power User that utilizes things that eat up battery life, just learn to charge your watch better. (Like when you're showering, brushing your teeth, etc.). It's very easy and not hard to do.

 

[lederermc]

So WHEN do you recharge your watch if not while you sleep?

 

[Hodar1]

I wish these apps would include support for Sleep Number beds, and other beds that have sensors to track not only when you get into bed, but movements, pulse rate, and breaths per minute. I doubt that other "smart beds" do not track these traits; but the newer Sleep Number beds do.
[doublepost=1513702834][/doublepost]

So WHEN do you recharge your watch if not while you sleep?

Charging the watch is pretty simple, doesn't take much time. If you have a charger at work, you can charge it in an hour or so at work. If you have a charger in the car, you can charge it on your drive to work, and home. My Series 2 watch is usually charged in about an hour.

 

[jermwhl]

So WHEN do you recharge your watch if not while you sleep?

I throw mine on the charger when I jump in the shower. Usually an hour or less later and it's fully charged.

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

You might like to read this too

https://autowake.tantsissa.com. #comingsoonish

Thanks for the link. I'd heard they were coming out with a separate smart wake app in the near future. I'll definitely be buying this day 1.

 

[Bryan Bowler]

Just bought the app, thanks to this article. Much appreciated MacRumors!

 

[iLoveDeveloping]

Laughing at all the comments “but it only lasts 18 hours or less” “it only lasts 24 hours!!”

Obviously they don’t have an Apple Watch or they only have the series 0 or 1. I used to say this too and 2 weeks ago I got the Apple Watch series 3 after using the series 0. I now get about 2.5 days of charge on it, this thing is insane!!! I love it, I have to charge my iPhone 6 twice before I even have to consider my Apple Watch. I can easily wear it to bed every night on a single charge every 3 days.

So stop this battery nonsence, Apple Watch series 3 is a monster! Love it!!

 

[klemsaba]

I must be one of those odd people who, when I wake up in the morning, can tell if I’ve had a good nights sleep without needing my watch to confirm it.

Maybe I’m naive, but what’s the point? What info does a sleep app provide that is useful? I mean if it tells you that you had 3 hrs of R.E.M. over an 8hr sleep, how do you change it if it says you’re not getting enough? What happens if you think you’ve had a great sleep but the app says ‘no you didnt’.

It's just interesting data to look at once and awhile. If I see I woke up at 3am for some reason and I hear on the news later that we had an earthquake at 3am that's an interesting data point. I don't always look at the clock when I wake up. But you're right. Not sure how it helps me change my sleeping habits.

 

[mhoutman]

Thanks for the link. I'd heard they were coming out with a separate smart wake app in the near future. I'll definitely be buying this day 1.

It is probably approved tomorrow

 

[dylanlive]

I love this app, but my wrist gets sore wearing the watch all day and night

 

[satinsilverem2]

does this app work on the series 0? I know that the 1st gen watches are starting to be left behind in full too support ie. resting heart rate and so on.

 

[Volusia]

does this app work on the series 0? I know that the 1st gen watches are starting to be left behind in full too support ie. resting heart rate and so on.

I had previous versions of their app on my Series 0 and it worked. Haven't tried with the upgraded version (wife using the older one currently).

 

[Sheza]

What do you do with your insights? It seems wakeup was a major feature of sleep cycle.

Mostly I like to see how much of my 8 hours a night target I’ve reached for the past 7 days.

But it’s also good to spot patterns where I’m going to bed later than I should on certain days of the week, so I can adjust and get a more even schedule.

The best part about the app for me is that it’s conpletely automatic. Sure, the basic clock app has a sleep function where you can set 8 hours of sleep, but that relies on you to actually go to bed when you set it. And yes Sleeo Cycle wakes you up at a good time and I do miss that feature but it doesn’t require my phone to be constantly analysing motion / sound all night and you still have to set it going.

With AutoSleep you don’t have to remember anything. Just go to sleep.

 

[ErikGrim]

Let me book a flight to this magical planet, stat!

I was super happy with with my OG Apple Watch and did not plan to upgrade this year, but unfortunately it eventually developed water damage through a hairline crack. Repairs cost almost as much as a new watch, so I bit the bullet and upgraded to a SS S3.

Turned out to be a blessing in disguise. While I don’t take advantage of LTE, the battery life and speed is an incredible upgrade. Sleep tracking is no issue at all. A short charge each morning while I do my morning routine is all it needs and I can wear it pretty much 24/7.
[doublepost=1513730641][/doublepost]Very happy with this update. Switching between days and analysis is so much faster now (almost unusable before as data simply wouldn’t update at times). Still don’t understand why this data isn’t cached and there’s a reanalysis every time you switch days. All this data should be analysed and cached in the background to allow for instant data updates when you go back and forth between days.

 

[kgelner]

Yep. If I used the Apple Watch for sleep tracking, my watch would be dead before I hit REM.
Apple needs to figure out the battery issue.
I have the OG watch and love it. The thing still doesn't have a scratch on it, but the battery gets weaker every day.
I could go a day and half at first, now I am under 10% before 9PM.
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Let me book a flight to this magical planet, stat!

If you have the 0G watch (as I do) you need a new watch anyway. Things like this sleep tracker or the new heart rate study app, all require series one or higher.

If you really want to stick with the watch you have you can always go to Apple and replace the battery for some small fee. I've been considering that, but my battery still lasts easily 16 hours in a day unless I do more than an hour of exercise tracking, then it's more like 12.

 

[mac4me]

You might like to read this too

https://autowake.tantsissa.com. #comingsoonish

Just bought it ($1.99 intro price) through that link. Release date listed as Dec 20.

 

[mhoutman]

So WHEN do you recharge your watch if not while you sleep?

While under the shower or watching telly...
[doublepost=1513760783][/doublepost]AutoWake is up now too: https://itunes.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1279650551

 

[iwayne]

I love this app, but my wrist gets sore wearing the watch all day and night

I switch wrists before going to bed. Wear it on my right while sleeping.

 

[mhoutman]

I love this app, but my wrist gets sore wearing the watch all day and night

You might like to try a Sport Loop in bed; very comfortable and probably breathing

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

It is probably approved tomorrow

and it was, and I bought it
[doublepost=1513802743][/doublepost]

I love this app, but my wrist gets sore wearing the watch all day and night

You might like to try a Sport Loop in bed; very comfortable and probably breathing

Actually the rubbery sport loops are they ones that tend to cause the irritation for me (also these are the bands I sometimes where for weeks at a time). However what I've started doing is rotating bands and that helps a lot. Even swapping out different rubbery sport bands seems to help. I've gotten several of bands on Amazon (usually for like $5 each).

 

[mhoutman]

and it was, and I bought it
[doublepost=1513802743][/doublepost]


Actually the rubbery sport loops are they ones that tend to cause the irritation for me (also these are the bands I sometimes where for weeks at a time). However what I've started doing is rotating bands and that helps a lot. Even swapping out different rubbery sport bands seems to help. I've gotten several of bands on Amazon (usually for like $5 each).

I am talking about the Sport Loop, not the Sport Band. Latter are made of rubber while former from webbing

 

[JackieInCo]

No, it just tracks sleep.

I have a series 3 Apple Watch (Nike) and regularly get 2.5 days of life off a single charge. YMMV.

I'm getting about two days of use out of one charge.

I like the new AutoSleep app. My watch informed me of how much sleep I got today where before, the iPhone would inform me and not the watch. I've been using AutoSleep since March and have always enjoyed using it.

 

[jtara]

So, I decided to try this app. It just isn't a good fit for me.

Thing is, I wear my Apple Watch mainly as a watch. I work from home, and put the watch on when I go somewhere, and take it off and put it on the charger when I get back home. I'm just mildly curious about how my sleep is, so figured I'd give it a go for a few days and see what it reveals.

The original concept of the app is just daft. I suppose, though, they had to do something to distinguish from all the other sleep-related apps, and so they latched on to "auto". To no surprise, they evidently found that wearing/no wearing watch moving/not moving phone is a horrible indicator of sleep times.

I realize the whole point is to avoid having to open and app and push a button. But... why not ALSO include the button?!

I downloaded the app, then forgot about it for a couple of days. (Frankly, I fell asleep forgetting to put my watch on!)

First UI gaff I noticed - I have no idea how I might completely delete a day's record. I have a couple of days of completely meaningless data now. One day I "slept" 13 hours, and another one 20.

The UI in general is busy, overly-bright, and confusing, IMO.

I tried the app for one night, and it doesn't tell me much of use. I got ONE heart rate reading - when I woke up and unlocked the phone, I guess. Maybe it is that I had background refresh off on my phone globally, but I don't think communicating with the watch has anything to do with background refresh? I will try again tonight with background refresh off.

It has some representation of some time with "lowered heart rate" but for the life of me can't find an actual number, if it even recorded it. But how does it know "lowered heart rate" if it doesn't have numbers? Maybe just an assumption based on an assumption - it assumes I was sleeping so assumes I had a lowered heart rate?

I did find the setting to tell the app I don't want to use watch on/off charge and phone activity to detect sleep.

I also have some interest in this, because I did some work a while back toward developing an app to help detect sleep apnea symptoms. Alas, we had to abandon the project due to liability concerns after the Samsung battery disaster: the app required you sleep with an iPhone strapped to your stomach. (We used a "sports wallet" thin-fanny-pack-type thingie). No way I wanted to be responsible for somebody's bed going up in flames! The only practical approach is with a small/safe wearable like a watch. (OK, let's HOPE safe! Any watch-catching-on-fire stories?)

(I notice AutoSleep publisher has some advice on settings "if you sleep with your phone in your bed". IMO, the advice should not be to change the app settings... the advice should be: DON'T!)

 

[4jasontv]

Oh I do use it during the day, I'm just mindful of over-using it when my phone is close by. It's still my favourite fitness tracker.

My watch gets easily better than 24 hours battery life.

Although I charge mine daily, I can see mine easily lasting two full days. I just throw it on the charger when I jump in the shower though.
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Perfect. Thank you!

I put on my Apple Watch at around 7am, and take it off sometime between 11pm and midnight, and usually have about 75% left at that point. That said, if you find yourself using so much battery that you can't track sleep with the watch, put the watch on a charger in the evening when you brush your teeth, take a shower etc. That should give you 15-20 mins of extra charging-time. And if you want to be on the safe side, put the watch on airplane-mode when you sleep.

I don't know what I could do to use more battery life on my Series 3 LTE but I don't try to minimize battery usage and mine is between 67% and 73% when I charge each morning while getting ready for work. I leave GPS, LTE, Wifi... well everything turned on. My prior watch, an Android Wear LG Sport couldn't make it through a day if I dared leaving LTE on. Maybe you are thinking about that watch?


I get similar here with Series 3 LTE.

Mike

I have an Apple Watch 0. For this to work with battery life, charge the Watch daily two hours before bedtime. Watch uses less then 10% while sleeping on average. My useage normal day, the only charging required in 24 hours. The exception, more then normal workout during the day with the Watch, will most likely need a charge after a workout. Thumbs up for the AutoSleep App.

Real question. If all of you claim 2 to 4 days battery life out of this device, why does Apple say it's less than a day? This is far less than a simple underpromise overdeliver. I believe if it's synced with bluetooth to an iPhone that it can get more than 24 hours, but if I have to pay a service fee each month, then it should run off LTE 24 hours a day. I don't believe that with LTE and GPS turned on it lasts more than 24 hours. Minimum usage puts it at least 15 minutes of calls and 100 email and text a day, two hours of streaming audio/video and 30 minutes of GPS navigation.

I just don't believe it lasts 24+ hours when used off bluetooth, and neither does Apple.

 

[jtara]

Given up on this worthless app.

I corrected the setting on my iPhone for background updates, didn't change anything.

It doesn't seem to retrieve/collect ANY heartbeat data while I sleep. I get a single reading when I wake up. Of what use is that for tracking sleep?

Chart on day/edit shows "lower heartrate" color for an hour after going to bed, and gray afterward. No numbers - but I don't know where to look for them if they might be there.

Waste of money. At least it was relatively inexpensive.

Are there issues with Apple Watch 1?

As far as battery life, it used very little overnight. I think like 15%. Only time I've ever noticed a lot of battery drain was when I first got the watch, and started a workout and went for a several-hours walk without workout power saving mode. You can easily drain it that way. That green LED is apparently power-hungry.