How accurate is sleep tracking with Apple Watch?

[The Cockney Rebel]

I’ve worn my watch to bed, for a couple of nights.

Was just wondering how accurate it, and watchOS 10 is, with sleep tracking?

Apparently, I’m getting about 8 hours of sleep.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I have found it to be pretty accurate and within 20-30 mins of the AutoSleep app.

 

[Howard2k]

I have found it to be pretty accurate and within 20-30 mins of the AutoSleep app.

How do you know that AutoSleep is accurate?

 

[BillGates1969]

I found it pretty accurate, but I now use an Oura Ring for sleep tracking - this is IMO spot on. The total sleep and resting heart rates seem to be the same give or take between the watch and the ring, but the ring does monitor the stages really well I find and there are sometimes big differences between the two. I trust the ring more for the stages and also my body temperature.

FWIW, when I got covid both the watch and the ring detected elevated heart rate and raised temperature though the morning before I felt (and fell) ill.

 

[jz0309]

I’ve been using mine for about 2 years for sleep tracking, I cannot really say anything about accuracy as I have no comparison.
And I’m not sure honestly that I’ve learned anything from the data. I am ver regular, go to bed at the same time every day and get up by alarm …

 

[Night Spring]

As other posters have mentioned, it's hard to determine "accuracy" when I don't have anything else to compare it to. I'll say Apple Watch + Health App produces pretty charts showing your sleep times and sleep states (core, REM, deep, and awake) when it works. The problem is if your sleep times are irregular, it sometimes doesn't register at all that you slept, or just shows that you were asleep without breaking down your sleep states. There are other apps that supposedly do a better job of tracking your sleep if you sleep outside of your regular sleep times, but you have to pay for them.

 

[arc of the universe]

two observations.

1 i have found that the Watch is very accurate in identifying "time in bed" and "time asleep"

2 about identifying the 4 states (Awake / REM / Core / Deep ) : ive never been able to remember very well my dreams or if i dream a lot, but on the occasion when i am drifting in and out of sleep (from being slightly awake then falling asleep and dreaming then being slightly awake then going back to dreaming) apple's Sleep and the Watch invariably record that kind of phase very well (rapidly switching between Awake and REM). this leads me to believe that probably its Core and Deep sleep % are probably accurate as well.

i used to use the app and device from Beddit (until apple bought that company and shut it down) to measure sleep. it also seemed to be quite accurate.

however, i have never trusted the science enough to allow my scheduled wake up alarm to be delayed or shortened based on the state a sleep app says im in, as some sleep apps provide.

while apple just records the sleep data into its Health app and provides sleep state percentages, its apps like Withings that actually use that sleep data from the Watch and tries to assess the quality of your sleep. i have found that the Withings scoring for my night's sleep does match with what i personally feel in terms of how refreshed i am in the morning. this would indicate that the science that the Watch itself uses is probably sound.

if for no other reason, the Watch's (and apple's) focus on sleep has helped me to understand that getting enough sleep is important for overall health. and using the Wind Down feature etc assists with this. im sleeping more and better because of this emphasis on sleep and easy access to trend data etc.

 

[Night Spring]

however, i have never trusted the science enough to allow my scheduled wake up alarm to be delayed or shortened based on the state a sleep app says im in, as some sleep apps provide.

This is actually something I would be interested in trying, if I had a schedule where I had to get up regularly every morning. It's not like those apps would significantly shorten or lengthen your sleep times, I think it'd be a matter of plus or minus 10-15 minutes. And I know I feel better if I wake up from a REM state with only 5 hours or sleep, rather than if I'm shaken awake from deeper sleep after 7 hours.

 

[hanser]

Just a small anecdote: Normally the deep sleep phases are in the first half of the sleep, not in the morning. Over the holidays one morning I woke up at 7 and decided to try to get to sleep again and succeeded. When I woke up 1 hour later, I felt very unfit, like sedated and it took some time and lots of tea to really wake me up. When I looked at the sleep tracking of the watch, I saw that according to the watch I had a deep sleep phase just prior to waking up again, which would explain my experience. So, in this instance I have data pointing to correct interpretation of sleep phases by the watch.

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

Do you think the sleep function will be refined, to wake you at a time where you will feel most rested?

 

[arc of the universe]

Do you think the sleep function will be refined, to wake you at a time where you will feel most rested?

apple could easily implement it within its Sleep schedule, but typically apple leaves this kind of function to 3rd party developers in order to boost app store vitality. apps that do this are already in the iOS app store.

 

[lanceuppercut47]

apple could easily implement it within its Sleep schedule, but typically apple leaves this kind of function to 3rd party developers in order to boost app store vitality. apps that do this are already in the iOS app store.

I used to use Sleep Cycle to do this on iPhone, apparently I need to pay a subscription for AW functionality, lately I've purchased AutoSleep and that has similar functionality.

 

[weezin]

My main complaint is that it doesn't always pick up when I'm awake in the middle of the night. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. It's frustrating.

Otherwise, it seems to work fairly well? Hard to tell.

 

[Thomas Davie]

I find the AW sleep tracking extremely accurate, Autowatch the same. My justification for making the statement is that I have medically diagnosed PTSD from euthanizing animals and wake up all the time with nightmares and look at the clock. When I have Prazosin (just think of it as an anti PTSD med), well I’ll find out any comparison for the AW (been out of the prescription for 2 months).

Tom

 

[Eso]

It doesn’t matter because “tracking” your sleep is a pointless endeavor.

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

It doesn’t matter because “tracking” your sleep is a pointless endeavor.

I don't agree.

When I stop taking my medication, I hardly get any sleep at all.

When I do take it, I get some sleep.

I find it interesting to see the difference in my sleeping patterns when I am, or am not, taking my medication.

 

[arkitect]

I used to use Sleep Cycle to do this on iPhone, apparently I need to pay a subscription for AW functionality, lately I've purchased AutoSleep and that has similar functionality.

Thanks for that.
I have AutoSleep — use it every night… and never knew it had this feature.
I'm going to try it out tomorrow morning.

🙂

 

[Thomas Davie]

It doesn’t matter because “tracking” your sleep is a pointless endeavor.

Really? So, the fact that I can take a 6 month printout of my sleep patterns and show it to either/both gp and psychiatrist is pointless? That it can lead to medication adjustments makes it the opposite of pointless for me. I apologize if I come off as snarky, bit quite obviously it’s not pointless for some.

Tom

 

[HDFan]

Ultra is reasonably accurate.

 

[callison]

My sleep stages have changed drastically in the last 2-3 months. It kinda coincides with me switching from an AW 7 to and Ultra 2. Is there a difference in the algorithm between the two devices? If not, was there a change in how the new beta software processes it?

 

[weezin]

I've had many nights where I know that I'm awake, yet the watch does not pick that up. Do I need to wiggle my hand when I'm awake or something for it to pick it up? It's frustrating.

 

[goldmac2006]

Just a small anecdote: Normally the deep sleep phases are in the first half of the sleep, not in the morning. Over the holidays one morning I woke up at 7 and decided to try to get to sleep again and succeeded. When I woke up 1 hour later, I felt very unfit, like sedated and it took some time and lots of tea to really wake me up. When I looked at the sleep tracking of the watch, I saw that according to the watch I had a deep sleep phase just prior to waking up again, which would explain my experience. So, in this instance I have data pointing to correct interpretation of sleep phases by the watch.

True, the deep sleep stages are typically at the beginning and I don’t see any at the end. Most of my tracking ends at either REM or mostly Core, and during holidays I get the most consistent sleep results. Also, sleep tracking can help with other things as well. I have been using the Peaks third party app which is great as it can map your routine for the day based on your circadian rhythms. It helped me know when I should do my Pilates and Apple Fitness+ workouts, to make sure I do not miss my mealtimes and refraining from late night dinners. Definitely download it from the App Store, there is an app that is available on Apple Watch and lots of complications. There are paid features which can be waived for up to one year if you submit feedback via teleconference with the two young developers from Vogel Haus, who will also provide a hands on overview of the new update coming that will also use Apple Intelligence for customization (if applicable).

If you guys have Apple Fitness+ a sleep meditation session from the Fitness app is perfect to do when you get to bed. If you do not want to watch the video and drift off to sleep during the meditation (which is highly encouraged), you can pair AirPods to your Apple Watch and listen to the audio version of it on the Mindfulness app. Just make sure to take your AirPods off once it is finished, you do not want to accidentally lose them if you roll over. The audio only meditations require an Apple Watch, so if you only have an iPhone all meditations need to be watched with video