by Jason Snell
Gurman: Apple Watch sleep tracking in the works
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that Apple’s working on sleep-tracking features for Apple Watch:
If the functionality is successful in the testing stages, the company plans to add it to the Apple Watch by 2020, according to one of the people. The company has released new versions of the Apple Watch each fall since 2016….
Before Apple launches new health- and fitness-related features for the Watch, it puts the functionality through rigorous testing at labs around its campus. The company also conducts in-house testing for new sensors on exercise equipment such as treadmills and bikes and has analyzed the Watch’s swim-tracking feature with testers at on-site swimming pools. The company also has testing chambers to mimic outside weather conditions and monitor users’ breathing and perspiration.
Apple Watch battery life has gotten so good that a special low-power sleep mode should be able to get it through the night. A quick charge while you’re in the shower would probably be enough to get you through the entire day. That was my experience when I used David Smith’s Sleep++, anyway.
I recently bought a Beddit sleep monitor, which goes on your mattress and syncs sleep data with Apple’s Health database. (The company is owned by Apple; I’ll write more about it soon.) There’s definitely a lot of opportunity to track sleep, perhaps via multiple devices working together. Right now Apple’s iOS bedtime features are pretty rudimentary. I’d love to see Apple’s approach to fitness motivation applied to getting a good night’s sleep, too. Sleep deficits are real, and if your devices know just how little you’ve been sleeping, it’s harder for you to stay in denial about it.