Lack of sleep, too much sleep, trouble falling asleep—these are merely a couple of common sleep problems that people suffer from. And getting an adequate amount of sleep is so important as it boosts your mood, enhances your brain function, and just makes you feel better overall throughout the day.
Luckily for you, there are apps these days that can track, record, and monitor your sleep. However, not all sleep tracker apps are created equally.
What Can Sleep Tracker Apps Do for You?
Usually, people are told not to use their smartphones in bed with them. However, there are both pros and cons of using sleep tracker apps in the bedroom. So, what makes sleep tracker apps so special? What are they meant to actually do for you, and should you add one into your life?
How do sleep trackers work? Simply put, sleep tracker apps are supposed to track and analyze everything about your sleep to help you better understand your sleep troubles and then help you get a good night's rest. Feeling overwhelmed with all the app options? Read on to find out what you can expect from the good and bad sleep tracker apps.
What the Good Sleep Tracker Apps Offer
The best sleep tracker apps should record, analyze, and track your sleep without fault. Oftentimes they require a paid subscription plan, yet it is worth it if you want the best analysis of your sleep. So with a little testing, here's what you can expect from good sleep tracker apps.
1. Syncs With Wearables or Uses Scientific Methods
Some sleep tracker apps only use your smartphone's microphone and speaker to track your sleep. Yet those who offer both options are frequently among the best apps.
Generally, using a smart fitness wearable and connecting to the companion app for sleep tracking means you're likely to get the best and most accurate sleep data.
On the other hand, there is one excellent sleep tracker app, SleepScore, that uses special sonar sensor technology—almost like echolocation—to perfectly track your sleep. So when you want to use SleepScore, you don't need a wearable. Just place it at arm's length away, but make sure nothing is blocking it like your duvet or pillows.
Download: SleepScore for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)
2. Provides Clear Statistics and Insights
What's the point of tracking your sleep if the app doesn't give you the right sleep statistics, reports, and insights? One of the best-tested sleep tracker apps is Sleep Monitor as it can tell you precisely when you fell asleep, when you woke up, and your various sleep stages, like REM, light, and deep.
After using Sleep Monitor for months now, I've found all the necessary sleep data it provides—like sleep duration, sleep regularity, sleep efficiency, and sleep debt—is almost always error-free.
Download: Sleep Monitor for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)
3. Records Sleep Sounds Without Fault
One of the first things I checked for when testing sleep tracker apps was the ability to record sleep sounds and how correct and relevant the recordings were.
A good deal of the bad sleep tracker apps tested did genuinely offer plenty of recordings in the morning, but the only downside is that they were of nothing important.
If you know that you continuously snore, or that your baby was fussing throughout the night, you can expect a good sleep tracker app to record those sounds. Having trouble with your little ones at bedtime? Be sure to consider these apps to help relax your child and make falling asleep easier.
What the Bad Sleep Tracker Apps Offer
Plenty of sleep tracker apps claim to track your sleep cycles, record sleep noises, and help you sleep better overall. Unfortunately, some testing proved that they only provided some features perfectly and sometimes caused more problems! Below is what you'll get out of a bad sleep tracker app.
1. Tracks Sleep Data Inaccurately
One aspect that's sadly common among bad sleep tracker apps is incorrect sleep data. As an example, if you've had a terrible night's sleep and have woken up several times, but the sleep tracker doesn't pick up on anything.
I found that when I looked back at my sleep data, some less-than-perfect sleep tracker apps had started tracking me as sleeping despite the fact that I had not even fallen asleep yet. This is obviously frustrating, and it can throw all of your sleep statistics off in the long run.
2. Random Crashes and Glitchy Features
What's notably bad about several sleep tracker apps is that they either randomly crash or stop working. On the other hand, some of the features they offer are problematic and don't work as they should. For instance, while testing, some apps offered a handy alarm clock feature, but sadly it failed to go off when it should.
Tracking your sleep requires a full night of sleep data if you want to see where your problems lie and figure out how to fix them. If a sleep tracker app casually stops tracking your sleep during the night, it's not possible to perfectly track and monitor your sleep.
3. Intrusive Ads With Limited Free Features
Another quite obvious thing that many of the bad sleep tracker apps always seem to have, alongside other bad features, is too many ads! They're inconvenient and consistently pop up at the worst times, like when you're trying to listen to sleep recordings from the night before.
You can pay to have the ads removed, but it's not worth it if it's a bad sleep tracker app anyway. Moreover, the features that these sleep tracker apps offer for free are incredibly limited, so there's no way to test out what the app truly offers without paying.
Sleep Tracker Apps You Should Consider Using
As previously mentioned, SleepScore and Sleep Monitor are both good sleep tracker apps that provide plenty of excellent features to help you track and improve your sleep. SleepScore's scientific echolocation technology gives you clear and accurate tracking almost every time and Sleep Monitor offers so much more sleep information than most other apps.
One more good sleep tracker app to consider is Sleep Cycle. Sleep Cycle is one of the top picks because of its range of features, including sleep programs, sleep statistics, and sleep cycle graphs. Furthermore, Sleep Cycle has a unique smart alarm that wakes you up within your chosen timeframe. And the alarm actually goes off in the morning!
Download: Sleep Cycle for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)
Know the Difference Between Good and Bad Sleep Tracker Apps
If you're having sleep issues, it can negatively affect your physical, mental, and emotional health. Sleep tracker apps vary, but they're an excellent way to get an overview of what goes on while you sleep.
The bad news is that too many sleep tracker apps claim to track your sleep accurately with little to no issues. But the truth is that if you want precise data about your sleep throughout the night, you need to make sure you're using a good sleep tracker app.
Keep in mind that if you want to start using a sleep tracker app, it helps to test a few out yourself for a few nights. What bothers some people, such as ads, might be perfectly fine for you.