Sleep Cycle is a iPhone/iPad alarm app that uses the sensitive motion detecting ability of the device to monitor your movement while you sleep. It utilizes that information to wake you up in the most natural part of your sleep cycle anywhere up to 30 minutes ahead of your desired wake up time. The wellness related idea is that rather than abruptly waking you from a deep sleep phase that leaves you groggy and disoriented, the application monitors you for the most opportune time to wake you with a soothing alarm. According to the people who made the app, users report feeling more refreshed and better rested having been awoken in this body/brain sensitive manner.
Another benefit of the application is that it enables you to monitor your sleep to track your average nightly number of hours, disturbances, and overall depth of sleep experienced. As examples, below are two images – the first occurred on Wednesday which started off well until about 2am when my 4 year old daughter decided it would be good to join us for the rest of the night replete with frequent kicks to the ribs. The second image is from last night where I went to bed exhausted and wasn’t disturbed until it was time to wake up. Notice how my physical movement was already increasing. The application woke me up several minutes before I had set the alarm presumably sensing a decrease in motion that indicated I was settling back into a deeper sleep again.
Sleep cycle is a fun app that makes it possible to study your own sleep habits, gain some insight into how deeply you may be sleeping based on physical movement during the night, and potentially help make sleep a more intentional priority.
Posted On: Friday, November 19th, 2010
Posted In: Blog, Health, Technology
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Comments: 2 Responses
Thanks for the review – I saw something about this app before, but wasn’t sure about how it worked. Do you have to sleep with your phone in your pocket, or do you put it under your pillow? Do you feel comfortable with all of those interweb waves flying through you to your phone while you’re sleeping?
Hi Brian,
It rests next to the pillow on the outer edge of the bed. I, too, give some thought to all those cellular waves rushing through my brain and body. I guess there is always airplane mode but so far I’m too lazy to use it.