For the past two weeks, I have been experimenting with two different apps for sleep tracking. As we know, having a good sleeping pattern is crucial for not burning out due to school or keeping the immune system up. When I have a good night’s sleep, it makes such a difference in how I approach my day. I have been recording my sleeping patterns in my journal but sometimes I would forget or simply just didn’t have enough time in the mornings to do it. So I began to look into the best sleep tracking apps out there and narrowed it down to a two to try. The two apps I have been trying are SleepCycle and SleepBot. 

Starting with SleepBot, I was first drawn to this app because it was FREE and those are usually the first apps I go for. This app uses the iPhone’s accelerometer to track movement and sound levels to follow your sleep cycles. You place your phone on your bed and throughout the night it records any sound in the room and any movement made in bed. In the morning, the app shows you the data it collected throughout the night and allows you to playback any records. Interestingly enough, I found out I talk in my sleep. Another cool feature is that it records and lets you know how much “sleep debt” you are in based on how much sleep you told the app you wanted.

The second app I tried was called SleepCycle. SleepCycle seems to be one of the most popular sleep tracking apps out there currently. Like SleepBot, you place your phone face down on your bed and it tracks your movement as you sleep and records the data. SleepCycle also is an alarm clock. It monitors your sleep and will wake you up when you are in a phase of light sleep. This was intriguing because it does this to wake you up more naturally and in a moment of lighter sleep. I will say that this helped me feel less groggy in the morning which made it the tiniest bit easier to get out of bed. 

Overall, I think SleepCycle proved to be my favourite app. With its many interesting features and the gentle alarm tone, it made getting out of bed easier for me which is something I struggle with the most. I look forward to continuing to use the app! Stay tuned for next week as I look into dreams and learning how to become a lucid dreamer.Â