“The Apple Watch might include sleep tracking sooner than you think,” engadget.com reports. 9to5mac.com takes the “might” out of that report and spills the tea on the soon-to-be-released Apple Watch sleep app . . .
Sources inside Apple [say] that the company is working on sleep tracking for the Apple Watch, which won’t require any special hardware to work.
Sorry to interrupt. Isn’t an Apple Watch “special hardware”?
The new feature — codenamed “Burrito” internally and called “Time in Bed tracking” — will allow users to choose to wear Apple Watch to bed. If the user has more than one Apple Watch, they can pick one to be their designated bedtime Watch.
Me again. Designated Bedtime Watch. DBW. It’s already a thing; I swap out my daily watch for a highly luminous Torgoen T10 DBW when I hit the hay. When you’re older you’ll understand.
While asleep, the Apple Watch will track the user’s quality of sleep using its multiple sensors and inputs, including the person’s movement, heart rate, and noises. Data about the user’s quality of sleep will be made available in the Health app and a new Sleep app for the Apple Watch.
To overcome the battery life issue, Cupertino’s finest are reportedly relying on software. The watch will ping users with a timely reminder to charge their watches early enough in the day so it has enough juice to not die during the night. And if they don’t? They’re SOL, mate.
It’s all a bit kludgy, for sure. As we’ve already reported (Apple Watch 5: Where’s the Sleep Tracking?), watch-borne sleep apps are diagnostic tools, not the answer to sleep deprivation. But the Apple Watch competition has it, so Apple has to have it, and so it will. Free market for the win.