A good night's rest is just a few taps away
Are you getting enough sleep? According to the CDC, one in three adults isn’t. Lack of sleep may leave you cranky and unprepared to meet the next day’s challenges, but over time it can have more serious health consequences.
If you have a smartphone though, the tools you need to get more sleep are just a few screen taps away. There are apps that can help you get more shuteye, as well as a few that can give you insight into how much sleep you’re getting and the quality of that sleep.
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Here are some of the best.
Apple Bedtime
The best app for managing your sleep is already built into your phone. If you open your Clock app and tap the Bedtime tab, you’ll be prompted to set up a bedtime, the number of hours you want to sleep each night, and how you should be alerted that it’s time to go to bed.
Over time, data will be collected on your sleep patterns so that you can refine your sleep habits. This will also activate Do Not Disturb mode.
Sleep Cycle Smart Alarm Clock
The first step towards improving your sleep is monitoring how you’re doing each night. Until recently, you needed a wearable to accomplish that, but developers have managed to provide sleep tracking without it.
Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock uses sound analysis technology to detect when you’ve entered various sleep stages, then provides sleep statistics to help you keep up.
It’s free for most features. The premium version includes online backup and snore detection at a cost of $29.99 per year.
Calm
Although Calm is best known as a meditation and relaxation app, its sleep features continue to grow. You’ll get breathing exercises designed to specifically help you relax and fall asleep.
But the most popular sleep feature with the Calm app is Sleep Stories, which lets you doze off while narrators like Matthew McConaughey and Stephen Fry read you a story.
Calm is free for basic features. The premium version required for the vast majority of meditations and Sleep Stories costs $14.99 per month or $59.99 per year.
There are so many apps to choose from, that you can easily find the one that works best for you. But it may take you a few different apps to narrow it down. Whether it’s a bedtime story or calming meditation that helps you relax and fall asleep, an app will help start you down the right path.
