Gyroscope can pull and analzye sleep data from a number of sources, but our top recommendation if you have access to one, is to use an Apple Watch.
However, setting it up to really get the most out of it can be a bit fiddly, so here’s a step by step guide on how to do it optimally…
STEP 1: Enabling the actual sleep tracking
Your watch could track your sleep, but it is off by default.
To turn it on, open your iPhone and go to the Watch app, which has all the settings for your Apple Watch.
Scroll down to Sleep, tap it, and then set up your sleep tracking, enable Track sleep with Apple Watch like this:
Just this one change will start the basic sleep tracking, but there are a few more settings we suggest to it work smoothly and provide better data.
From here you can also adjust your sleep focus times. These don’t have to be exactly when you sleep, but help signal that sleep should be detected around then.
STEP 2: Turning off all the annoying features
To avoid disturbances, we suggest turning off all sounds, notifications and even vibrations!
On the Watch, swiping up from the bottom to see the menu of options and tap on these settings to turn them on...
Theater mode (orange), Silent mode on (red), Do not disturb mode on (purple)
We recommend having these always on, to conserve your battery life during the day and reduce distractions 24/7 while still tracking everything accurately.
STEP 3: Enabling advanced sensors
There are a few more settings in the Watch app on the iPhone that will enable you to get more data.
Blood Oxygen
Got to the Watch app, scroll to Apps, select Blood Oxygen, then toggle In Sleep Focus under Allow background measurements.
This will start measuring your oxygen levels at night even, so you can see your breathing rate and how close to 100% your oxygen went. If it is low, that can be a sign that you are not breathing through your nose or other issues.
If you want to get the most amount of HRV (heart rate variability data), you can also enable AFib History in Apple Health. Originally for people diagnosed with AFib, this option will increase frequency and quality of heart rate tracking.
Turning on AFib history increases the HRV measurements from just once every couple hours to every 5-10 minutes. However, it will turn off irregular heart rhythm notifications, so always discuss with your doctor before making any significant changes and to get an accurate diagnosis.
STEP 4: Open the app every morning
Once you are awake and the data is ready, hit save to finalize the data and see your official score for the day!
Why does this step exist?
This is an important checkpoint to make sure your history is accurate!
Some sleep trackers try to automate everything, but then the data ends up being wrong.
Here are 3 of the most common cases to look out for:
- If you had multiple sources, you can choose which one had the most correct time estimate. Some people have extra apps that save wrong info, or sometimes they just malfunction and get confused, so this lets you fix it first!
- If you haven’t finished sleeping yet (maybe you woke up early and just checked your phone), you can go back to sleep and save it later
- If the data hasn’t finished syncing (maybe you woke up in the middle of the night and only the first half synced so far) then you can wait for it to load
You’re now ready to fully utilize the powerful sleep tracking capabilities of Gyroscope, start monitoring metrics like HRV and REM sleep, and keep that battery topped up as best you can!