- The Apple Watch can't track sleep natively, but there are a host of third-party apps in the App Store that can turn your watch into a sleep monitor.
- Several of these apps provide basic functionality, like monitoring how long you've slept, the quality of your sleep, and your heart rate for free, but charge for more advanced features.
- Of the three free apps I tried to track my sleep, I found SleepWatch to be the most comprehensive.
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The importance of sleep cannot be understated. It plays a critical role in everything from our emotional state to how well we're able to focus throughout the day and our long-term health.
Thanks to the proliferation of devices and apps designed to monitor our sleep, it's easier than ever for anyone with a smartphone to keep track of sleep trends over time. Wearable devices like trackers and watches from Fitbit, Apple, and Garmin provide an even closer perspective on the quality and quantity of your sleep.
The Apple Watch, however, does not monitor sleep by default, a metric that rivals like Fitbit have long offered. But that doesn't mean it's impossible to measure your sleep using Apple's smartwatch. There are a variety of third-party sleep-tracking apps available in the App Store, many of which integrate with Apple's Heath app.
Read more: The Apple Watch is the world's most popular smartwatch - here are the 5 features we want to see next
Although the Apple Watch can't monitor your sleep by default just yet, the company is reportedly planning on adding this feature in the future, as Bloomberg has reported. It's also worth noting that if you do plan to use your Apple Watch as a sleep tracker, you'll have to find an optimal time to charge it since many of these apps require you to wear the watch overnight. I found myself resting the watch on its charger during less busy times of the day when I wasn't active, such as during dinner or while sitting at my desk at work.
After spending the past few nights tracking my sleep with three free sleep-tracking apps, SleepWatch emerged as being my favorite. It provides a more in-depth snapshot of your sleep for free, while others charge for more than just the basic features.
Here's a closer look at the apps I tried and how they compare to other free sleep-tracking apps available in the App Store.