My daughter works during the summer at Interlochen Arts camp
each year. She found this new app for her phone called Sleep as Android. Her
roommate and she tried it out. They liked it and had fun with it. I thought I
would share it with all of you. Maybe you have heard of it. I had not. Unfortunately, I have a windows phone so I
could not download this app to test drive it, but thought I would share it
anyway.
Sleep as Android
is a multifunction app that is an alarm clock, sleep cycle tracker, snoring
detector, and more. This app measures and analyzes your sleep pattern which in
turns, provides the ideal time to wake you during your ideal “time window”
making you feel refreshed and wide awake for your day.
Sleep Actigraphy
While you sleep your body goes through 5 sleep cycles from
light sleep to deep sleep. Each cycle can be from 5 – 15 minutes. Sleep as Android uses the method Sleep
Actigraphy to measure your sleep patterns to find the best time for the alarm
to wake you up. Smart phones have an accelerometer sensor built in which is
sensitive to movement. When placed on your bed (or using an arm band), the app
records your movement, sounds, and more. It is suggested that your phone be
plugged in when using this app.
Alarm Clock
Have you ever pushed that snooze button over and over again?
I have! Normal alarm clocks go off at
the prescribed time each morning whether you are in a light or deep sleep. Sleep as Android uses the sleep phase
information it has collected to find the optimal time window to wake you up. For
example, if you needed to wake up by 8 a.m., you would set your smart wake up
period time for 30 minutes. Sleep as
Android would find your optimal wake up time between 7:30 a.m. and 8 a.m. according
to its analysis of your sleep pattern. Waking during a deep sleep cycle phase
makes you feel tired, exhausted, disorientated, and still sleepy. Waking during
a light sleep cycle feels more natural and you feel refreshed. Studies show
waking up during a light sleep is best.
CAPTCHAs
CAPTCHAs are methods use to make sure you are awake and not
just rolling over trying to hit that snooze button. A CAPTCHA can be a simple
math equation, shaking your phone, scanning a QR code, or playing a simple game
of find the sheep that is awake. During the CAPTCHA phase the alarm volume is
lowered for two minutes so as not to wake your partner and allow you time to
solve the CAPTCHA or get up to scan the QR code which could be placed in a
different room. Difficulty levels can be set for the math problem, the shaking
of the phone, and the sheep game.
Alarms
There a multiple options for the alarms sounds in this app. You
can use:
·
Gentle volume increase
·
Wake up with a light
·
Play lists of your own
·
Built in nature sound in the app
·
Your phones alarm tones
The app provides a backup alarm also of your choosing or in
combination with any of the above. There is also an alarm for bed time to
notify you what would be the best time to hit the hay and have optimal sleep
time for your day. More on that in the next section.
Sleep Deficit
Tracking
Ideal sleep time is 8 hours every night. Sleep Deficit
Tracking observes your sleep periods and tracks your sleep time each night give
you your stats for your last month, quarter, or average over a period of
time. Time to bed notification tells you
when you should go to bed in order to not increase your sleep deficit or to maintain
your optimal sleep length. You have the option for the app to tell you from 5
minutes up to 2 hours to notify you of your bedtime.
Noise Recording
Do you snore? Sleep as Android allows you to record
noises during your sleep. This includes talking in your sleep, snoring, sleep
apnea, and I would say possibly teeth grinding too. Please note, noise
recording does increase battery consumption. It is recommended that the phone
be placed close to your head for recording purposes. This is what intrigues my
daughter. She talks in her sleep and so does the roommate. They had fun
recording each other. According to Sleep
as Android studies, 30% of the population are occasional snorers and from
the data they have acquired so far, they approximately snore for 19 minutes
each night. Another feature is the Anti-snoring option. If snoring is detected,
Sleep as Android can be configured to
start a short vibration or play a 3 tongue clicking sound to defer the person
from snoring.
Lullabies
Did you ever have lullabies sung to you as a child? Well now
you can relive those moments with the Sleep
as Android app feature. These lullabies are composed of several looping and
non-looping compositions which help you fall asleep. The Lullaby Volume Down
feature makes the lullaby gradually fade away as soon as you start to sleep. A sample of the Diving with Whales lullaby is
below.
Lucid Dreaming
I thought this feature was quite interesting. Using
headphones, the Sleep as Android app
will play audible clues to let you know you are dreaming. Usually the clues are
play at the end of a deep sleep cycle where the most memorable dreaming is
done. This may require some practice or training to learn these clues. By
default it is set to a woman’s voice saying “You are dreaming”.
Unfortunately, you have to pay for the full version of Sleep as Android. The trial version is
available for two weeks, after that you would need to purchase the full version
for approximately 2 Euro which would be about $2.60 in US dollars. Not really
expensive but not free either.
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