Sleep Cycle – iOS App
The Sleep Cycle app is one of the few phone apps that has made a significant contribution to my personal health and well being. Sleep Cycle is a special alarm clock app that provides a “window” of time in which the alarm will go off based on your state of sleep. This unique alarm clock provides a “soft” wake up that works without blaring a loud siren next to the bed each morning.
When I first heard about Sleep Cycle I assumed that it was just another alarm clock with a pretty interface but no real original functionality. But it was listed as a top productivity app in numerous countries so I figured it was worth a try.
Using the App
To use this app you must plug your phone into a wall socket next to your bed and turn on the app. The app does not run in the background, so be sure to turn it back on if you check a last minute email or Facebook status. Place the app in the corner of your bed under the sheets at the head of the bed. Then just go to sleep… In the morning the alarm will softly wake you up at the optimal time based on the state of sleep you are in. The alarm works on a 30 minute window and may go off at any point between your alarm time and 30 minutes before your alarm is scheduled.
To “snooze” the alarm you simply tap on your iPhone and the alarm will reset for 10 minutes. If you “snooze” the alarm more than once, that time between alarms continues to get you up and running. It is a great system to get you out of bed in the morning without the tiring jolt of the regular alarm clock.
Tracking Your Patterns
For those of us that don’t work “regular hours” it is important for us to make sure that we are getting enough sleep on a regular basis. The Sleep Cycle app keeps track of your nightly sleep, average sleep per night and even provides graphs of your sleep state throughout each night. I have found this information to be very useful in making sure that I get extra sleep whenever I notice my average sleep dropping.
Conclusion
Although it may seem like a novelty app, Sleep Cycle can be a very effective alarm clock helping you wake up each morning as refreshed as possible. I’ve been using it nightly for almost 6 months now and each morning I wake up ready to face the day.
