Apple is planning to plug a hole in its Apple Watch health monitoring capabilities by add sleep tracking features on future models.
According to a Bloomberg report, the tech giant has been testing the feature over the last few months with a potential roll out by 2020.
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Apple’s competitors in the wearables space including Fitbit, Withings and Garmin have cited their ability to do long term sleep monitoring as an advantage over Apple’s products.
While the company has not released its own sleep monitoring features, third-party app developers have used the Apple Watch’s existing hardware capabilities to create their own versions.
Even so, Apple has previously shown an interest in sleep monitoring through its acquisition of Finnish startup Beddit in 2017. Last year, the company released the Beddit 3.5 Sleep Monitor, a sensor strip meant to track nighttime body movements.
One existing technical limitation in the Apple Watch’s ability to track sleep has been its limited battery life. Competitor products like the Fitbit Versa have the ability to last days or weeks before needing to charge, in comparison to Apple’s promise of one day of full use.
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Bloomberg posits that potential solutions could be an increase in battery life, a low-power overnight mode or asking users to do a quick charge in the morning.
The introduction of in-built sleep tracking features onto the Apple Watch would continue to round out the device’s status as a comprehensive health tracker with its current abilities to perform EKGs and detect falls.
“The fact that Apple is reportedly working on a sleep tracker for the Apple Watch will significantly increase global awareness around the importance of sleep, and will lead to other companies introducing sleep tracking technology into their wearable devices,” said Amir Inditzky, CEO of corporate sleep company Dayzz.
“Lack of sleep is a challenge of epic proportions, with sleep disruptions estimated to cost approximately $16 billion a year in direct medical costs in the US alone, and about 10 times as much in decreased work productivity and accidents.”
Picture: Apple