Setting a regular bedtime may feel a bit childish, but with all those bright screens keeping you awake, it might not be such a bad idea. This way you can use the iPhone Bedtime function.
This is how the iPhone Bedtime function works
The Bedtime feature has been standard on your phone since iOS 10, but it’s no shame if you’ve never stumbled upon it. The option is hidden in the standard Clock app, which you can open quickly to set an alarm. If you look at the bottom of the app, you will see ‘Bedtime’ to the right of the Alarm clock icon.
When you first use the Bedtime feature, Apple will ask you a few short questions, such as what time you want to get up and how long you want to sleep each night. Based on this, your ideal bedtime is ‘calculated’ (it is no more than a simple subtraction). You can also set which days the Bedtime function should be active, so that you can still sleep in at the weekend.
Set bedtime
Once you have gone through the setup process, you will see a clock with a semicircle around it. This indicates how long you wish to sleep each night. By moving the ends of the circle, you can easily adjust your time to go to sleep or get up. In the middle you can immediately see how much sleep is left per night.
In the options, you can also choose from a number of unique alarm clock sounds, such as ‘Early Bird’ and ‘Morning Light’. Finally, set when you want to be reminded to go to sleep. This can be done when it is actually bedtime, after which you have to jump to bed immediately, or for example half an hour or an hour in advance. At that time you will see a notification stating that it is bedtime. An alarm really goes off in the morning.
Track sleep
The Bedtime function also shows you whether you have actually worked enough hours. Below the large clock is a simple graph showing how long you have been in bed per day, including any interruptions. Your iPhone seems to use the built-in accelerometer for this, which can see if the phone is suddenly moving quickly. Like when you check your phone in the middle of the night.
These data are of course not very accurate and assume that you have your phone in bed, or always take it immediately when you cannot sleep. Fortunately, you can also link the Bedtime function to a dedicated sleep app such as Sleep Cycle. You do this by clicking on ‘More history’ below the graph. Bedtime will then redirect you to Apple’s Health app, which tracks your sleep.
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