You can have the perfect set-up for sleep and still lay awake at night. The temperatures low, your mattress is just right, and your head is lying comfortably on your buckwheat hulls pillow yet you still having trouble sleeping…
The mind is very powerful, and even with the perfect bedroom and sobakawa pillow, it can prevent you from getting a good night's rest. If you are having trouble falling asleep at night – don’t worry; there’s an app for that.
In fact, there are hundreds of apps for that! Millions of Americans struggle to fall asleep at night, and there are numerous potential reasons for this. However, an Iowa State University study found that many people have difficulty getting into the right headspace for sleep. With busy lives and growing to-do lists, it can be hard to wind down. This is where the apps come in.
Sleep apps are designed to help you fall asleep, and there are even some that will track the length and quality of your sleep. We’ve compiled a list of the 8 best sleep apps. Some feature guided meditation to get comfy on you meditation cushion, and others have classic music remixed with nature sounds. Everyone has different preferences, and what works for you may not work for someone else. Try a few to see what gets you snoozing the soonest!
Bedtime stories are not just for kids (although they work great for little ones, too!). An increasing number of apps and podcasts tell bedtime stories intended to help you fall asleep. With Sleepiest, you can select from a variety of classic and lesser-known stories like The Secret Garden, Alice in Wonderland, or the Mountain of California. A narrator reads the stories with a soothing voice. These are expertly designed, featuring auditory meditative techniques, including white noise. If stories aren’t your thing, you can choose from the selection of meditations or sleep sounds like “Storms Rolling In.”
The app will let you know if it’s helping too. It has a sleep tracking feature, providing you with insights into your sleep cycle and weekly sleep reports. The latest update also includes an alarm, and it can sync with your Apple Watch and Apple Health. The app has over 2.3 million users and is child-friendly, including sleep sounds like a “car ride.”
Sleep is essential for your health and well-being, and if you regularly read our blog, you know why. If you want to ensure you are getting enough quality sleep each night, you can track your sleep cycle with this app. By tracking your sleep patterns, Sleep Cycle will provide you with tips that will help you optimize your sleep, so you wake up feeling more rested. It detects sleep sounds like snoring, talking, and coughing and then analyzes your sleep pattern from the moment your head hits your millet pillow.
One of this app's best features is that the alarm clock that will gently wake you up when you are in your lightest sleep phase. This prevents sleep inertia (that feeling of being totally out of it when your alarm startles you awake) and will have you feeling more refreshed when you get up.
The standard version with sleep tracking capabilities comes with the free version; however, if you upgrade to the premium sleep tracker features, you will also get the sleep recorder, sleep aids (sleep sounds, stories, and relaxation music), and a more in-depth analysis including weather and comparison.
As the name suggests, this app helps you achieve a much deeper, more restful slumber. It features a variety of sleep aids, including meditation, bedtime story series, or various ASMR style sounds like a bubbling jacuzzi. For light sleepers who wake up once the meditation or story ends, this app is perfect for you. You can select a background noise that will play following the story to help you stay asleep once the main track ends. It has an expansive library, and new meditations, stories, or soundscapes are added weekly.
There are a lot of customization options in this app. You can easily dial up or down the intensity of particular background sounds like music, fire, river, or rain.
Would you like Matthew McConaughey to tell you a bedtime story? It’s possible and surprisingly effective, thanks to the Calm app. This is one of the most infamous sleep apps and is said to also reduce stress or anxiety and improve focus. In 2017 it was voted App of the Year by Apple and has millions of users. There is an abundance of meditations, ASMR, music, and soundscapes for adults and children. Many guided meditations are specific to falling asleep and are available in different lengths.
If Matthew McConaughey can’t get you to sleep, perhaps the sounds of Bob Ross painting on a canvas will. There are also workshops and training to help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep! You can track your progress with the app using the Daily Streaks or Mindful Minutes; however, it doesn’t provide you with an in-depth analysis of your sleep patterns.
It is one of the most expensive sleep apps on the market. You can get a couple of sounds for free and sign up for a free trial, but it is a subscription-based service costing $13/month or $70/year.
I’m not referring to your buckwheat hulls pillow or millet pillow – this is the Pillow app that will become your smart sleep assistant. This app is only available with Apple devices and can be connected with your Apple Watch, or you can place your phone or iPad on the mattress. This will allow the app to track your sleep.
Like Sleep Cycle, the alarm will wake you up at your lightest sleep stage, so you wake feeling refreshed. It will also record any sleep events or noises such as sleep talking, sleep apnea, or snoring.
In addition to tracking your sleep, it will also perform a heart rate analysis. When the data is combined, you’ll receive a detailed analysis and a sleep stage diagram and score. Once the app has collected a sufficient amount of data, it will provide you with an optimal bedtime, personalized insights, and sleep tips to help you get a deeper, more restful sleep.
There is something about the sound of rain that provides a calming sensation. Whether it is a gentle shower, listening to the heavy raindrops bounce off leaves, or a rolling thunderstorm - it can calm your mind and ease you into sleep.
Although this app has a great selection of rain-related sleep sounds, it has plenty of other options as well, such as ocean waves, beach bonfire, autumn wind, and even a Shih Tzu snoring.
Rain Rain Sleep Sounds have taken customization to the next level. There are over 100 sounds that you can combine to create your own playlist, or you can remix your own track by combining sounds. For example, a cat purring beside a crackling fire, or crickets, gentle wind chimes, and a slow stream. With this app, you can DJ your slumber party and have a much easier time falling (and staying) asleep!
Who needs a sleep lab when you can use the SnoreLab! This is great for snorers and those who share a bed with them. The app will record, measure, and track your snoring and then help you identify ways to reduce it. It’s been used over 50 million nights to track the snoring of adults. Each morning you will receive a snore score that will tell you how much and how loudly you were snoring.
The app will take in lifestyle considerations and make recommendations to reduce your snoring and then continue to monitor these recommendations' effectiveness. It has been featured in The Guardian, Lifehacker, and Sunday Times and recommended by top US doctors to better understand a person’s snoring.
This app is rated the #1 app for white noise, sleeping babies, and nature sounds. Whether you are trying to get yourself to fall asleep or your baby, this app does a phenomenal job lulling you to sleep with its calming and relaxing sounds.
These sounds will block out unwanted noises for light sleepers, and when used consistently, it will also form a sleep association that will cue you to fall asleep. You can customize your sounds and create different mixes and effects. There is a vast selection of sounds such as air conditioner, air filter, fan, clothes dryer, fog horns, womb, heartbeat, rain on a tent, brown noise, white noise, and pink noise. There is also a large selection of music, lullabies, and ASMR options for your listening and sleeping pleasure.
For a better night's rest and to wake up feeling refreshed, turn on one of these sleep apps as you lay down on your sobakawa pillow. Whether you prefer the sounds of gentle rainfall or a bedtime story, these apps may be your ticket to the best sleep you’ve ever had!
