Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock on iTunes
Price: $0.99
Developer's website
iTunes Description:
The Sleep Cycle alarm clock is a bio-alarm clock that analyzes your sleep patterns and wakes you when you are in the lightest sleep phase. Waking up in the lightest sleep phase feels like waking without an alarm clock - it is a natural way to wake up where you feel rested and relaxed.
Sleep Cycle has become a huge success with a #1 paid app position in many countries, including Germany, Japan and Russia.
Since you move differently in bed during the different phases, Sleep Cycle uses the accelerometer in your iPhone to monitor your movement to determine which sleep phase you are in.
How it works
Have you ever woken up feeling completely wrecked when the alarm clock goes off, despite the fact that you have slept "enough" hours? When this happens you have probably been awakened during a deep sleep phase, and your whole day can turn into one long zombie marathon.
Other days you spring out of bed with a smile on your face, feeling completely rested even though you shouldn't. As the alarm clock goes off, chance seems to play a big role in how your day will become. But does it really have to be that way? This is where the Sleep Cycle alarm clock application comes into play.
During the night you go from light sleep to deep sleep, occasionally entering into a dream state which is called REM-sleep. These are things that your normal alarm clock does not care about, and will go off at the set time regardless of whether you are in a light sleep phase or in the deepest sleep. However, since you move differently in bed during the different phases, the Sleep Cycle alarm clock is able to use the accelerometer in your iPhone to monitor your movement and determine which sleep phase you are in. Sleep Cycle then uses a 30 minute alarm window that ends at your set alarm time and wakes you in your lightest sleep phase.
FAQ
Do you support the iPod Touch?
No, we do not. This is because of limitations Apple has put on us developers. It is not possible for us to shut down the screen and keep the accelerometer running on the iPod Touch. With the screen being on all night the device can become warm. This is the only problem with Sleep Cycle on the iPod Touch and because of this we do not recommend using Sleep Cycle on the iPod Touch.
We will support the iPod Touch as soon as Apple gives us the possibility to shut off the screen without shutting down the accelerometer. Feel free to contact apple about this and maybe they will fix this problem in a future firmware version.
Do I have to keep the charger connected all night?
We do not recommend using Sleep Cycle without a charger connected. Sleep Cycle uses at average 30% of the battery during one night. Sometimes more sometimes less. If you do not charge your phone during the night it can become discharged. Then the alarm will not sound in the morning. If you still want to try Sleep Cycle without a charger we recommend using a regular alarm clock as back up.
Can I use my own MP3 music as a wake up melody?
Unfortunately no. We have engineered the wake up sounds to wake you up in the best possible way. By allowing any music to be used as a wake up sound we can not guarantee a good wake up experience. Some songs might for example fade in very slowly, this will be a problem. Other songs might start very abruptly, this would also be a problem.
Why does Sleep Cycle mute iPod music that I play when going to sleep?
This is a technical issue that we are hoping to fix in the next release.
Update! One of our users has discovered a way to trick the phone into playing music or auidobooks while using Sleep Cycle. Feel free to use his trick until we release a fix for this problem (verified to work with iPhone OS version 3.1.2).
My iPhone becomes hot during the night. Is this normal?
No, this is not normal. Make sure you do not cover your phone with anything more than the sheet. For example, make sure that your pillow does not cover your iPhone.
Does Sleep Cycle work on water beds or memory foam mattresses, such as Tempur?
We cannot guarantee that Sleep Cycle will work on these mattresses. Even so, a lot of users have used Sleep Cycle on such mattresses and said that it works well for them.
Can my iPhone be muted (work in silent mode)?
Yes. The alarm will sound in the morning even if the phone is muted.
Why is "No Volume Available" displayed?
This is because the phone is muted. Un-mute your phone using the switch on the side of your iPhone and you will be able to select alarm volume. Note that the alarm will sound even if you see this message.
If I wake up in the middle of the night and get up from the bed, should I reset the alarm?
There is no need to reset the alarm during the night.
How well does Sleep Cycle work with 2 people sharing a bed?
Our experience is that it works very well. Normally your body will "block" the movement of the other person and the iPhone will not detect that movement. You can test this yourself by using the test function in Sleep Cycle.
Does Sleep Cycle function properly with auto-lock on?
Yes it does.
The alarm always goes off at the end of the time! Why?
The most common cause for this is that users lock their phone before going to bed. Do NOT lock your phone using the button on top of your iPhone before going to bed. Locking the phone disables the accelerometer and Sleep Cycle must fall back to a back up mode that wakes you at the end of the alarm time.
Also note that Sleep Cycle needs at least two nights to adapt and calibrate to your bed and to your sleep patterns. Taking that into account it is possible for the alarm to go off at the end of the time 3-4 nights in a row when you start using Sleep Cycle.
Screenshots
Reviews
"It just works. Period. It does exactly what it advertises which is absolutely amazing."
-- 5/5 stars on 148apps.com
"I was baffled at how well it worked. Almost every day I used it, I felt refreshed when the alarm started." - Christina Karlsson
"Waking up at the right time is an amazing thing. I couldn't believe the difference it made!" - Michael Palka
"It felt like I was already awake and the iPhone just let me know it." - Anders Hejdenberg
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Welp, it may seem strange to create an offical thread for an iPhone/iPod app but to me, this warrants one.
You know how some days you wake up fresh as a daisy but others you feel like crap even though you went to bed/woke up at exactly the same time? Apparently it has to do with where in your sleep cycle you were when you woke up.
So in a nutshell, you tell this app when you need to be up by - ie when you'd set your normal alarm - and it will wake you with your choice from a selection of 'alarm' music up to 30 minutes prior to that time based on your sleep patterns.
It sounds like a gimmick but i've been using this thing for a couple of weeks and it really seems to work! Perhaps it's the placebo effect but even if it is, I feel better, and at the very least it's interesting to have a look at my sleep patterns during the night.
For the sceptical, the 'test' function demonstrates exactly how sensitive the iPhone accelerometer is.
I place my phone in the recommended position and if you're worried, it works fine in airplane mode.
So GAF, what say you? Has anyone else used this? Care to share your sleep data?
