SleepBot Review

In recent times, I've written a lot about my struggles with sleeping, which is why I'm always keen to try out a new app, in the hope that it helps. SleepBot is the latest tool I've tried. While it can't help me stop tossing and turning in the night, it's certainly proved interesting in terms of the results it offers me.

Like Sleep Cycle, SleepBot can track movements and even sounds during a person's sleep. Leaving it connected to a charger while on my bed overnight, it was fairly unobtrusive but produced some interesting results. It's possible to only track one or two of the key parts of sleep, such as just sound or just movement, although the full package is the more interesting choice.

A Smart Alarm feature is available, meaning that users are gently woken up at the optimal time within 30 minutes of their first alarm. This sounds great, although I did find that by the time I woke up from the sleep, the music had turned rather loud. It certainly got me going though! Besides being able to play one's own music collection, plenty of options are available for serene clips via the app, each supplying a different way of waking up. I do wish that SleepBot offered advice on when the optimal time to get up or go to bed was, though, given the idea of 90 minute sleep cycles for most people.

Tracking movement and sounds throughout the night offers up a graph, demonstrating the trends of sleep. An example of my sleep one night is to the right here, and shows exactly why I'm struggling as frequently, I was nearly awake. It's a very interesting gauge, further enhanced by the ability to add notes for consultation in the future. While I doubt I'd want to tweet it to anyone, the feature is there alongside email facilities. A backup function is handy for those looking to keep an eye on their sleep patterns long-term, too.

Finally, there's a Resources section explaining the science behind the app, as well as offering advice on how to get to sleep, as well as how to stay awake in the day. It's quite useful stuff and I'll certainly be taking on board some of the tips in future.

Offering plenty of different, useful tools, SleepBot is quite the bargain and provides some fascinating results. While no app can ensure that I'm not so restless at night, it's somewhat satisfying to have a graph remind me of why I'm so tired in the morning.