Mobile phone and sleep tracker on table in bedroom
8 of the Best Sleep Apps to put you to Sleep
Fact: we are meant to spend a third of our lives sleeping, but sadly, not many manage the recommended 7 hours per night. Matter of fact, 1 in 3 adults do not get close to the said 7 hours. Of course, lack of enough sleep is a result of many factors, including lifestyle changes – a sedentary lifestyle coupled with an unhealthy diet – as well as distraction from social media.
So, how do you ensure to get your daily dose of 7 hours of sleep a night?
Technology, with all its shortcomings, presents one of the best ways to counter insomnia. Tons of sleep apps have been released to help us sleep better each night.
- Relax & Sleep Well by Glenn Harrold – iOS and Android (Free with optional in-app purchases)
Who better than a hypnotherapist to give advice on sleep and even to come up with an app that helps us sleep better? This app, which is free with optional in-app purchases, is available in both iOS and Android, and it helps you sleep better through a series of hypnotherapy recordings and recordings. It is deal for general insomniacs as well as those suffering from anxiety that could keep them awake.
- Relax Melodies – iOS and Android (Free)
With a community of over 35 million users, you will never feel alone with this sleep app. You get to choose from a range of relaxing white noises and relaxing melodies to take your thoughts away. You also get a range of meditation recordings. Even better is the fact that you can mix your own relaxing melodies using selected tunes on the app. It is free for both Android and iOS users.
- Sleep Cycle – iOS and Android (Free)
A typical sleep cycle lasts 90 minutes and is in three phases: Light sleep, then three stages of non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM), then rapid eye movement sleep (REM). Sleep cycle – the app – monitors all these three stages, nudging you awake at wake-up time – depending on time set. The app’s internal microphone catches any small movement as well as sounds made as you sleep to provide an analysis of the quality of sleep. It also pinpoints the ideal time to wake up depending on your quality of sleep. This app is available to both Android and iOS users for free.
- Sleep Time – iOS and Android (Free)
Just like Sleep Cycle, Sleep Time uses an inbuilt mic to monitor sounds made during sleep time so that it can give an analysis later. The analysis is in an easy-to-read graphs and similarly small charts. With its alarm system, this app will wake you up at the opportune time – when your sleep is at its lightest and ideally within a 30-minute window of your waking-up time. Experts note that waking up when your body is still in a deep state of sleep leaves you exhausted as the mind takes over an hour to be fully roused. This app choose the ideal time to nudge you awake.
- Pzizz – iOS and Android (Not Free)
First, cute name, no? Second, this app is available on both iOS and Android for a fee, but it has a 7-day trial period where the user decides if they want to proceed to purchase. For a monthly fee of $9.99 or $99.99 a year – that you can cancel any time – you have access to a wide range of music that is designed to fade out in an hour or longer depending on your settings. It has narrations too – in male and female voices – which you could use for meditation, but you can always tune that out if they are distracting. It monitors sleep patterns and saves the history. Also, you can use the app when offline.
- White Noise – Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows – (Not Free)
If you live in a noisy neighborhood where noises make it hard to fall asleep, then you need some white noise to balance things out and lull you to sleep. White Noise contains a host of… well, white noises… to keep the outside noise at bay. This app is only free on Android when you download the Mobile Lite version that has 20 sounds and limited features. Mobile Pro and Full Mobile versions are available on Android, Mac, Windows, and iOS, starting $0.9 a month with a 3 wide range of features.
- Good Morning Alarm Clock – Android and iOS (Partially Free)
It sounds like an irritating alarm that reminds you it’s time to get up, but in the real it is much more than that. This app, with its numerous soothing sounds will lull you to sleep and then wake you up at the time when your brain is just getting roused from deep sleep for the perfect transition. It also tracks your sleeping patterns to ensure that you are getting enough sleep and will even send you a weekly analysis with the recommended hours of shut-eye and the number you have managed for the week. It will then notify you of your sleep debt so you know how to go about paying it. It is free on Android but a monthly charge of $3.99 is applicable to Apple users.
- Noisli – Android and iOS (Not Free)
For $1.99 a month, you will have access to all sorts of noises to help you fall asleep. Whether you prefer the sound of breaking waves or water rushing to meet a wall, or even thunderstorms and rain falling, this sleep app has it all. Android, iOS, and Windows users have access to it and users can customize the sounds as they wish. Its inbuilt timer counts down to the second when you take a nap and also when you are about to fall asleep.
Make Positive Changes
While these sleep apps will help you fall asleep sooner, they are made even more effective by a few lifestyle changes. Getting more active, avoiding caffeine at least four hours before bedtime and even eating less processed foods could go a long way in improving your sleep pattern.
