Fitbit snore and noise detection and Your sleep animal
Fitbit has offered sleep-tracking on its devices since 2017. Since the start, that functionality has mostly focused on measuring your heart rate and movement to provide you with a breakdown of your sleep cycles. However, Fitbit could soon measure how well you sleep from another angle.
The tool, as the name suggests, allows you to use the microphone on your tracker or smartwatch to measure how much of the night you spent snoring. It will translate the total amount of time into a percentage, further grouping that into one of three categories. For example, if you spent 10 to 40 percent of the night snoring, it will be classified as a moderate case. Fitbit admits the feature can’t differentiate between people. So if your partner snores as well, it will include their contribution in the detection mix.
You can also use the tool to measure the ambient noise in your bedroom. Fitbit will tell you how loud it is in your sleeping environment on a scale between “very quiet,” which the company classifies as a consistent 30 dBA or less, and “very loud,” which falls in the 90 dBA and above range.
As you might imagine, leaving your Fitbit’s microphone on all night is one way to quickly drain its battery. The company recommends charging the device to at least 40 percent before you go to bed. It also warns you’ll need to plug it into the power more frequently should you decide to use the feature consistently.
Your sleep animal
Fitbit is also working on another sleep-related feature, entitled “Your sleep animal.” Unlike snore detection, things seem to still be very early in development as most of the relevant text is currently a placeholder. That said, there are quite a few sleeping profiles in the app, between straightforward descriptions and cute animal comparisons.
Restless Sleeper The Bear
Segmented Sleeper The Dolphin
Shallow Sleeper The Giraffe
Short Sleeper The Hummingbird
Slow to Fall Asleep Sleeper The Kangaroo
Solid Sleeper The Tortoise
