Tried & Tested: The 5 Best Sleep Apps

At John Ryan we take sleep seriously, especially when it comes to providing you with the most supportive and comfortable mattress possible. We know how vital getting a good quality night’s sleep is, when it comes to maintaining a happy and healthy lifestyle.

Unfortunately we can’t force ourselves to sleep soundly, but we can take the necessary steps to help greatly improve our sleep. Of course, getting a high quality Luxury Mattress, which is perfectly suited to your height and weight is an essential step. But you can also make use of a sleep recording app.

There are plenty of sleep centred apps out there that can help you identify what makes you sleep better, and some can even directly help to soothe you into a serene night’s sleep.

With this in mind, we wanted to go through our selection of the top 5 sleep apps, which are free to download…

Sleep Cycle

This app works like an intelligent alarm, which is designed to help you track your sleeping patterns so that it can then wake you up at the optimal time. It allows you to set a specific thirty minute window for the alarm, ensuring that you won’t ever be disturbed during your night’s sleep.

It’s all about getting a nice gentle wake up, as the app spends time analysing your sleep to pinpoint the exact time you enter your light sleep phase. If you happen to use the Apple Health app, then this can also be fully integrated with Sleep Cycle, allowing you to easily monitor and analyse both your sleep pattern and your heart rate over night.

This app is free and available from both the App Store or Google Play Store

SleepBot

Another smart alarm app that uses a clever combination of trackers and alarms in order to help you easily drift off to the land of Nod. Essentially all of the sounds and movements that you make throughout the night can be recorded by the app, in order for it to create an accurate sleep cycle tracker.

Once your sleep cycle has been fully tracked you can then customise how you want to sleep, and the app will gently wake you up during the light sleep phase, leaving you feeling refreshed. Plus, you can also play a range of soothing ambient soundtracks to help you relax into a restful snooze.

This app is free and available from the App Store.

Pzizz

This is certainly a bit more peculiar and quirkier than the other sleep recording apps, but nevertheless can be just as effective. It essentially helps you to fall asleep by using a mix of music, voiceover and sound effects that have been optimised to fit in with each part of your sleep cycle.

The soothing sounds are called ‘dreamscapes’ by the app, and they have been designed to quickly quieten your mind, allowing you to stay in a restful sleep. There’s even an option to listen to ‘focuscapes’ for when you want to get into a more active and productive mindset. It’s been endorsed by numerous celebrities, including author J.K. Rowling.

This app is free and available from the App Store or Google Play Store .

Rain Rain Sleep Sounds

It’s strange how the sound of rain hitting the window while you’re snuggled up in bed can be so soothing, but many of us can attest to this. If this sounds like something you love, then this could be the ideal sleep app for you.

Featuring over a hundred sounds that are designed to lull you to sleep, the app tries to capture that serene feeling of rain drops falling against the window glass. It also includes the sounds of a cat purring, oceans waves and much more. Any combination of sounds can be mix and matched with each other, and saved to your favourites. The sounds can be set to play throughout the night, or you can have them gradually fade out.

This app is free and available from the App Store or Google Play Store.

Calm – Meditate, Sleep, Relax

Many people have embraced the practice of meditation or mindfulness in order to help centre themselves, keep calm, and focused on the present. These techniques can also have a profound effect on the quality of your sleep, something that this app takes full advantage of.

Hundreds of mindfulness programmes are included with the app, some catering for beginners and others for those who are more experienced with these techniques. They also vary in length to suit your schedule, ranging from three to twenty five minutes. Deep sleep, self-esteem, and forgiveness are just some of the programmes you can choose from. There’s also a Sleep Stories feature, which allows you to drift off while you listen to an adult bedtime story.

This app is free and available from the App Store or Google Play Store.

Exploring the science of sleep really excites us at John Ryan, which is why we appreciate how these apps can really make a difference when it comes to the quality of your sleep.

We also love the science behind our mattresses, and how we strive to make a mattress that can provide all the comfort and support you could ask for. From size to spring tension, we can guide you through all the little details that matter the most, so that you understand exactly what you’re buying.

To find out more, or if you have any questions, please get in touch with us on 0161 437 4419.