Raise your hand if the last thing you do before bed is scroll through your phone?
While checking that Instagram feed may be a tempting way to wind down, using electronic devices before sleep can contribute to sleep deprivation. The blue light emitted from their screens can adversely affect melatonin production, increase alertness and shift circadian rhythms.
Due to the negative effects of phones on sleep, it seems counterintuitive to use a phone app as a sleep aid. However, when used correctly, they can actually help you catch more zzz’s!
We’ve rounded up the top 5 apps that help you fall asleep and stay asleep. If sleep eludes you, why not give one of these popular sleep apps a try?
1. CALM
If you like falling asleep to a bedtime story, this app is for you. Calm’s “Sleep Stories” include soothing bedtime tales for adults and children. They even have celebrity readers like Matthew Mcconaughey! Each story paints a relaxing picture, and takes your mind off stress and your “to-do” list.
Some stories are free, but if you get a subscription, the options increase and include meditations made specifically for sleep.
Cost: Free for some features (this includes a 7 day free trial)
$70/year for full access
2. SLEEP TIME
Understanding your personal sleep cycles can help to improve your sleep quality. This app has soundscapes, white noise, built in alarms and sleep cycle analyses. You can view detailed charts and compare your sleeping patterns over time. By using your phone’s sensors to analyze your movements throughout the night, the alarm wakes you up in your lightest sleep phase. The lightest sleep stage is the easiest to wake up from; as a result you wake up feeling refreshed and rested.
Cost: Free with optional in app purchases
3. PZIZZ
This app uses psychoacoustic principles (how humans perceive sound) to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Sequences of sound are tailored to stages of the sleep cycle and are layered with voice narrations based on clinical sleep interventions.
Users can compile more than 10 billion possible combinations of audio elements, which creates a uniquely personalized program. There are even “sleep” and “nap modules” included in the app.
Cost: Free with optional in app purchases
4. HEADSPACE
Generally used as a meditation app, Headspace is also great for sleep. Their “Sleep Aids” include soothing guided “Sleepcasts,” and relaxing music to prepare your mind for rest and peaceful sleep. You can also use the app during the day to learn meditation and develop the practice of mindfulness.
Cost: Free for select content – $95/year for full access
5. NOISLI
Noisli uses ambient sound and colors to trigger relaxation. You can mix and match nature sounds such as thunderstorms, rain and wind with white noise. By creating your own customized blend of sounds for background noise, you can block out the negative impact of external noise. There is also a feature which allows you to set a sleep/fade out timer!
Cost: $2.79
There you have it! From sounds, to meditative states to sleep stories – we hope one of these apps allows you to fall asleep faster, and for longer!
These apps are meant to be helpful tools to aid minor issues falling alseep. If you find that no matter what you do, you still wake up feeling unrested, a sleep disorder may be to blame.
To find out if you may have a sleep disorder, such as sleep apnea, take our instant Sleep Apnea Quiz. You can also book an appointment with one of our sleep specialists.
