Sleep as Android
User manual
☰
Search

Heart rate detection

1. What it does

Enhances your sleep tracking data and awake detection.

If you have a compatible heart rate sensor, you can use it to:

  1. Gather your heart rate during the night and show it on your sleep graph

  2. Have much more precise awake detection

See and example of a heart-rate enabled track in Figure 1, “Graph with heart rate tracking”

graph hr
Figure 1. Graph with heart rate tracking

2. Where to find it

Enable HR monitoring for fully integrated devices

Settings → Wearables → Heart rate monitoring
This regards all devices that we explicitly integrated, such as Pebble, Mi Band, Amazefit, Fitbit, Garmin, Wear OS, Samsung Gear/Galaxy. See Smartwatch and Wearables for supported devices.
Enable HR monitoring for devices that support direct HR over BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy)

Settings → Wearables → Bluetooth Smart
This regards all other devices that have a HR sensor (such as Polar H7) and may or may not work with your device.
NOTE: Do not use this option for HR monitoring with compatible smartwatches such as Pebble, Mi Band, Amazefit, Fitbit, Garmin, Wear OS, Samsung Gear/Galaxy…​
Enable HR monitoring for a supported oximeter

If you have an oximeter connected in Sleep → Settings → Wearables → Pulse Oximeter, heart rate will be detected by default.
Enable awake detection using heart rate data

Settings → Sleep tracking → Awake detection → Heart rate monitoring

FAQ

Cannot install app on Wear OS device

If you come from Wear OS 1.0, please note that Wear OS 2.0 changed the way apps get installed on the watch, you now need to install them manually using Play Store on the watch.

Companion apps also have a special way to install on the watch:
If you already have Sleep as Android installed on your phone, then the watch app can be only installed from Apps on your phone and for some reason not directly from Play Store.

How to get there:

  1. Make sure the watch is connected to the phone.

  2. Go to app list on your watch, select Play Store.

  3. Scroll past Recommended for you, Top Free Apps etc., until you see Apps on your phone.

  4. Scroll down until you see Sleep.

  5. Click the download button to the right. Done!

  6. Now, you can enable the connection in Settings → Wearables → Use wearable → Wear OS.

  7. Test the connection in Settings → Wearables → Test sensor - you should see a graph reacting to your movement (a short delay is normal, data are sent in batches).

Permalink

Customized vibrations on MiBands

Vibration can be controlled only from the companion app, because the integration with MiBands is not direct (the API is not available for the integration).
Luckily, both companion apps allow vibration customization in the pro versions.

1. Tools & MiBand

  1. Enable priority override mode for MiBand Tools app: pull down the notification bar, and on the MiBand Tools status bar notification, press the first icon multiple times, until you enter priority override mode = you will se an exclamation mark.

  2. In Mi Band Tools app: Left ☰ menu → Settings → Sleep as Android → Custom vibration adjust the vibrations. You can set vibration count and length, and delay between vibrations.

  3. Test the resulting vibration pattern with Test vibration.

2. Notify & Fitness

  1. Enable custom vibrations in Sleep as Android settings section.

  2. Open the vibration settings with the Vibration button.

  3. Adjust the vibration pattern - you can change intensity and duration, and also vibration delay.

  4. Test the resulting vibration pattern with the Play button in the top right corner.

Permalink

Do you support / integrate my device?

For all currently supported devices, check out list of compatible devices.

If you’d like us to integrate another device, please add it as a suggestion to our suggestion forum. Also please check whether the device has an API so we can integrate it.

Permalink

How do I get BT smart heart rate device work with Sleep as Android?

  1. Enable the tracking in Settings → Wearables →Bluetooth Smart (might be hidden under Advanced section).

  2. Try to pair with your device (this may not be required for all devices and OS versions).

  3. Make sure no other app is using your device while sleep tracking.

If nothing helps please send us a debug report using Left ☰ menu → ic bug Report a bug.

Note BT Smart heart rate tracking only works from Android 4.3 onward
Permalink

Mi Band button dismiss / snooze

You can choose, if the MiBand button has the power to snooze or dismiss your alarms.
If you need some extra motivation to get out of bed, you can have the button without any action - are forced to get up and dismiss the alarm on the phone.

1. Tools & MiBand

In Left ☰ menu → Settings → Sleep as Android → Mi Band Button Action

  • None - the button will not have any effect on alarm

  • Dismiss

  • Snooze

2. Notify & Fitness

In Sleep as Android settings section:

  • Dismiss - enables dismissing alarm with the button (dismiss will be confirmed with a vibration)

  • Snooze - with two button press, you can snooze the alarm (will be confirmed with a vibration)

  • No action for the button - disable both previous options

Permalink

No heart rate measurements from my watch

Please check our integration table table – only devices with a heart icon will measure heart rate with Sleep as Android. Other smartwatches with HR sensor need to go around SaA – save HR to S Health or Google Fit, from where Sleep as Android will download it. Please note that Sleep as Android downloads the measurements usually with a day’s delay (the sync is triggered once another record is saved).

For enabling heart rate monitoring with compatible wearables, go to Settings → Wearables > Heart rate monitoring.
For enabling heart rate monitoring with BT smart device, go to Settings → Wearables → Bluetooth Smart.

BT Smart device

  1. Try to pair with your device (this may not be required for all devices and OS versions).

  2. Make sure no other app is using your device while sleep tracking…​

MiBands

Check your HR settings in the Mi Fit app.
When the Mi Band is in Sleep Assistant HR mode in Mi Fit, it doesn’t feed the HR data to Mi Band Tools / Sleep as Android. When it is in regular HR tracking mode (24-hour), it works.

  • Tools&MiBand - Check if Heart Rate Monitor is enabled in T&MB Left ☰ menu → Heart Rate → ic cog → Heart Rate monitor

  • Notify&Fitness - Enable heart rate monitoring in N&F ic action graph 3 → Sleep → Monitor heart, and aslo in N&F ic action graph 3 → Sleep → More options → Sleep as Android → Settings → Heart monitor

Wear OS

  • For older versions of Android (4 and lower) on your phone, you need to opt-in to our Beta testing channel. Newer version no longer needs to be in Beta.

Permalink

Samsung Galaxy Gear - Watch app stucks at Start tracking

This can be a result of multiple things, so please make sure to do the following troubleshooting:

  1. Make sure you have Sleep as Android Gear Addon installed on your phone

  2. It can happen that the addon cannot be started by us if it was force stopped previously. In that case please go to Play Store app on your phone, open addon page tap on “OPEN”.

  3. Opt out of any battery savers that you might have on your phone, for all involved apps (Sleep as Android, Sleep as Android Gear Addon, Samsung Accessory Services) – to find out how to do that, please consult dontkillmyapp.com

  4. Samsung Accessory services sometimes misbehaves and prevents connection to the watch for 3rd party apps. Please uninstall and reinstall it.

Permalink

Tracking starts on its own

  1. Please make sure that you are not accidentally starting the Sleep as Android app from your watch. This would start sleep tracking immediately.

  2. Make sure you are not using automatic start of sleep tracking in Settings → Sleep tracking → Start sleep tracking.
    You can find more information about automatic sleep tracking start here.

Permalink