Apple may be looking to integrate own sleep-tracking features to its product lineup sooner rather than later. According to a report by CNBC, Apple acquired the sleep tracking company Beddit. Beddit's website confirms the acquisition on its Privacy Policy page, which was last edited May 8, 2017: "Beddit has been acquired by Apple. Your personal data will be collected, used and disclosed in accordance with the Apple Privacy Policy." No financial details of the acquisition have been made public yet.
Beddit makes both sleep-tracking hardware and software and already has an existing Apple Watch app that works with its Beddit 3 Sleep Monitor. The device is a flat strip of fabric with sensors inside that sits atop your mattress, and under you, while you sleep. Using a variety of sensors including those for motion, humidity, and temperature, the Beddit 3 Sleep Monitor tracks sleep time and quality, heart rate, breathing patterns, deep and light sleep times, sleep efficiency, and more. Both its iOS and Apple Watch app connect to the monitor, so they currently don't track sleep independently from Beddit's hardware.
Apple stores started carrying Beddit devices in late 2015, and the Beddit 3 Sleep Monitor is still available on Apple's store website. It doesn't appear Beddit will stop making its sleep monitor any time soon, but its fate will likely depend on Apple's sleep-tracking strategy going forward. It's unlikely that Apple would create a sleep-tracking mattress or anything similar to Beddit's sleep monitor, but the company probably wants to experiment with Beddit's sleep-tracking methods to develop its own sleep-tracking features for the Apple Watch.
In the Apple Watch's short life, sleep tracking hasn't been on the top of Apple's to-do list. When the Apple Watch Series 2 came out last year, it didn't feature any new, native sleep tracking features as Apple focused on making the device waterproof, adding built-in GPS, and improving its battery life. Users who want to track sleep still have to rely on third-party sleep tracking apps, and those are only truly useful on the Series 2 watch thanks to the extended battery life (the original Apple Watch's battery would struggle to survive all day and all night). Apple will likely add some kind of sleep-tracking feature to the Apple Watch at some point because most other devices offer that as a standard feature.
reader comments
42