Sleep tracking has been one the most oft-requested features for Apple Watch, but Apple itself has yet to implement a solution. That hasn’t stopped developers from creating their own watchOS apps for doing it, though.

One of the more popular apps for sleep tracking with Apple Watch is called AutoSleep….

AutoSleep allows you track your sleep with your Apple Watch in two different ways. The first, and most detailed/accurate, way is to wear your Apple Watch while you sleep. If you do this, all you have to do is download the AutoSleep app from the App Store and plugin some basic information about yourself.

If you track your sleep this way, you’ll get a variety of details about your sleep every morning when you wake up. This information includes graph showing your sleep qualities and cycle.

Additionally, you can view how long you laid awake in bed, how restful your sleep was, your average heart rate, and how long you spent in deep sleep.

Of course, many users don’t wear their Apple Watch to sleep. Before we move on to how to track sleep without wearing Apple Watch, there’s something to note here.

One of the primary reasons users don’t sleep in their Apple Watch is because of battery life. One thing I’ve done to get around this issue, is take my Apple Watch off for about 30 minutes before bed and put it back on when I lay down. Then, I take it off while I get ready in the morning and put it back on as I’m about to leave.

However, if that sounds like too cumbersome of a ritual for you, there are other options.

AutoSleep includes an option to track the amount of time you’re in bed, but you don’t get the same level of detail as you would if you slept with your Watch:

If you want detailed sleep information and don’t want to wear your Apple Watch to bed, there are a few other apps to try. Many of these work by tracking your movement during the night while your phone is placed on your mattress.

  • Sleep Cycle (Free)
  • Sleep Time+ ($4.99)
  • To Bed (Free)
  • Sleep Genius ($4.99)
  • Beddit (Free)
  • Sleep ++ (Free)

Ideally, Apple will implement a sleep tracking functionality into Apple Watch once battery life improves, but for now these are some solid third-party options.

AutoSleep is available on the App Store for $2.99 and was updated recently to version 3.0 with bug fixes, performance improvements, and watchOS 3.1.3 support.