Fitbit may soon add snoring detection to its devices


Fitbit may soon add snoring and noise detection to its devices, a move likely to please pairs of people who snore and be of benefit to people who consider snoring a sign of a possible health condition. The information comes according to a report from 9to5google that analyzed the latest version of the Fitbit app in the Google Play Store.

Fitbit now offers a live sleep tracking system, using a fitness tracker on your wrist to measure how long your body spends in each sleep cycle based on things like heart rate and movement. These devices are prepared to use tracking to help determine why you're not sleeping well or feeling restless in the morning. The feature allows the Fitbit's microphone to hear ambient noises including possible snoring after you fall asleep.

The feature drains the device's battery, plus the sleep tracker monitors noise throughout the night, the release notes state. The feature is called Snore & Noise Detect, and it monitors noise including snoring from you or someone next to you. The feature analyzes the noise level and tries to find sounds specific to snoring.

When your Fitbit detects a noise event that is above the base noise level, it tries to determine if this is snoring or something else. And the snore tracker can't tell who's snoring whether it's a Fitbit wearer or anyone else in the bedroom.

Fitbit Recommendations

The release notes recommend users not play white noise or other ambient sounds in the bedroom that can interfere with snoring detection. It suggests users charge their Fitbit to at least 40 percent before going to bed as this feature requires more frequent charging. The notes do not indicate what users are supposed to do with the information about snoring. But given that snoring and the conditions that can lead to it can be very disruptive to sleep, it may be a useful metric to be aware of. Fitbit is also offering Your Sleep Animals as part of a separate upcoming feature.

It is clear that Your Sleep Animals is still in the very early stages of development compared to the snore detector. Each different sleep pattern appears to be associated with an animal, but it is not clear what users do with the information. But according to the report, the restless sleeper would be a bear, the short sleeper would be a hummingbird, the deep sleeper would be a turtle, and so on. Snore & Noise Detect is not yet available to all users.

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