How to set up sleep tracking without a watch?

Anticipate can automatically track your sleep using your phone's built-in motion sensors, so you don't need a smartwatch or ring.

This guide shows you how to enable this feature by granting the necessary permissions. This can be done during the initial app setup or at any time from your settings.

How Motion-Based Sleep Tracking Works

If you keep the app in the background:

1. Anticipate briefly wakes up at 10:00 PM to start tracking, then monitors your night until 10:00 AM, or until you open it in the morning.
2. When your phone becomes still in the evening, we treat that as the start of bedtime.
3. When your phone starts moving in the morning, we treat that as your wake-up time.
4. If you pick up your phone during the night (even just to check the time), we detect the motion and record it as an awakening.

If you don't keep the app in the background:

1. You’ll get an evening notification reminding you to open Anticipate.
2. Once you open it, we start tracking for the next 12 hours.
3. Open the app again in the morning, so we can capture and save your sleep data.

Enable Motion-Based Sleep Tracking

You can enable this feature when you first set up the app or change it later in your settings.

During Initial Setup

1. On the Full sleep insight screen, tap Next.
2. When the system prompt asks to Access Your Motion & Fitness Activity, tap Allow.

After Initial Setup

1. Go to your Profile and select Manage your data.
2. Tap Device motion.
3. Toggle the Device motion access switch to the ON position. If prompted, you may be redirected to your phone's main settings to grant the permission.

Limitations

Apple only lets us retrieve motion-based sleep tracking data for up to 3 days after it’s recorded. If you don’t open Anticipate within 3 days of starting sleep tracking, that data may be lost.

Summary

This article details how to set up automatic sleep tracking in Anticipate without a watch. By enabling access to your phone's motion data, the app can model your sleep patterns, including when you go to bed, wake up, and experience interruptions. This feature ensures you receive valuable sleep insights even if you don't use a wearable device.