The phone is in the bedroom anyway
The standard advice is to leave the phone outside the bedroom, and it is good advice that most people ignore. The phone is the alarm, the torch and the thing that rings if a parent is unwell. So the practical question is how to make it stop being the reason you are awake at one in the morning, and start doing something useful in the last hour instead.
None of this treats a sleep disorder. If poor sleep lasts for weeks, or you snore loudly and wake unrefreshed, that is a conversation for a doctor rather than an app.
What keeps you awake, and what helps
| What keeps you up | What helps | Kind of app |
|---|---|---|
| One more video, then another | A hard stop the phone enforces | Bedtime mode and app timers |
| A mind that will not switch off | Something to listen to that asks nothing of you | Sleep stories and guided wind-downs |
| Traffic, neighbours or a partner snoring | A steady sound that masks the rest | Sound mixers and white noise |
| A bright screen late at night | A dimmer, warmer display | A night light filter |
| Dreading a harsh alarm | A gentler wake-up | A smart alarm |
| Not knowing whether sleep is really bad | A rough record over several weeks | A sleep tracker, used lightly |
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Something to listen to with your eyes closed
Calm. Sleep stories read by familiar voices, plus soundscapes and breathing exercises. Subscription led, and the stories are the part people keep paying for.
Headspace. Its sleepcasts are long, gently meandering audio designed to give a busy mind somewhere dull to go.
Insight Timer. An enormous free library of guided meditations and sleep tracks from many teachers. The free tier is genuinely enough for most people.
Medito. Run by a non-profit, free throughout, with no advertising. The simplest recommendation on this list.
Healthy Minds Program. Free, made by a non-profit, and built as a structured course rather than a library to browse at midnight.
BetterSleep. The app formerly called Relax Melodies. Mix your own sounds, add a story, and set a timer so it fades out.
Slumber. Stories written to be slow and gently uneventful, which is precisely the point.
Loóna. A short calming activity followed by an audio story, for people who find it hard to go straight from scrolling to lying still.
White Noise Lite. Plain sounds that work offline, with a timer. No accounts, no programme, nothing to manage.
myNoise. Detailed sound generators with a slider for each band, so a rumble can be tuned to cover the exact noise that keeps you up.
Atmosphere. Rain, fire, wind and waves layered however you like, with a timer. A good free mixer.
Endel. Generated soundscapes that change with the time of day. Less a library, more a background that never repeats.
The screen, the reading and the morning
Digital Wellbeing. Already on most phones. Bedtime mode, app timers and the dashboard that tells you where the last hour actually went.
Twilight. Warms and dims the screen along with the sunset, and goes further than the built-in night light on many phones.
Libby. Library ebooks and audiobooks with your library card. A borrowed audiobook with a sleep timer beats another video.
Sleep as Android. A smart alarm that wakes you in a lighter phase within a window you set, with optional tracking and snore detection.
Sleep Cycle. Uses the microphone to follow your night and wakes you inside a window. Simple to start with.
SnoreLab. Records and scores snoring, which is useful as something to play to a partner or a doctor.
Alarmy. An alarm that will not stop until you solve a sum, take a photo of the sink or shake the phone. For heavy sleepers only.
Pokémon Sleep. Sleep tracking wrapped in a game, with the phone lying on the bed. The game is the reason some people keep a regular bedtime.
An hour that actually works
- Sixty minutes before: let Bedtime mode start Scheduled, not manual. If you have to remember to turn it on, it will not happen.
- Put the charger out of reach of the bed The phone can still be the alarm. It just should not be within arm's length when you are awake and bored.
- Thirty minutes before: switch from watching to listening Start the story, the sounds or the audiobook, set the timer, and put the phone face down.
- Set the alarm once and stop checking it Looking at the time during the night is one of the more reliable ways to stay awake.
- Keep the same wake-up time at the weekend Most sleep advice agrees on this one, and no app can do it for you.
Sleep tracking, used lightly
- Noticing over weeks that late coffee or late screens change things
- Recording snoring to show someone
- A gentler alarm window
- Motivation to keep a regular bedtime
- Exact sleep stages from a phone on a mattress
- Diagnosing any sleep disorder
- Nights when checking the score keeps you awake
- Comparing yourself with other people
Sleep researchers have a name for losing sleep over a sleep score: orthosomnia. If you catch yourself worrying about last night's number, turn the tracking off for a week and see whether you sleep any worse. Many people do not.
Bedtime mode first, the charger out of reach second, something to listen to third. Track lightly or not at all, and see a doctor if the problem lasts.
Frequently asked questions
Do blue light filters actually help?
The evidence is mixed. A dimmer, warmer screen is at least more comfortable at night, but what you are looking at probably matters more than its colour.
Are the paid meditation apps worth the money?
The free libraries in Insight Timer, Medito and Healthy Minds cover a great deal. Pay only once you know you use an app nightly, and check how to cancel before you start a trial.
Can a phone app detect sleep apnoea?
No. A snoring recording can be useful to show a doctor, but loud snoring with pauses or gasping, together with daytime sleepiness, needs a medical assessment rather than an app score.
Is it fine to fall asleep with earphones in?
Many people do. Keep the volume low, use a timer so the audio stops, and consider soft sleep earbuds or a small speaker if ordinary earphones are uncomfortable.
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