Apple Watch’s New Sleep Apnea Feature: A Nod to Your Nighttime Breathing!

Summary

Apple has just rolled out a feature that could turn your wristwatch into your personal nighttime life coach, as its sleep apnea detection feature has officially gotten the thumbs-up from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). So, if you’re fortunate enough to own a Watch Series 9 or the sleeker Watch Ultra 2, congratulations! You can start monitoring your sleep style today—it’s like having a sleep detective on your arm, minus the trench coat and magnifying glass. But what’s sleep apnea, you ask? It’s that pesky disorder where people suddenly decide to stop breathing in their sleep—kind of like how I stop snoring when you poke me in the ribs. With the latest update via watchOS 11, your Apple Watch is ready to channel its inner Sherlock Holmes. It’ll use its accelerometer (a fancy term for the gadget that knows when you move) to spot wrist wiggles that might spell trouble for your nighttime breathing. Once it sees something suspicious—like your wrist doing the cha-cha while you’re supposed to be dreaming of unicorns—it will give you a gentle nudge (the digital equivalent of a wake-up shake). You’ll then be notified if you might be experiencing moderate to severe sleep apnea. Who knew that your wrist could micromanage your breathing? And if you’re feeling extra proactive and want to impress your doctor with your newfound health data, you can track the “breathing disturbances” right in the Health app. Think of it as sharing your deep and dark breathing secrets with your physician, rather than those awkward small talk moments when they ask how your day was. Apple claims this feature was developed using “advanced machine learning” and a mountain of clinical data—because who wouldn’t want their watch to drop machine learning jargon at brunch? By the way, Samsung’s Galaxy Watch also got a shiny FDA badge for its sleep apnea detection earlier this year, so it looks like both teams are racing to become the MVP of sleep monitoring. For those looking forward to the next-gen Watch Series 10, you’ll be in for the same sleep apnea perks too, as Apple plans to expand this feature to over 150 countries faster than you can hit the snooze button. So, get ready, world! Your Apple Watch is now officially part-time sleep whisperer, and it’s here to help you breathe easy… which is a breath of fresh air, if you will!

Original Source: www.theverge.com