Wired
From an interview with an Apple executive, it was revealed that the sleep tracking function of the Apple Watch, which was newly announced at WWDC20, had been planned and developed for five years.
Long-awaited sleep tracking function
WWDC20 has announced that iOS14 and watchOS7, which will be released this fall, will adopt the sleep tracking function that many users have been asking for. Among the smart watches on the market, the Apple Watch has a strong aspect as a device that supports healthcare, but unlike other companies’ products, adoption of sleep trackers has been postponed until now.
However, it seems that a long time ago, Kevin Lynch, a company that oversees the technology department at Apple, has been looking for a sleep tracking function five years before the first Apple Watch appeared (Mr. Lynch joined Apple in 2013, I have been involved in the software development of Apple Watch).
Why did it take 5 years?
There are two main reasons why Lynch spent five years in his interview with the news site CNET.
First, the Apple Watch sleep tracking feature is different from other leading services. Often, other companies’ sleep trackers graphically visualize REM sleep (where the brain is awake but the body is resting) and non-REM sleep (where the brain and body are resting), and the “quality” of sleep. Is scored, but the trackers provided by Apple do not show daily sleep scores. What is noticeable in the image is the short sleep time.
According to Lynch, the data obtained from sleep data is too large to analyze in the first place, and it is impossible for the user to control the duration of REM sleep intentionally. “Data input of hand movements (during sleep) does not give a complete picture of what is happening in the brain.”
Instead, Apple’s focus has been to focus on making the transition to bed smoother, and “improving” sleep quality.
For example, in iOS14 that works with Apple Watch, when the Wind Down function is enabled, the countdown until the set bedtime is displayed on the iPhone, it is recommended to relax, and sleep mode is turned on. “Many people are seriously aware that they aren’t getting enough sleep already, so we don’t add anything to it.” Therefore, Apple’s sleep tracking function is different from other companies in terms of “total coordination of sleep”, although movements and breaths during sleep are recorded and visualized as data.
In other words, it took a long time to implement because I was drawing a blueprint of how to coordinate, rather than rough visualization of straightforward data.
The battery problem was also in sight
The second is the battery issue.
Some smartwatches from other companies work for nearly a month, but the Apple Watch has 18 hours of battery life on the latest Series 5 (4 hours total 4G LTE connection and 14 hours iPhone to Bluetooth via Bluetooth). Connection is assumed).
Therefore, it is thought that Apple initially intended to wear an Apple Watch during the day and have it charged at bedtime. In fact, it’s just a personal impression, but I felt that the first Apple Watch was worn and that the battery charge decreased.
However, due to technological advances, Series 5 only needs 1.5 hours to charge to 80% battery and 2.5 hours to 100%. In addition, the sleep tracking function has been found from a beta survey that the remaining battery level is 22% on the first day and 12% on the second day, which is a relatively moderate decrease (the battery level is 30%. If you try to use the tracking function in the following conditions, a suggestion will be displayed to charge.)
In other words, the aim of introducing the sleep tracking function has been established only when the charging speed has improved and the power consumption has been reduced to about 30% at maximum.
By the way, according to Kevin Lynch, the development of automatic hand-washing detection had also started several years ago.
Source:CNET via AppleInsider
Photo: YouTube-AppleInsider
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Source: iPhone Mania