The WWDC 2021 keynote is complete and dusted, and alongside updates like iOS 15 and macOS 12 Monterey, Apple has unveiled watchOS 8 with new portrait watch faces for the Apple Watch, careful app updates, and more. One of the most useful features added to watchOS 8 is the new sleep respiration rate tracking on the Apple Watch. So, if you’re dying to learn more about it, in this article we’ve explained what sleep respiration rate is on Apple Watch and how to use it.
Apple Watch Respiration Rate Tracker
If you are an Apple Watch user, you may already be using the Apple Watch for sleep tracking. And pretty good at it. You can also track your blood oxygen level, sleep time, and more when you wake up with Apple Watch. You now have respiratory monitoring while you sleep. In this article, we’ll take a look at exactly what respiratory monitoring is, how respiratory monitoring differs from SpO2 monitoring, how to use it, and more.
As always, you can use the table of contents to jump between sections as you wish.
What is Respiration Rate on Apple Watch?
Before we get into any details on how to use the feature, let’s get a basic understanding of what breathing rate tracking in Apple Watch means. Currently, with watchOS 7, your Apple Watch tracks things like your heart rate, blood oxygen levels, and the time you spend asleep during bedtime.
The respiratory rate monitoring feature in watchOS 8 tells you the number of breaths you take per minute while you sleep.
All Apple Watches compatible with watchOS 8 will also be able to track your breathing rate while asleep. Your sleeper respiratory rate is essentially the number of breaths you take per minute while sleeping. This number is usually higher when your body needs more oxygen, such as when exercising, and lower when resting, especially when you’re asleep.
How Is Respiration Rate Different From SpO2?
At this point, you may be wondering what the difference is between the SpO2 values that the Apple Watch Series 6 can monitor and this new sleep breathing rate on the Apple Watch. To put it simply, SpO2 is a measurement of concentration, while respiratory rate is a measure of your breathing rate.. This is what it means.
The SpO2 values displayed by your Apple Watch describe the oxygen saturation (or concentration) in your blood. A higher value is better because it means your blood can more efficiently transport oxygen to your muscles and organs. A lower value, especially if it’s very low, is usually a sign of a medical problem and we recommend seeing a doctor to figure out what might be wrong.
On the other hand, the respiratory rate your Apple Watch displays is just the number of breaths you take per minute. On average, an adult takes 12-20 breaths per minute while awake but without straining. This number rises as you exercise and usually falls while you sleep.
How to Use Sleeping Respiration Rate Tracker on Apple Watch?
After reading all this, if you’re wondering how to use sleep breathing rate monitoring on the Apple Watch, here’s how to do it.
- Make sure you have sleep tracking enabled on your Apple Watch. If you don’t, you can check our article on how to enable sleep detection on Apple Watch.
- To get the feature, you need to update your iPhone to iOS 15 and update Apple Watch to watchOS 8. By the way, if you are not a developer, you can update iPhone to iOS 15 without a developer account.
- Now, just make sure you’re wearing your Apple Watch to sleep; sleep will begin to monitor your breathing rate.
How to Control Respiration Rate During Sleep?
So we started to track our breathing rate during sleep, so how can we see your data? You can do this in the Health app on your iPhone. Follow the steps below.
- Open the Health app on your iPhone and Tap “Browse” in the bottom navigation bar.
- Tap on “Respiratory” under Health Categories, then “respiratory rate” to see your sleep breathing rate data.
What are the Benefits of Monitoring Respiration Rate During Sleep?
Now that we know what sleep breathing rate is and how to use it, let’s take a look at how it benefits us. After all, there must be a reason to use the feature, right?
As I mentioned above, an adult takes an average of 12-20 breaths per minute while at rest. This number increases when you exercise or push yourself, and decreases while you sleep.
However, if your sleep breathing rate is higher than normal while you sleep, may indicate unhealthy lungs. On the other hand, sleep apnea can cause your nocturnal breathing to stop and start suddenly and repeatedly throughout the night. That’s why tracking your sleep breathing rate can help make sure your lungs are healthy.
Tracking sleep respiration rate on Apple Watch in watchOS 8 can help make sure your lungs are healthy
Also, sleep breathing rate tracking can help you, as our breathing slows to deeper breaths at fairly regular intervals during deep sleep and accelerates to shallow, less regular breaths during REM cycles. Determine how much REM sleep and deep sleep you get additionally.
Use Respiration Rate Tracker on Apple Watch
The new sleep respiration rate tracking on Apple Watch is a useful new feature added to Apple Watches. Since this feature is available with watchOS 8, it should be available on Apple Watch Series 3, Series 4, Series 5, SE, and Series 6. Plus, the upcoming Apple Watch Series 7 will obviously get it when it launches in the fall. this year. Well, haven’t you started using the new respiratory rate monitoring feature of the Apple Watch? How was your experience? Let us know in the comments.