‘I wear an Apple Watch to track my sleep, and this simple switch has changed my morning routine.’

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Get ready for a more gentle wake-up

Apple Watch Sleep Schedule
(Image credit: Future)

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again — there’s nothing like the iPhone Radar alarm when it comes to getting your day off to an awful start. If, like me, you’re not a morning person, this is the article for you. I wear an Apple Watch every day (and night), and have been using it to track my sleep for years (here’s three features you should be using if you wear your Apple Watch at night), and this simple switch is a game-changer.

When sleep schedule is enabled on your Apple Watch, you can choose to be woken up by haptic alerts, which are more of a gentle tap on your wrist. You can only activate the gentle sleep haptic alert if you set up a sleep schedule, but experts reckon these are a less jarring, more personalized way to be woken up.

How to set up sleep haptic alarms

Compared to normal vibrating alarms, Apple’s haptic alarm is more of a gentle tap on your wrist. The accompanying sounds, if you choose to have them turned on, are also a world away from Apple’s Radar. You can customize the haptic alarm fully, choosing the pattern of vibrations that feels least aggressive for you, and choose whether you prefer a silent alarm that doesn’t wake your partner up.

To set up the haptic alarms, you’ll need to set up a sleep schedule on your Apple Watch. To set up a sleep schedule, you need to do so in the Health app. The Apple Watch will also switch automatically into Sleep mode when your bedtime approaches, turning off any notifications across all your Apple devices.

This is also important if you want to see your morning report every morning, as your Watch needs to be in sleep mode to display it. While your Apple Watch can’t read you a bedtime story (yet), it can give you wind-down reminders as your bedtime approaches. Plus, you can set a different bedtime schedule for the weekend if, unlike me, you have a life.

Sleep stages on Apple Watch 10

(Image credit: Future)

You can edit your sleep schedule from your Apple Watch itself, as well as switch your sleep alarm on or off. If you want to customize your haptic alarm further, you’ll need to head to your Sleep Focus menu in your iPhone settings. From here, head to your Sleep Schedule mode, then toggle the Alarm Options on.

You can then customize the haptics — I opted for the gentle heartbeat, which I found was a much calmer start to my day. I also listened to all of the gentle wakeup sounds and landed on Orbit, which again, was pretty calm and relaxing. You can change the intensity of the alarm itself from ‘default’ to ‘prominent’ on your watch.

If you’re looking for a calmer start to your day, no matter how hectic things turn out to be once you get out of bed, I recommend experimenting with the haptic sleep alarms.

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Jane McGuire
Jane McGuire
Fitness editor

Jane McGuire is Tom's Guide's Fitness editor, which means she looks after everything fitness related - from running gear to yoga mats. An avid runner, Jane has tested and reviewed fitness products for the past five years, so knows what to look for when finding a good running watch or a pair of shorts with pockets big enough for your smartphone. When she's not pounding the pavements, you'll find Jane striding round the Surrey Hills, taking far too many photos of her puppy. 

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