World Sleep Day: Apps help you sleep better!

Millions of people around the world including from Bangladesh have been suffering troubles in their sleep-routine. This is a very common problem now.

Can mobile or computer applications help you achieve a better sleep cycle? Yes, to some extent, these innovative apps work well.

Marking World Sleep Day today (March 19), we are going to share the benefits of the apps.

Every year, the World Sleep Day Committee of the World Sleep Society arranges various programme to create awareness of sleep disorders and other relevant health issues among people on the day.

Experts say it is important for humans to maintain a healthy sleep cycle daily. A sound sleep of 6-8 hours is crucial to the body and its maximum functionality.

However, we often lose track of our decreasing sleep times as our lives continue to be taken over by studies, work, and play.

The five apps will help you get the right amount of shut-eye.

Calm

Calm is a meditation app that you can use right before going to bed. Like most apps on this list, Calm will help you go to sleep faster with sleep stories, soothing music, and even guided lessons on gentle movements that relax the body. The free version of the app should help most people out when going to bed and even tackling issues like anxiety. However, users can also subscribe to engage with some paid content.

Headspace

Headspace is all about meditation and using meditation techniques to calm your mind. Apart from sleep sounds that help you rest well, the app also features multiple courses all based on topics around living mindfully and others. The app also has some neat tricks like manipulating the speaker’s voice to be louder or softer than the background ambient sounds. A free version of the app will provide you with a limited number of sessions per day, but you can always go premium and get unlimited access to content.

Relax melodies

Relax Melodies, as the name suggests is an app that can play various sounds to help you go to sleep, and maintain a good sleep as well. You can program the app to play music all night or to shut down after a while. The number of sleep sounds you get here is limited when you’re using the free version. However, there’s another catch – you cannot use another app when Relax Melodies is in action. This may be a good thing and minimize distractions so you can sleep faster.

Noisli

Noisli also provides you with relaxing sounds. However, its biggest feature is the ability to customise your sounds as per your taste and ambience to create your soundscape. Noisli can be used for anything from drowning out annoying sounds when you’re trying to work, to set the perfect sleep-inducing stage for you at night. A free version gets you 16 sounds and 15 hours of streaming a day, while a paid version gets you 28 sounds, no limit on streaming, and some more features.

Sleep Cycle

Sleep Cycle is an app that helps you monitor your sleep time and patterns. The app also has some great features up its sleeve, including monitoring your sleep in real-time by analysing the sounds you make via your phone. This can then be used to wake you up when your body is in its lightest phase of sleep, therefore, allowing you to wake up feeling fresher. You can also set an approximate alarm so the app does not wake you up too late. Premium features include information on how the weather affects your sleep, and the ability to take sleep notes, among other features.