Sleep tracking on Fitbit is about to get much more personal. Here's what may arrive soon.
Fitbit smartwatch users and Google Pixel Watch owners may soon benefit from a personalized sleep schedule designed to suggest optimal bedtime and wake-up times.
That’s if an APK analysis published by 9to5Google is anything to go by, with the report suggesting Google Fitbit is developing the feature for future release.
Nothing has been officially announced yet, but code in the latest version of the Fitbit app for Android suggests Fitbit Labs is preparing an opt-in ‘sleep need’ to find the user’s “ideal bedtime and wake times.”
Fitbit plans to achieve this by prompting users to answer daily surveys at three intervals: morning, midday, and evening. These responses will be combined with sleep data collected by Fitbit smartwatches (and, we assume, Google Pixel Watch devices, since they harness the Fitbit app and algorithms) to determine the ideal sleep duration and timing.
Once an optimal sleep cycle has been established, the feature will offer tailored recommendations, including adjusting alarms. It will also remind users one hour before their suggested bedtime, encouraging them to enable Android’s Digital Wellbeing Bedtime mode for a more restful night.
Additionally, Fitbit will track sleep debt by noting how much sleep users need versus how much they actually get. The company also seems like it will suggest wearing a compatible smartwatch for at least five days for the most accurate results.
Wareable’s view
While it’s unclear when (or, indeed, if) this feature will ship to Fitbit users, it would help bolster the brand’s already solid array of sleep-tracking features. From this APK breakdown, it would provide a calculation similar to Whoop’s.
However, whether Fitbit’s take on more in-depth and personalized sleep scheduling will also factor in strain from activities, skin temperature, or daily stress, as others do when assessing readiness, recovery, and circadian rhythm, remains to be seen.
We’ll keep an eye on this one, as circadian rhythms and chronotype (aside from the sleep animal stuff) are where Google/Fitbit’s sleep-tracking insights have begun to lag behind those of Oura and Whoop.
