Oura Ring nap detection: How it works, adding tags and manual nap tracking

Tracking naptime with an Oura smart ring is essential if you want your Readiness and Sleep scores to remain accurate, but there are some quirks to understand before you get started. 

We've been on the record in our Oura Ring (Gen 3) review as big fans of the company's approach to tracking mini-sleeps, and the detection accuracy is as good as any wearable we've tested. 

As we say, though, it's not perfect. Currently, there's no option on Oura to manually or retrospectively log nap times, which means your scores will remain unaltered unless the ring automatically picks up your sleep. You also can't delete them if you've already confirmed their existence.

Below, we'll explain a couple of tricks you can pull to at least have naps registered in the app, and how the smart ring works in the background to track automatically.

• How to manually add activities to Oura
• Oura Ring (Gen 3) vs. Ultrahuman Ring Air

How Oura nap tracking works

Wareable

Oura doesn't leave much wiggle room when it comes to nap tracking, frustratingly. The good news here is that, as we say, it's incredibly reliable at registering nap periods, but they'll still have to meet some parameters to count.

Your nap will:

• Only count if you slept for more than 15 minutes
• Be converted to sleep if it lasts for more than three hours
• Only be tracked if your body falls into light, deep, or REM sleep

This sounds simple enough, but plenty of other variables are at play here, too.

For example, Oura indicates that your longest sleep will be the one that counts towards your Readiness and Sleep scores. If you have interrupted sleep in one sitting, we've found this doesn't affect things too much. 

If you have a long catch-up nap in the day, though - maybe one that lasts four hours - and also only slept for a few hours during the night, this can skew the scores a bit in the Oura app.

However, for us at least, it's pretty hard to trigger any issues - partly because Oura tracks your sleep in a 24-hour window from 6 pm - 6 pm.

How a nap appears in the Oura app

Wareable

Naps are all detected automatically in Oura. And, once your nap is completed, it should appear at the top of the screen the next time you sync your ring with the Oura app. 

Should you choose to confirm it - and remember, you can't dismiss it and gain it back, or delete it once you've confirmed - it will appear alongside your workouts or meditations in the 'Summary' section. 

From here, you can then select it and view your sleep stages, lowest resting heart rate, and average HRV, as shown above.

Can you manually add naps to Oura?

Wareable

As we've mentioned, Oura doesn't currently allow you to manually add naps before they start, add them retrospectively, or confirm them the following day. They also can't be deleted if you have already confirmed them.

However, if your Oura Ring hasn't detected your nap, it will have very likely logged it as restorative (green) time in the heart rate and Daytime Stress sections of the app.

This means it will still be counted towards your stress metrics, which does have some effect on your recovery index and Readiness score for the following day.

And while you don't have much room for maneuvering when it comes to manual nap tracking, you can add the nap tag to at least acknowledge its existence. This won't have an impact on scores, as we say, but it does serve a purpose in terms of using Oura as a journal to look back on.

How to add the Nap tag in the Oura app

1. Open the Oura app on iOS/Android.

2. Tap the + icon in the bottom-right corner.

3. Select 'Add a tag'

4. Add nap details.

Setting up an 'Unguided session'

Some Oura Ring users on Reddit report using the 'Unguided session' tool to effectively make sure their naps are logged within the app. This isn't something we've tested ourselves, but it does mean your heart rate, heart rate variability, and skin temperature trends will be registered (if your session lasts longer than 10 minutes).

Again, like with adding the nap tag, this isn't a proper workaround, but it's better than nothing - especially if you consistently take deliberate naps that aren't being picked up by the ring. 

Our only concern is whether starting an unguided session will trick Oura into not registering a nap because it thinks you're meditating. Either way, though, start one by following these steps:

1. Open the Oura app on iOS/Android.

2. Tap the + icon in the bottom-right corner.

3. Select the 'Unguided session' option

4. Select the duration of your session or keep it open-ended.

5. Begin napping, and wait for the timer to run down or end it manually.

6. View your session details and enter your reflection.