snores

ANSWERS

Do snoring apps work?

What a phone on the nightstand can and can't tell you about your snoring.

What the research found

Researchers reviewed 126 snoring apps in the App Store, found 13 that could record and play back snoring, and compared the best-rated one with sleep lab recordings in two patients. The app detected 64 to 96% of snores, and 93 to 96% of the sounds it flagged were snores. One chronic snorer then used it every night for a month while trying treatments, and his snores per hour fell from 200 to 10. The authors called the apps promising, but said more validation was needed 1.

Microphones and software can tell snoring from other sounds very well when they are designed for it. A research system trained on more than 76,000 sounds recorded in a sleep lab, with a microphone 1 metre above the bed, told snores apart from noises like coughing and bedding 98% of the time 2.

What apps can and can't do

Good for

  • Record when you snore and how loudly
  • Keep clips you can listen to
  • Track snoring over weeks and months
  • Compare nights with and without a remedy

Watch out for

  • Diagnose sleep apnea or any condition 3
  • Measure breathing, oxygen or sleep stages directly
  • Always tell your snoring from a partner's or a fan
  • Rule out a problem with a quiet score

Getting good readings

Tips

  1. Put the phone on the nightstand, about an arm's length from your head, with the microphone uncovered.
  2. Plug it in: listening all night uses battery.
  3. Use a delayed start so the time you are falling asleep isn't counted.
  4. Keep fans and other noise low, or mark clips that aren't you so they don't count.
Are snoring apps accurate?

Reasonably, for detecting snoring: one tested app picked up 64 to 96% of snores compared with a sleep lab 1. Accuracy depends on the app, the room and where the phone is.

Can a snoring app detect sleep apnea?

No. Only a sleep study can diagnose sleep apnea 3. An app can show patterns, such as long gaps between snores, that are worth discussing with a doctor.

Do snoring apps record all night?

Most listen all night and keep only short clips of the loudest moments, to save space. Some can keep a full recording.

Does a snoring app drain the battery?

Listening all night uses some battery, so keep the phone plugged in. Put it at arm's length so the microphone hears you clearly.

Sources

  1. Camacho M, Robertson M, Abdullatif J, et al. Smartphone apps for snoring. J Laryngol Otol. 2015;129(10):974-979. doi.org/10.1017/S0022215115001978
  2. Dafna E, Tarasiuk A, Zigel Y. Automatic detection of whole night snoring events using non-contact microphone. PLoS One. 2013;8(12):e84139. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0084139
  3. Kapur VK, Auckley DH, Chowdhuri S, et al. Clinical practice guideline for diagnostic testing for adult obstructive sleep apnea: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine clinical practice guideline. J Clin Sleep Med. 2017;13(3):479-504. doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.6506

COMING SOON

Find out
how you snore.

Snores listens through the night on your iPhone and shows you in the morning how much and how loudly you snored, with clips of the loudest moments. Tag what you tried and see what goes with quieter nights. The sound stays on your iPhone.

Meet Snores
Snores at night on iPhone: a big clock, the Snores moon glowing softly, how long it has been listening and a Hold to stop button

This page is general information, not medical advice. Snores is not a medical device and does not diagnose sleep apnea or any other condition. If you are worried about your sleep or your breathing, talk to a doctor.