Can Your Smartwatch Detect Sleep Apnea?

Key Points:

• Sleep apnea is a serious disorder involving repeated breathing interruptions during sleep, often unnoticed except for symptoms like exhaustion or loud snoring that can disturb partners.
• Confirming sleep apnea requires medical testing, but some smartwatches from Apple and Samsung now offer FDA-authorized features to screen for signs of moderate-to-severe sleep apnea.
• Apple’s sleep apnea notification feature is available on recent Apple Watch models and requires at least 10 nights of tracked sleep to notify users of elevated breathing disruptions, prompting a doctor’s evaluation.
• Samsung’s similar feature works with Galaxy Watch 4 and newer paired with a Galaxy phone, requiring only two nights of sleep tracking, though it automatically turns off after providing results.
• Other devices like Garmin watches and the Oura Ring track breathing variations but lack FDA clearance for sleep apnea screening, and major brands like Fitbit and Whoop do not currently offer FDA-cleared respiratory features for this purpose.