Fitbit is testing a new ‘Snore Detect’ feature, and if you own aFitbit Versa 2you can sign up to try it out early.
The now Google-owned fitness brand says the aim of the feature is to help it to try to improve people’s sleep.
In an invitation sent to selected Fitbit users, the company announced: “The Fitbit Labs Snore Detect Beta program is now open for Fitbit users who have a Versa 2. It will be open for a limited period of time and to a limited number of users, so enroll now!
“Don’t let snoring rob you of your rest. By joining the Snore Detect Beta, you can easily monitor snoring and your bedroom sound level: Use the built-in microphone on your smartwatch to monitor snoring from you or your bed partner. Receive a daily report that shows snoring duration and intensity. Find out if a noisy bedroom disrupts your sleep. Perhaps a pet, siren or chirping bird is the source.”
If you own a Versa 2 and haven’t checked your emails for a while, it could be worth having a look to see if you’ve been invited. If the trial is successful we can expect to see this feature added to the standard Fitbit setup.
How good an addition would this be to Fitbit’s roster of features? We’re not immediately sure. The NHS advice on snoring certainly doesn’t make it sound serious enough to monitor constantly…
The advice says: “Snoring is very common and usually isn’t caused by anything serious. There are things you can do to help yourself if it’s a problem.”
Unless snoring really impacts on your sleep, or your partner’s sleep, it isn’t likely to be an issue. That is, unless you havesleep apnoea, which is a related condition that could be serious if it isn’t treated.
Perhaps a more compelling argument for the snore detection feature is its ability to monitor other sounds. It could tell you, for example, if your room was filled with noise from the street while you were sleeping. You might be unaware of recurring noises, happening at certain times of night, which could impact your sleep.
We’re not immediately sure this will be a valuable addition to Fitbit’s features, but it will definitely be interesting to see the results of the beta testing. Hopefully it will answer key questions: Do users like it? Is it reliable? And can it help people develop better sleep patterns?
