How to monitor your breathing rate while you sleep with Apple Watch

Last year, with the introduction of watchOS 7, Apple added the ability to track your sleep metrics using the Apple Watch. Now, with watchOS 8, you can also track your respiratory rate throughout the night, which could help to detect early signs of medical conditions like sleep apnea, and chronic lung disease, among others.

Using its built-in accelerometer, the Apple Watch can track the number of breaths you take per minute while asleep. The results are then recorded in the Health app, which also gives you deeper insight into the data on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis.

Here's how to monitor your breathing rate while you sleep with Apple Watch.

First, let's make sure your Apple Watch is compatible

Is it time to get a new Apple Watch? Credit: brenda stolyar / mashable

Before you get too excited, it's important to make sure your Apple Watch is compatible with watchOS 8, which was launched on Sept. 20, 2021. Here's a list of models that play nicely with the new operating system:

• Apple Watch Series 3

• Apple Watch Series 4

• Apple Watch Series 5

• Apple Watch SE

• Apple Watch Series 6

Set up and turn on "Sleep Mode" at night

To enable Sleep Mode, you have two options:

Manually turn it on every night

Swipe up to the Control Center. Credit: screenshot / apple

Tap on the "Sleep" tab. Credit: screenshot / apple

Swipe up to the Control Center on your Apple Watch, tap on the Do Not Disturb icon, and then tap on the "Sleep" tab.

Tap on the "Focus" tab. Credit: screenshot / apple

Tap to turn on "Sleep" mode. Credit: Screenshot / apple

You can also do this on your iPhone, which will then automatically put your Apple Watch into Sleep Mode, too. To do this, swipe down to the Control Center, tap on the Focus tab, and then tap the Sleep icon.

Set it to automatically turn on

Tap on the Sleep app on your Apple Watch. Credit: screenshot / apple

Set your Bedtime and Wake Up time. Credit: screenshot / apple

If you're the type to forget to turn Sleep Mode on before going to bed, it can be set to turn on automatically, too. On your Apple Watch, tap on the Sleep app, choose your Wake Up time and Bedtime, and then set the specific days you'd like for it to kick in.

Sleep Mode can also be set up on your iPhone.

You can also set your Bedtime and Wake Up time through your iPhone. Credit: screenshot / apple

Go to the Health app > Browse > Sleep and scroll down to "Your Schedule." Tap on the "Full Schedule & Options" tab, and then "Edit" to set your Bedtime and Wake Up time.

Open the Health app in the morning

There's a section just for the "Respiratory" feature. Credit: screenshot / apple

This is what a summary of your metrics for the night will look like. Credit: screenshot / apple

When you wake up, you can check on your breathing rate via the Health app. Open the app and scroll down until you see the Respiratory Rate section, and then tap on it. You can also access it using the app by tapping on the Browse tab followed by the Respiratory tab.

Check your stats

All of your data lives in the Health app. Credit: screenshot / apple

At the top, the Respiratory Rate section includes a chart that shows your range of breaths per minute based on the hour, day, week, month, and year. Additional data and information on the topic will appear as you scroll down.

To see your breaths per minute while asleep, tap on "Show More Respiratory Rate Data." At the bottom is a dedicated Sleep section that displays your specific number of breaths per minute.

As you continue to wear the Apple Watch to bed and monitor your breathing, the Health app will be able to identify more in-depth and useful trends over time.

This article originally published and in July 2021 and was updated in Sept. 2021.