My iPhone’s Putting Me To Sleep

Ok so this was a weird post to have to write, as trying to review 3 apps that supposedly put you to sleep in fact kept me awake.  Unsurprisingly it’s hard to be objective while sleeping.

I spent the last 2 weeks trying out 3 different apps on the iphone that are meant to make the process of going to sleep easier.  However,  I’ve since discovered I’m probably the worst person in the world to review such apps as I have no problem going to sleep.  In fact I can pretty much sleep anywhere, at any time by just telling myself to do so.

But, these apps intrigued me.  Could it be possible for certain sounds be used to trigger a brain state?  Could the iphone be an insomniacs cure? I tested 3 applications and here are the results.

Whitenoise

This looks to be the least scientific of the bunch.  The premise is simple – use white noise such as a fan, sprinkler or even a purring cat etc to lull you to sleep.  The noise blocks out any other sounds which could jolt you out of falling asleep.  The monotonous sounds are hard to focus on, which again, should stop you jolting into a conscious state.

But does it work? Yes.   See, many people have been using this technique for decades.  Its all about blocking out anything that could jolt you awake.  The only problem is the quality of the looping sounds as I could pinpoint when they repeated, which was annoying.

SleepStream

This one is supposedly “scientific” as it uses  binaural beats to induce a relaxed state.   The app combines the “binaural” beats with various looping sounds.  I won’t go into explaining what binaural beats are just head on over to Wikipedia

However I found sleepstream to be annoying.  Not good when your trying to sleep.  The loops were too short and contained enough of a melody to be recognisable and it just became repetitive.

Magic Sleep

MagicSleep was pitched towards toddlers and infants, but if it works on 3 year olds its was surely going to work on me.

This app is weird in the sense that it “recreates the sounds inside the womb” (as per the apps description).  hmm just a tad freaky.  I’m aware of where I came from but I sure as hell don’t want to go back.

But upon trying the application I was pleasantly surprised.  MagicSleep produces calm ambient music with what appears to be a heartbeat and the occasional, odd, but very pleasant sound effect.

The result is sleep inducing heaven.  Forget binaural beats.  This things actually works.

The “Free” Option

Although you can get “lite” versions of these apps – I have found that just using the iphone’s built in countdown timer to sleep the device is a solid option.  If you have no problem falling asleep to music than there is nothing better.

In Conclusion

So can the iPhone put you to sleep? Absolutely.

I’m still not convinced by “binaural beats” and how “scientific” these apps claim to be.  But I now use my iphone while falling asleep on a daily basis.

Sleep is such a personal thing that you’re probably going to have to try all of these apps to get a good idea of what works best for you.  For me MagicSleep is the app of choice.  It really does make me sleepy, its soothing and was the only one I fell asleep to.

So if you’re a powernapper, insomniac or just intregied like  I was, do a search for “sleep” in the app store.

Tagged as: sleep