Crazy not having Sleep Widget on Garmin Instinct, Please add this simple, essential feature next update!

Former Member over 5 years ago

It was a rude shock to buy two of these watches for my family, then find it has no sleep widget. All Garmin''s watch competition have a sleep widget, 2 of my family have Suunti Trainer Wrist HR and they are great. Sleep info is one of the main reasons many people buy these watches. Especially essential to have it built in on the Instinct, since the Instinct not compatible with Garmin IQ to be able to create a custom sleep widget. Having to connect and sync with smart phone app every time to view sleep data is just nuts. Please include a basic sleep widget with deep sleep, REM sleep, light sleep and overall sleep as a minimum in your next firmware update please Garmin. Until its there I will be recommending The Suunto to my friends and family.

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trux over 5 years ago in reply to trux +2

trux said:
I have been able to increase my deep sleep component by 400% since I started

BTW, I hate to tell it, but if a simple device using just the HR to monitor your sleep, tells you, you increased your…
trux over 5 years ago in reply to Former Member +1

When do I want to check my sleep widget? Every morning, and often during the night when I wake up to see how I am tracking

This one made me really laugh. Without joking. So, in the night, I wake up, and…

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0 trux over 5 years ago in reply to trux

trux said:
I have been able to increase my deep sleep component by 400% since I started

BTW, I hate to tell it, but if a simple device using just the HR to monitor your sleep, tells you, you increased your deep sleep component by 400% by checking out the watch several times per night, then I am afraid you suffer a serious sleep disorder, and the device just gives you false information.

The sleep monitoring based on HR is extremely approximative (regardless of the brand used), and the more serious the sleep disorder, the more complicated the detection is. I recommend reading some documents about these simplified methods based on HR variability (for example this or this one), and especially I recommend visiting a specialist, and having your sleep analysed in a true sleep lab equipped with polysomnography.

Alternatively, you just stop being obsessed with the sleep, and start sleeping as you feel and need - that could serve you better than all watches, physicians, labs, and drugs together.

0 Former Member over 5 years ago in reply to Former Member

I can see why someone who hasn't yet discovered the huge role that sleep monitoring can play in your health and performance might not see it as important.

Because I said it's my opinion sleep tracking would be the least essential widget, you've come to the conclusion that I've yet to discover the importance that sleep has towards my health?

I have been able to increase my deep sleep component by 400% since I started, without changing my total sleep - just recognising the things that cause me to have light/poor sleep

As a well informed person on the topic of sleep, I'm sure you realize that every manufacturer that has sleep tracking from their wrist worn device discloses that the numbers are estimates. They're taking clinical test results from a laboratory and giving you an estimate based on what the average person's cycle would be. For example, in order to be in REM sleep, you must of course have rapid eye movement, increased brain activity and slight muscle twitching. At most, you're Instinct may pick up some of the muscle twitching, so where are your REM sleep numbers coming from? Estimates based from the average person based on the HR your Instinct is providing. HR that can be affected by many things to include alcohol, medication and even diet. HR that's coming from an optical sensor on your wrist that is known to have limitations. But you already know all this, so please tell us how you were able to increase deep sleep by 400% without changing your total sleep time merely by having the burden of looking at your phone during the night as you woke up periodically? Not only am I waiting to hear how you accomplished this, but I suspect many employees working at sleep clinics want to know too.

when I want to show the feature to other people who might want to buy a smart watch for health enhancing reasons.

As trux and I had a good laugh about you checking your sleep pattern throughout the night, I did also on this comment. My wife and I have owned devices that "track sleep" for probably 7 years or so. If we combine the times people approached us asking to see on our watches how the device tracks sleep, that number would fall somewhere between zero and none.

10 times as much as I use the altimeter widget, 5x as much as I use the barometer widget, 5 times as much as I use the stress widget (why have a stress widget and miss out sleep!?), 10x as much as I use the sunrise and sunset time widgets. Less than I use the heart rate, calories and My Day widgets.

Based on your priorities, you definitely bought the wrong watch.

How important is it? As per WhoKnows' reply, Garmin's website (marketing this feature) says "The importance of sleep can't be understated

You're confused. I never made any such statement in my replies. You took Garmin's statement and twisted it to fit your agenda. Garmin does know the importance of sleep and that importance is displayed on your watch with the Body Battery data. Nowhere did Garmin say they'll have your detailed sleep patterns available on your watch as you've incorrectly stated.