Alarm clock that reveals your sleeping secrets

Hate waking up to your alarm clock? The new Sleep Cycle iPhone application is a bio-alarm clock that analyses your sleep patterns and wakes you when you are in the lightest sleep phase...


A new Swedish-designed iPhone application offers a little more than just waking you up at a specific time. The Sleep Cycle alarm clock uses a sensor within your iPhone to wake you up at the right time to prevent grogginess during the day.

Good news it seems, as there is evidence that the British aren't very good at sleeping. The Clinical Sleep Research Unit at Loughborough University found that nearly a third of us have ‘significant sleep difficulties'. There has been talk of an ‘insomnia epidemic'.

Depending on what phase of sleep we're in, our bodies behave differently: when we're sleeping most soundly, we're most still; during the dreaming (or REM) phase we twitch around more; and as we approach wakefulness we become even more restless.

Sleep Cycle uses these fluctuations to create a nightly record of your sleep, which it presents to you each morning in the form of a graph. Even better, it uses this information to decide (within a half-hour time frame) when you've reached the optimal point in your cycle to wake up. Then it assists you back to consciousness with soothing music.

Waking up in the lightest sleep phase feels like waking without an alarm clock - it is a natural way to wake up where you feel rested and relaxed. Sleep Cycle - costing a mere 59p - has become a huge success with a number one paid application position in many countries, including Germany, Japan and Russia.

What helpful sleep tips do you have for getting a good night's rest? Let us know below... CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH NEWS