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Sometimes falling asleep and staying asleep can be challenging. Whether you’re stressed about personal issues, the pandemic, climate change, or other global issues, your worries can keep you up at night.
If only there were a free, easy, and drug-free way to relax and get better sleep…
Good news! These 10 apps are designed to help you get better sleep. You don’t have to spend any money to try these apps, they’re all free to use, though some offer paid subscriptions for additional features.
Try them out to see which one(s) work best for you.
Make sure to check out the infographic at the end of the article to see a list of the apps in a fun form.
Also see => 12 Tech Tools to Help You Relax
Sleep Cycle
The free app Sleep Cycle is designed to help you wake up refreshed instead of groggy. This app tracks your sleep using the microphone on your phone, then analyzes your sleep cycles.
Instead of waking to an alarm clock at a specific time, you can wake during a light sleep cycle. You can give the app a half-hour range of time when you’d like to wake in the morning. Sleep Cycle will track your sleep cycle and wake you when your sleep cycle is the lightest, rather than during deep sleep.
Sleep Cycle is a free app with many features to help you sleep. A premium subscription of $29.99/year unlocks additional sleep tracking features such as seeing long-term trends of your sleep patterns, comparing your sleep patterns to others across the world, online backup of sleep pattern tracking, and more.
White Noise
Whether your sleep environment is too noisy or too quiet, White Noise may be able to help. This app is filled with white noise sounds to help lull you to sleep.
Choose from 40 sounds, such as ocean waves, rainfall, jungle sounds, oscillating fan, and more. You can choose your favorite sounds to fall asleep to or cycle through a variety of sounds.
A sleep timer can fade the white noise sounds into silence after a period of time. This app also includes an alarm clock so you can wake gently to your favorite white noise sounds.
You can also check out the White Noise YouTube Channel filled with peaceful videos such as this:
White Noise is available free in the Lite version for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. The paid version of the White Noise app is available for $0.99 and removes ads from the app.
- White Noise Lite for iPhone/iPad
- White Noise Lite for Android
- White Noise for iPhone/iPad
- White Noise for Android
SleepyTime
The SleepyTime app helps you calculate the best times to fall asleep and wake up based on your sleep patterns. This app estimates your sleep cycles in 90-minute segments and suggests the optimal times for you to go to bed at night and wake up in the morning.
SleepScore
SleepScore is an app that helps you take control of your ability to sleep. You can set sleep goals and SleepScore will help keep track of your progress toward those goals.
The app monitors your sleep patterns as well as your sleep environment. Then SleepScore analyzes both your sleep cycles as well as the light, sound, and temperature in the room.
You can set reminders for when to go to bed at night and set a smart alarm to gently wake you during your light sleep cycle in the morning. Each day the app will give you a sleep score based on the quality of your sleep the previous night.
SleepScore is a free app:
A paid subscription to SleepScore is available for advanced features such as access to a Sleep Coach with “personalized sleep insights & advice informed by top sleep experts.”
Twilight
If you tend to stare at screens, one cause of your sleeping difficulties may be blue light. The blue light emitted from computer, phone, and tablet screens has been shown to disrupt sleep.
See => Want Better Sleep? Blue Light Filters Can Help!
You can set the Twilight app to filter blue light at specific times of the day. Or you can set Twilight to filter blue light beginning at sunset and ending at sunrise each day.
This video helps explain how the Twilight app works to help you sleep:
The Twilight app is free for Android devices.
iPhone and iPad users can use the Settings app to automatically filter blue light each day as described in the Wonder of Tech blue light article linked above.
Recolor
Recolor isn’t specifically a sleep app. Instead, it’s an app that might help you sleep by taking your mind away from your worries. Apple praises the Recolor app: “It’s both relaxing and energizing – a form of creative expression that gives a zen-like zone-out.”
Recolor is an app with adult coloring pages. If you enjoy adult coloring books or have always wanted to try them, then check out Recolor. This app boasts “the largest library of coloring pictures in the world.”
Choose from over 5000 coloring pages with free ones added each day.
Recolor is free with limited coloring pages and more free pages added daily. A paid subscription is available with more coloring pages.
I Love Hue
Similar to Recolor, I Love Hue isn’t a sleep app. Instead, it’s an app that can help you relax and take your mind off of your troubles.
I Love Hue is a puzzle game where you arrange color squares in a rectangle so they are next to the squares with the most similar shades. The game is untimed and plays Zen music in the background. You can turn off the music if you like to play in silence.
No penalties are given for incorrect placement. Just take your time until you’ve completed the color puzzle.
This video introduces I Love Hue:
You can complete levels and advance to more difficult color puzzles or repeat puzzles at simpler levels.
I Love Hue is free to play.
You can pay to buy “prisms” that unlock levels or earn prisms by completing puzzles and checking in daily. Earning prisms is easy enough you likely will never have to pay to unlock levels.
Digipill
Digipill is a self-help app designed to help you tackle issues such as insomnia, weight loss, fear of flying, smoking, and more. Each pill is a 30-minute psychoacoustic session to help guide your thinking and help you to relax.
Choose from pills such as Sleep Deeply, Dream Weaver, Sanctuary, and more. Digipill is so relaxing the app developers warn against driving while listening to the pills: “Digipill can induce a hypnotic effect on the listener, this can impair reaction times and distract the user from concentrating on driving. You should not use Digipill whilst driving or operating machinery under any circumstances.”
Digipill is free for a limited number of pills. A paid subscription is available for additional pills.
Do I Snore or Grind?
Do you ever wonder whether you snore and/or grind your teeth? The app Do I Snore or Grind? can answer that question and help you figure out whether those issues are affecting your sleep.
Do I Snore or Grind? records your sleep sounds, then analyzes your sleep patterns. The app shares the information with you so you can see whether your sleep patterns are affected by snoring or grinding. You can also see suggestions to help remedy your snoring and grinding.
Do I Snore or Grind? is by the same app developers as SleepScore mentioned above. The app offers free recordings for five days. After that, a paid subscription is required to continue the recordings.
Power Nap with Andrew Johnson
Sometimes we need a break in the day. And what better way to take a break than a power nap?
Power Nap with Andrew Johnson is an app that can help you take that power nap to recharge your batteries. Get energized for the rest of the day by taking a power nap to reinvigorate yourself.
Andrew Johnson will take you through guided meditations that help you relax, destress, and get inspired to tackle the rest of the day.
Power Nap with Andrew Johnson is free.
Infographic
*Note: The SleepBot app mentioned in the infographic is no longer available for Android devices and no longer supported for iPhone/iPad.
Your Thoughts
Do you struggle with sleep issues? Have you tried any of these apps to help you sleep? Do you have any other apps you can recommend to help with sleep issues?
Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
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*Infographic courtesy of Sleepare, used with permission
