How to set up breathe on apple watch

Q: What triggers Breathe reminders on an Apple Watch?

The alerts arent actually tied to stress, anger or holding your breath at all. Its more like a call-to-action, or a helpful reminder to launch the watch-based Breathe app, which takes you through a series of deep breaths.

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.

Table of Contents Show

First, let's make sure your Apple Watch is compatible
Set up and turn on "Sleep Mode" at night
Manually turn it on every night
Set it to automatically turn on
Open the Health app in the morning
Check your stats
What triggers the breathe app?
What happened to breathe app on Apple Watch?
What triggers Breathe reminders on an Apple Watch?
How do I get my Watch to tell me to Breathe?

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.

What triggers the breathe app?

On the other hand, Apple notes that Breathe notifications are automatically rescheduled if a user is moving, exercising, or if they start a session on their own. That means Breathe reminders will often occur after you get done exercising, or they'll appear when you have a moment of stillness after moving.

What happened to breathe app on Apple Watch?

In the update - watchOS 8, the Breathe app will become the Mindfulness app - and will feature an enhanced breathing experience, plus a new session type called Reflect. Breathe work and meditation is becoming more important in all our lives and some of the best fitness watches (opens in new tab)are recognizing this.

What triggers Breathe reminders on an Apple Watch?

The alerts aren't actually tied to stress, anger or holding your breath at all. It's more like a call-to-action, or a helpful reminder to launch the watch-based Breathe app, which takes you through a series of deep breaths.

How do I get my Watch to tell me to Breathe?

You set your Breath Reminders in the Watch app on your iPhone > Breath > Breath Reminders. If you're seeing these reminders at unexpected times, it could be due to the reminder being rescheduled. "If you're moving or exercising, or if you start a session on your own, your Apple Watch reschedules your reminder.