Drifty Sleep: frequently asked questions
What is Drifty Sleep?
Drifty Sleep is a smart alarm and sleep tracking app for iPhone, with a companion Apple Watch app. It tracks your night on your device, tries to wake you during a lighter stage of sleep inside a window you choose, and uses a gradual wake sequence instead of a single jarring alarm. Drifty is a general wellness app, not a medical device.
How does a smart alarm know when to wake you up?
Instead of one exact minute, you pick a wake window. During that window Drifty looks at movement, breathing, and heart signals to estimate whether you are in a lighter stage of sleep, and prefers those moments to start waking you. If a lighter moment never appears, the alarm still rings by the deadline you set, so you are never woken late.
Waking from light sleep matters because being pulled out of deep sleep is what produces that heavy, disoriented feeling in the first minutes of the day.
Do I need an Apple Watch to use Drifty?
No. Drifty can sense sleep using the iPhone alone, placed near you on the bed or nightstand. An Apple Watch adds heart rate and motion signals, which improves wake verification and sleep estimates, but it is optional.
Does Drifty record audio while I sleep?
No. Drifty plays a high-frequency tone and analyzes the microphone response in memory to estimate movement and breathing. Raw microphone audio is never saved to storage and never transmitted. What can be stored locally are derived values, such as estimated breathing, movement, and sleep stages. You can revoke microphone permission at any time in iOS Settings.
Where is my sleep data stored?
On your device. Drifty does not require an account and does not send your sleep, health, motion, or journal records to a server operated by Drifty. There is no Drifty cloud sync, no advertising, no cross-app tracking, and no third-party analytics.
Sleep nights and alarm sessions older than 90 days are purged automatically when the app starts, and Settings includes a Delete All My Data option. The full detail is in the Drifty privacy policy.
Can I snooze the Drifty alarm?
Drifty is built for heavy sleepers, so the alarm asks you to prove you are actually up. It can require sustained movement and a heart-rate change before it will dismiss, which makes it much harder to silence the alarm half-asleep and fall straight back to sleep.
Does Drifty work with Apple Health?
Yes, with your permission. Drifty can read sleep analysis, heart rate, resting heart rate, heart-rate variability, respiratory rate, blood oxygen, active energy, and exercise time from Apple Health to build sleep reports and personal baselines. Drifty does not write sleep, workout, or other health records back into Apple Health, and you can revoke access at any time in iOS Settings.
Can Drifty detect or diagnose sleep apnea?
No. Drifty is a general wellness app and not a medical device. It does not diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any condition, and it should not be used to make medical decisions or to diagnose or treat sleep apnea. If you are concerned about your breathing during sleep, talk to a qualified healthcare provider.
Why do I still wake up tired after eight hours of sleep?
Total time asleep is only part of the picture. Being pulled out of deep sleep by an abrupt alarm causes sleep inertia, the groggy state that can linger well into the morning. Fragmented or disturbed sleep can also reduce how restorative a night feels even when the hours look adequate.
Drifty targets two things it can actually influence: the moment you are woken, and how abruptly it happens.
What devices does Drifty support?
Drifty runs on iPhone with a companion Apple Watch app, plus home screen and Lock Screen widgets and Sleep Live Activities. There is no Android version today.
When is Drifty launching?
Drifty is coming soon to the App Store. You can join the waitlist to get launch news and priority access.
Drifty is a general wellness product. It does not diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or condition, and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice. If you have concerns about your sleep or breathing, talk to a qualified healthcare provider.