Runtatisc's new app wants to keep busy when its users are done running for the day, so the fitness player is adding a Sleep Better app to its suite of health-tracking software.
The new Sleep Better app watches over slumbering users, tracking the duration and quality of each sleep cycle. It's Runtastic's first foray into providing software dedicated to improving the quality of sleep.
"If we've learned anything in recent years, it's the importance of a balanced, 24-hour approach to overall health and fitness," says Runtastic co-founder and CEO Florian Gschwandtner.
The app's alarm can be set to wake up users at the right time, minimizing the chances they'll awaken feeling groggy and unrested. The app offers a variety of sounds to lure users out of sleep and it also includes a snooze function.
In tracking the quality of sleep, the Sleep Better app also accounts for stress and liquid consumption (i.e., coffee) levels to help users learn how external factors are affecting slumber. Users can report to Sleep Better the amount of coffee they've consumed and input how much exercise time was spent during the day.
Users can even record dreams to determine trends with good, bad and neutral subconscious thoughts. The Sleep Better app will also follow the phases of the moon, a feature some competitors have omitted.
All of the data Sleep Better records is viewable through both short and long periods of time, such as weeks or months. Using the app is as simple as pressing a button to start the sleep session, letting Sleep Better run until its alarm sounds.
"All sleep tracking is not created equal," said Gschwandtner. "Sleep Better is the ideal app for those who want to learn more about their sleep and how their daily activities may influence the quality of their sleep."
Gschwandtner says the Sleep Better app rounds out Runtastic's suite of apps, which work in concert to help people lead healthier lives. The Sleep Better app will also support Apple's new HealthKit platform.
The addition of Sleep Better to Runtastic's suite of fitness apps comes just months after the company finally released a smartband. It had already released smart scales and heart rate monitors, but the Runtastic Orbit helped to sew the company's ecosystem together.
"We see a market with pent-up demand and a desire for an easy-to-use, reliable tracking product," said Gschwandtner when the Orbit launched back in July.
