Image source: Apple

You’ll get Apple’s Sleep Score even with a Garmin or Amazfit

Apple’s new Sleep Score feature is now live for anyone running the latest watchOS 26 beta. What’s interesting is that in addition to the Apple Watch, it also works with Garmin, Amazfit and Withings watches.

What this means is that – you don’t need to wear an Apple Watch to get Apple’s version of how well you slept.


Works with Garmin, Amazfit and more

People running the watchOS 26 beta have started seeing the new Sleep Score in the Health app. The Release Candidate landed yesterday, and the full version is expected to roll out on September 15. Once that happens, it should be available to everyone.

This includes people who track sleep using third-party devices. As long as your wearable pushes sleep stages and duration into Apple Health, the score appears. It doesn’t matter if you have an Apple Watch, Garmin, Withings or another brand’s wearable.

Essential readingTop fitness trackers and health gadgets

There’s nothing to turn on. No pairing tricks. Just make sure your device of choice is syncing sleep properly. If you’ve been doing that for a while, Apple’s already applying the new score to your past sleep too. You might open the Health app and see it’s gone back and filled in last week’s data.


Apple has its own take on sleep quality

Apple has introduced Sleep Score as a new metric for its watch. If your sleep data comes from Garmin, Withings or Amazfit instead of an Apple’ Watch’s device, you might notice some differences. Apple analyses the raw data it receives and calculates its own score. Its algorithm handles the entire process.

Apple Watch sleep

The app looks at how long you slept, how often you woke up, how regular your bedtime is and then gives you a rating. You’ll see one of five categories: Excellent, High, OK, Low or Very Low. It’s Apple’s version of how restorative your sleep was.

This might not match what your Garmin or Amazfit watch says. That’s expected. Every brand has its own way of judging sleep. What you’re getting here is Apple’s opinion based on your shared data. It’s simple, clear and easy to check in the morning.

Here is an example a Redditor posted. It compares sleep score generated by the Amazfit Helio Band and Apple Health. Same data, two different scores.


This changes things a bit

It’s rare for Apple to roll out a health feature that works this smoothly with third-party hardware. You can now wear a Garmin or Amazfit to bed and still get a native Apple Health sleep score in the morning, no Apple Watch needed. That’s useful.

If this is the direction the company is heading, Health might slowly become more open. Less tied to Apple Watch. And that’s a win for people who prefer other wearables but still want to keep their data in one place.

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Ivan Jovin

Ivan has been a tech journalist for over 12 years now, covering all kinds of technology issues. Based in the US - he is the guy who gets to dive deep into the latest wearable tech news.

Ivan Jovin has 1906 posts and counting. See all posts by Ivan Jovin

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