Apple wants to help you get a better night’s sleep. The company has been granted a patent (number 20180042547) for “adjusting alarms based on sleep onset latency.”
In some implementations, an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch can adjust an alarm setting based on the sleep onset latency duration detected for a user of the device. For example, sleep onset latency can be the amount of time it takes for the user to fall asleep after the user attempts to go to sleep (e.g., goes to bed).
The iOS or watchOS device can determine when the user intends or attempts to go to sleep based on detected sleep ritual activities. Sleep ritual activities can include those activities a user performs in preparation for sleep. The Apple device can determine when the user is asleep based on detected sleep signals (e.g., biometric data, sounds, etc.). In some implementations, it can determine recurring patterns of long or short sleep onset latency and present suggestions that might help the user sleep better or feel more rested.
Of course, Apple files for — and is granted — lots of patents by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Many are for inventions that never see the light of day. However, you never can tell which ones will materialize in a real product.
