General
What is SleepLedger?
SleepLedger is an iPhone app that reads your sleep data from Apple Health to calculate your accumulated sleep debt and generate a personalized recovery plan with nightly bedtime recommendations.
Where does the sleep data come from?
SleepLedger reads sleep analysis data from Apple Health. This data is recorded by your Apple Watch, iPhone, or third-party sleep tracking apps that write to Apple Health.
What is sleep debt?
Sleep debt is the cumulative difference between the amount of sleep you need and the amount you actually get. SleepLedger calculates this over a rolling 14-day window. For example, if you need 8 hours but sleep 7 hours for 3 nights, your sleep debt is 3 hours.
How is sleep debt calculated?
SleepLedger uses a rolling 14-day window. Each day, it compares your actual sleep to your target sleep need and sums the deficit across the window. Only days with recorded sleep data are included — days without data are skipped, not counted as zero sleep. To reduce your debt, you need to sleep more than your target on subsequent nights. The window automatically moves forward each day, so older data drops off after 14 days.
Is SleepLedger a medical device?
No. SleepLedger provides general wellness information and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Please consult a healthcare professional for medical advice about sleep disorders.
Data & Health
What data does SleepLedger access?
SleepLedger reads sleep analysis (duration, stages, in-bed time), heart rate, and heart rate variability (HRV) from Apple Health. It does not write any data to Apple Health.
Do I need an Apple Watch?
No. SleepLedger works with iPhone-only sleep data. However, an Apple Watch provides sleep stage breakdowns (Deep, Core, REM) and heart rate/HRV data for more accurate quality-weighted calculations.
How is sleep quality calculated?
When sleep stage data is available, SleepLedger weighs Deep sleep (1.5x), REM sleep (1.3x), and Core sleep (1.0x) to produce a quality score. HRV data adds a recovery bonus. Higher quality sleep reduces your effective sleep debt.
Is my data private?
Yes, completely. All data is processed and stored entirely on your device. There are no accounts, no servers, no analytics, and no tracking. Nothing is ever uploaded.
Premium
What does Premium unlock?
Premium unlocks the full Calendar Recovery Plan (beyond the 2-day preview), Sleep Stage Breakdown, Heart Rate & HRV Trends, the medium home screen widget, and CSV data export.
What purchase options are available?
Premium is available as a monthly subscription, an annual subscription, or a one-time lifetime purchase. The lifetime option has no recurring fees.
Can I restore my purchase on a new device?
Yes. Go to Settings and your purchase will be automatically restored through the App Store using your Apple ID.
How do I request a refund?
All purchases are processed by Apple. To request a refund, visit reportaproblem.apple.com.
Technical
What devices are supported?
SleepLedger requires iPhone running iOS 18.0 or later. iPad is not supported.
Does the app work offline?
Yes. SleepLedger works entirely offline. No internet connection is needed at any time.
What if my sleep data looks wrong?
You can manually add or edit sleep records within the app. Manual records override HealthKit data for the same date. You can also check Apple Health to verify your source data.
Are Siri Shortcuts supported?
Yes. You can ask Siri to check your sleep debt, get tonight's recommended bedtime, or get last night's sleep summary without opening the app.
Troubleshooting
Are HealthKit permissions granted for SleepLedger?
This is the most common cause. Open iPhone Settings → Privacy & Security → Health → SleepLedger, and make sure Heart Rate, Heart Rate Variability, and Sleep are all turned on. Enable all three to use the quality score feature.
Is Apple Watch sleep tracking enabled?
Open the Watch app on your iPhone → Sleep → make sure "Track Sleep with Apple Watch" is on. Then wear your Apple Watch to bed and open SleepLedger the next morning. Data syncs after waking up and may take a few minutes.
Do you wear your Apple Watch to bed?
Apple Watch must be worn during sleep to record sleep stages (Deep, Core, REM). Charge after waking or in the evening so sleep recording isn't interrupted — 30% battery is enough for a full night. For nights without your Watch, you can manually enter sleep data (Premium feature).
Recording with iPhone only, without Apple Watch
With iPhone only, the Health app estimates sleep using the accelerometer. Sleep stages (Deep, Core, REM) are not recorded. Place your iPhone face-down on the bedside table while charging for better accuracy. Apple Watch recording is required for sleep stage quality scores (Premium feature).
Apple Watch sync may not be complete
After waking up, make sure your Apple Watch and iPhone are connected via Bluetooth. Open the Health app and check if sleep data is shown. If data exists in the Health app but not in SleepLedger, pull down on the dashboard to refresh. If the issue persists, fully quit SleepLedger and relaunch it.
Still Have Questions?
We're happy to help. Check our contact page to get in touch.