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. An optional morning check-in lets you record how you feel and tag last night's factors, so you can compare the numbers with your own experience.
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. Nights recorded only as time in bed (for example without an Apple Watch) still count. Naps are credited toward recovery too, at 80% of their length and capped per day (2 hours by default, adjustable in Settings → Naps). 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. An Apple Watch adds sleep stages (Deep, Core, REM) and heart rate / HRV, which power the Sleep Stage Breakdown and Heart Rate & HRV charts (Premium) and the deep-sleep comparison in Tag Insights. SleepLedger also has an Apple Watch app with complications for your debt and tonight's bedtime.
Does sleep quality affect my debt balance?
The debt balance shown in the app is based on sleep duration (including credited naps). Sleep stages, heart rate, and HRV are not weighted into that number. When Apple Watch stage data is available, the dashboard shows a hint that low-quality sleep makes your effective debt higher, and the stage and HR / HRV charts (Premium) and the CSV export let you see the quality data itself.
How do naps count?
Daytime sleep sessions from Apple Health are detected as naps and kept separate from last night's sleep. You can also add or edit naps manually from the Dashboard or History tab. Naps are credited at 80% of their length, with a daily cap (2 hours by default). Both are adjustable in Settings → Naps. A Today's Naps card on the Dashboard shows total and credited time.
What is the morning check-in?
An optional, roughly 10-second entry each morning: rate sleep quality, restedness, and energy from 1 to 5, and optionally add time to fall asleep, night wakings, a note, and factor tags (caffeine, alcohol, exercise, stress, late meal, screens, travel, sick). It is off until you turn it on from the one-time intro or Settings. Check-ins appear in History, feed the weekly summary and the morning insight, and today's entry can be edited from the Dashboard card or the History row.
Is my data private?
Yes. All sleep, health, and check-in data is processed and stored entirely on your device. There are no accounts, no analytics, and no tracking. The only time the app contacts a server is when you send feedback from Settings → Contact; that sends your message plus the diagnostics shown on the form (app and iOS version, device model, HealthKit fetch status, Premium status), never your sleep or health data.
Premium
What does Premium unlock?
Premium unlocks the full Calendar Recovery Plan (beyond the 2-day preview), Sleep Stage Breakdown, Heart Rate & HRV Trends, previous-period comparison in History, Tag Insights, the medium home screen widget, and CSV export of sleep records and check-ins. Manual sleep entry, naps, the morning check-in, widgets for small and Lock Screen sizes, Watch complications, Siri Shortcuts, and all notifications are free.
How do Tag Insights work?
For each factor tag you use in the morning check-in, Tag Insights compares mornings with that tag against mornings without it over the selected History period: restedness, sleep duration, and deep-sleep share (when Apple Watch stage data exists). A tag appears once it has at least three mornings with it and three without.
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. The Apple Watch app and complications require watchOS. The on-device AI morning insight uses Apple's Foundation Models and needs iOS 26 with Apple Intelligence; on other devices the morning summary uses built-in text.
Does the app work offline?
Yes. Sleep tracking, the recovery plan, check-ins, widgets, and the morning insight all work without a connection. The only feature that uses the network is sending feedback from Settings → Contact.
What if my sleep data looks wrong?
You can manually add, edit, or delete sleep records and naps within the app for free. Manual records take priority over Apple Health data for the same night in the debt balance, the recovery plan, the weekly summary, and the CSV export. You can also check Apple Health to verify your source data.
What notifications does SleepLedger send?
All notifications are local and optional (Settings → Notifications): a bedtime reminder that moves earlier while you carry debt (up to a limit you set, 30 minutes by default), a morning summary at your wake time, a weekly summary, a one-time celebration when you clear your debt or hit a 3- or 7-day streak, and a reminder three days before a free trial ends.
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 for free.
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 the Sleep Stage Breakdown chart (Premium) and the deep-sleep comparison in Tag Insights.
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.