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Pillow Didn’t Record Any Sounds During Sleep
Pillow Didn’t Record Any Sounds During Sleep

This article discusses how the audio recording feature works and how to troubleshoot any related issues.

Updated over a week ago

Pillow offers two types of audio tracking:

Environmental audio levels
This feature tracks how loud or quiet your sleep environment was.. The result of this tracking is a line chart that shows the loudness in decibels (db).
To perform this kind of tracking, Pillow requires an Apple Watch and the data is retrieved from Apple Health. If you don't have an Apple Watch, Pillow cannot record environmental audio levels.

Sound recordings during sleep
This feature uses the microphone on the iPhone or iPad to record sounds that you make during sleep (snoring, coughing, breathing, etc.) or sounds from your environment.
This kind of tracking is possible only when tracking your sleep manually by pressing "Start" before going to sleep. If you don't press "Start" before sleep then Pillow will not record any audio.
When you stop the sleep session after you wake up, Pillow will display a list of audio recordings that you can listen to, export or delete.

NOTE:

This article is about the sound recordings during sleep. If you are experiencing problems with the "Environmental Audio Levels" feature, click here.

What to do when Pillow doesn't record sounds during sleep:


​Make sure you record a sleep session manually.

To record sounds during sleep, you must start a sleep session manually, tapping on the "Start" button before sleep. Audio recordings are not possible for automatic sleep tracking. You can start a sleep session from your iPhone, Apple Watch or iPad.

For detailed instructions on starting a sleep session manually, click here.

Make sure audio recording is enabled for your alarm preset.

From your iPhone or iPad:

  1. Tap on the "Alarm" tab at the bottom left corner.

  2. Tap on the "Configuration" button in the top right corner of your alarm preset.

    Note: If you don't see that button, it means that you haven't created any alarm presets yet. To create an alarm preset, tap on the plus button.

  3. Ensure that the "Audio recordings" switch is turned ON.

  4. Tap on the "Start" button before going to sleep.

From your Apple Watch:

  1. Launch Pillow on your Apple Watch.

  2. Swipe horizontally to access your list of alarm presets. If you don't see any alarm presets tap on the plus + button to create a new one.

  3. In the dialog that appears make sure that "Sound recordings" is turned ON.

  4. Tap on "Done".

  5. Tap on "Start" to start a sleep session.

Change the microphone sensitivity.

Pillow uses the microphone to record audio and has five levels of sensitivity: "Very Low", "Low", "Medium", "High", "Very High". To increase the microphone sensitivity:

  1. Open Pillow's settings.

  2. Go to "Microphone sensitivity".

Make sure Pillow has access to the microphone.

Pillow requires access to your device's microphone and that is why you will be asked to give Pillow permission when you record your first sleep session. To ensure Pillow has proper access:

  1. Open the "Settings" app on your iPhone.

  2. Go to "Privacy & Security" > "Microphone".

  3. Make sure Pillow appears in the list of apps and the switch is turned ON.

Make sure that sleep aid doesn't play throughout the sleep session.

Pillow cannot record any sounds while a sleep aid sound is playing. For example, if you have set the sleep aid duration to play nonstop during the night, Pillow will not record any sounds.


​Make sure you are not playing audio from other apps while Pillow is tracking sleep.

Pillow cannot record any sounds while audio from other apps is also playing (like "Apple Music", "Spotify" etc.). Pillow will automatically detect when audio from other apps stops and will resume recording but it will not be able to record anything if the audio from the other app played during the entire sleep session. This is also true even if you use a Bluetooth speaker, Bluetooth headphones or Airplay-enabled speakers.

Make sure that you have enough storage space on your device.

Although audio recordings take very little disk space, in some rare occasions the device you are using or your iCloud may not have enough space to store the sounds.
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If you are still experiencing problems with sound recordings please contact our support team to help you right away.
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