watchOS 11 supports automatic nap detection →
source: macrumors.comJuli Clover, writing for MacRumors:
watchOS 11 appears to include a new feature that allows an Apple Watch to automatically detect and record when you’re taking a nap. As shared on Reddit, an Apple Watch owner took a nap and was able to see the sleep data recorded in the Health app, despite not putting the device in Sleep Mode.
Right now, the Apple Watch only tracks and records sleep when it is in Sleep Mode, and there is no support for tracking naps.
The change should allow an Apple Watch running watchOS 11 to record and include a nap in the Sleep section of the Health app, and it may also support automatic sleep tracking even when Sleep Mode isn’t activated. Nap tracking has long felt like a missing feature from the Apple Watch, and this will be a welcome feature for those who supplement sleep with naps.
I never understood why this wasn’t a supported feature because the Watch has been capable of capturing this data for many years now. The ability to track sleeping metrics regardless of whether the sleep focus was enabled is the entire reason I used the third party app AutoSleep, and now Pillow.