We've seen quite a few DSiWare applications from Nintendo, from stinkers such as Photo Clock to highly praised ones like Flipnote Studio. Now we have Sleep Clock, which works as both an alarm clock as well as a tool for recording your sleep patterns for analysis. Considering that the DSi already has a built-in alarm clock, is this worth your points?
There are three main areas of the app: the Alarm Clock, which lets you set three times at once, the Sleep Graph and the Sleep Chart. You can also set snooze times between three and 15 minutes, and there are six different alarm sounds available, from birds chirping to the standard beep. You can also use any clips you recorded on the DSi Sound channel, which is good as it opens up a lot of choice for your alarm settings.
A sheep called “Mr. Sheep” will act as a guide while you're using Sleep Clock through a quick introduction, which is rather helpful at first but after this, he doesn't really help you at all. He'll simply give the odd message when you tap on him on the main menu, statistics in the sleep charts area and a colour graph guide in the Sleep Graphs section – not exactly the "Sleep Expert" as advertised.
Every time you set an alarm, the data will be recorded onto Sleep Clock and can be viewed from the Sleep Graph later on. It also contains the ability to manually add previous times and whether you believed you had a good, ok or bad sleep, which is a good addition to the analysis features of the app.
Once a minimum of three sleep charts have been added, you can have a look at a more detailed view of your sleep patterns in the Sleep Chart section, and these can be filtered to settings like how good you considered your sleep to be as well as comparisons of when you fell asleep, the amount of time you slept on each day and when you woke up, which are some nice additions to the application. Despite this, however, it doesn't really do much on terms of "analysis," only offering you compiled statistics in graphs, which is disappointing and slightly misleading.
Conclusion
While the ability to analyse your sleep patterns make this more than just a glorified alarm clock, it doesn't really offer much more to help shake off that feeling. For just 200 points, though, you could do a lot worse.
Comments 42
How does it know when you fell asleep?Not even I remember when i fall asleep
It sees you when you're sleeping...
It knows when you're awake...
It knows when you've been bad or good,
so do(n')t buy this for goodness sake!
Oh!
I use this app for one week now. When you go to sleep you press "Start Sleeping!" and close the DSi. When you wake up press "End". That's it. If you can't fall asleep for too long you can just edit sleeping times later.
For 200 pts it's a good alarm clock with graphs )) But Mr. Sheep could be more tonguey.
Thanks for the little review, Henry. The score is ok (could be higher though)
Seriously what is the point of this? Why can't Nintendo make some decent apps for DSiWare (other than FS and maybe Browser)? Or even better, some actual games? Get a grip, Nintendo.
Nice review though, Henry, you told me all I need to know that this is a complete rip-off. This kind of stuff should be free.
Yeah, the "sleep expert advice". This Is what the official description said, and this is why I got it. Disappointing. I wish I had read this review before wasting 200 points on this thing.
The only good thing about it, is the ability to use the recorded sounds as alarm. That's it. Not even worth wasting battery power to keep the DSi on sleep mode the whole night.
@homopod So you fall asleep every day as soon as you close your DSi?
@Maya Sleep Mode almost doesn't use battery. I never turn off my DSi - just close.
@Jumbif Almost. But if you can't sleep you can adjust the sleeping time later.
@Maya
Yet people spend more than $30 on alarm clocks that can record sounds on.
BTW: My DSi can last an ENTIRE WEEK when in sleep mode (and that's only if it's half-battery), what's to complain about?
@Skotski you're right about sleep mode.
Ppl, this app really works - simple, yet effective.
And it's 2 bucks.
I've spent 2 bucks on worse things.
btw, (it's not in the review) after alarm sounds a woman voice tells the current time
But Lets be real here. I'm sure that they also tell tips for you to have a better sleep. And to be honest. I like it. The 200 pt is full of wastes from Flashlight to mynotebook, but this is actually pretty cool. And beats my Mario clock
Thats actually useful I might get this
@Koops3
myNotebook is useful for those who use it often.
It's also useful for those who don't carry a piece of paper and pen at all times / as well as check their DSi menu often.
AKA: I've more than made myNotebook worth its purchase (as I use my DSi very often).
Interesting...
Sweet I'ma getting this! awesome review! Great app! W0000000t (jk)
So, less than dreamy, you say? Boring stuff like this is enough to make anyone doze off. Snore...
I find this very useful.
People underestimate how important it is to keep track of your sleeping habits. Has a huge bearing on your health and well-being.
Though this would be better suited as an app for the iPhone/ iPad, since I would guess (judging from the comments above) that the number of people that care about their health and well-being is minimal, compared to people that want a game to luls at.
@WaltzElf: If i'm reading you correctly, you're saying that you have to keep track of your sleeping habits in order to care about your own health and well-being? that's BS, man; plenty of us go through life using our brains and going to sleep when we feel like it instead of focusing intently on how much sleep we get, lol. if people want to poke fun at this app, let 'em, but don't accuse them of totally not caring about their health/well-being just because they're poking fun at what they can do with plain old common sense for free, lol.
@1 I'd hate to hear what those things are.
@theblackdragon - no, I'm saying it help to keep data on sleeping/ eating/ exercise habits, and analyse that data over a period of time, and for $2, this app is really good for doing part of that.
And "going to sleep when you feel like it" was the point I was making - that's not necessarily the healthiest way to live life. The body responds best to certain lifestyle rhythms, which includes sleeping, which can only really be figured out through, again, the collection and analysis of data.
@theblackdragon
Yes, you have to keep track of your [sleeping/working/spending/exercise/gaming] habits precisely. If all you need is your head, then a lot more people would be slimmer, healthier, richer, and the whole fitness industry would collapse.
Quality of sleep is not Quantity of sleep, but you actually need to go to a sleep expert to check Quality (i.e. sleep apnea sufferer). No simple questionaire or apps is going to be able to make that judgement. Quantity is the next best thing.
PS: Not everybody has steady sleep cycle. This app may be niche, but for those who need it, this is great.
@WaltzElf: I'm so glad you're here to tell people they're not living a healthy lifestyle because they go to sleep when they feel like it, following their body's natural rhythm instead of attempting to force it into a rhythm that fits into some kind of man-made schedule. awesome.
@ramstrong: just because you can doesn't automatically mean you do; conversely, just because you don't doesn't automatically mean you can't.
@theblackdragon. And I'm so glad we have you here to discredit an entire field of medical science, because "I feel like it" apparently has more weight than a 6-7 year specialisation study. Awesome.
Not saying this app is perfect, but, like I said before, for $2 or whatever, it's a pretty decent start in raising a degree of self awareness about sleeping habits. But as I said before as well, it's probably better suited to something like the iPhone, which, with a broader audience, wouldn't get dismissed as quickly.
@Waltz: I'm trying to be nice about it, but you're saying that people (like me) are not healthy/do not care about our health just because we do not intentionally keep track of our sleeping habits, and yes, I do take offense to that. how dare you try and tell me that just because i don't really pay attention to when I do or don't sleep I'm not in good health/i don't care about my health? Last i checked, you were a game reviewer, not a doctor, and you have no idea what people (like me) do keep track of in terms of exercise, calorie intake, and other health factors. sleep is just not something I feel I have to formally track because I get enough of it every night to where I am not tired when I wake up, and that's good enough for me.
You pulled what I said way out of context.
All I said was the people that were lolling at this app were doing do because it wasn't "useful" or whatever, but in reality keeping track of sleeping data actually is. No one commented about whether the app was any good at that (which it actually is).
Really the point I was making was that the app would have been better off servicing a non-gaming platform like the iPhone, where people would be more inclined to go for non-gaming applications. There is a certain bias against non-games on DSiWare, even when they are actually quite useful (the transport map packs are another example).
If I offended, that was not the intention, and I apologise, however, I maintain that people rubbishing this app likely don't understand its value. It's like those people that rubbished that physiotherapy 'game' on the Wii for older folks - if offends me when people judge lifestyle products for not being something they never tried to be.
BTW: Last you checked wrong. I do some game reviews, yes, but I'm a journalist, not just a critic. I also work for business and finance publications, and have done freelance reports for medical journals. The latter one is easy for me, because my brother is a surgeon, and has put me in contact with plenty of other doctors in the past. I do know a lil bit about the field
@WaltzElf thanks for great reasons. This app is for people who CARE about their health AND KNOW how important is to live in the right rhythm.
I personally have got 2 more hours of vigilance each day with this app ))
@theblackdragon
Please remember YOU were the one that originally attacked WaltzElf, don't act as if it's the other way around.
Look, I don't care much for watching what I eat (my only rule is "not too much of anything"), but I'll give credit where credit is due: Diet and exercise are important. Even if I don't follow the food pyramid (which is actually kinda' flawed, but whateva), I know its importance.
In the same fashion: Just because YOU don't watch your sleeping habits, doesn't mean the entire study can be ignored. Some people actually do get an exact amount of hours of sleep, some people actually do watch what they eat or drink before they fall asleep, some people actually do record how long they sleep and their sleeping habits in general. Are you saying these people are flawed?
And what if they actually are healthier?
What WaltzElf was saying: was that sleeping habits IS IMPORTANT, whether people ignore it or not.
You're seeing what Elf's saying as "You people suck because you don't watch your sleep." which isn't even close.
...seriously, YOU should calm down.
And btw: You're being a little oversensitive, dragon.
Mixing up words such as "help" and "important" with (what you're thinking) words like "HAVE TO" and "DANGEROUSLY UNHEALTHY"...
Read his words again carefully, casually. You'll see what I mean.
Thanks, guys. I didn't want to fight with anyone (again, apologies if my wording was too obscure initially to get that point out), but I did feel the need that, according to science, this app can be quite useful to anyone concerned about their health.
I've been using it since release (so, for Australia, a little over a week now), and I'm already finding the data I'm collecting quite interesting and useful.
I wish Nintendo could compile apps like this, Photo Clock, Countdown Timer, etc. into freeware or had installed these types of things on the DSi from the get go. I don't question the usefulness, but it's hard to justify these types of things having a price when they only hit a niche base to begin with. Flipnote has far more legs than most of these apps, yet, it's free. Just my observation...
@Skotski: Please re-read #20 carefully, casually. You'll see what set me off -- Waltz implied that "people who care about their health and well-being" wouldn't be up there poking fun at this app, which isn't necessarily true -- no one knows if any of those people track other factors of good health and well-being as opposed to sleep, and even then they can use their brains if they like as opposed to shelling out for a DSi and this app.
I'm not saying that people who do track their sleeping habits aren't maybe healthier somehow, I'm saying that the people who choose not to don't necessarily not care about their health/well-being at all.
furthermore, i don't see where i 'attacked' Waltz except for perhaps #27, when I realized that me dancing around it wasn't getting anywhere and perhaps I needed to be a bit more direct in stating how I felt about what had been said before. if Waltz feels I attacked him, I apologize, but again, I had tried to be nice about it and apparently failed to get my point across.
I think it's obvious that not everybody needs to keep track of their sleep beyond a general idea of when they usually go to bed/get up. Obviously, if you're generally able to get up in the morning and aren't tired throughout the day, you don't need something like this.
For people with insomnia or who AREN'T getting enough sleep for whatever reason, this could be something that helps them digest what they're sleep patterns actually are, so they can work on addressing whatever habits they have that are preventing them from sleeping, or give them concrete information to bring to their doctor if they're seeking treatment for a sleep disorder. If you're already sleeping healthily, of course, this app isn't for you.
well they gave personal trainer walking a 7/10, which i think should be 10/10 because it does a fascinating job of mapping out your "life rhythm"
so if i add 3 stars to this, it makes it a 8/10, so i might get it
actually, with that logic since Yoshi's story should be a 9... well I won't go there
oh wait... it's not out here yet, is it coming to the US soon?
@Token Girl Don't you want to increase your day? (by sleeping less)
What is the point of this when you can go get an alarm clock or something? LOL!
Hey, guys. No fighting. This is to comment on the game/app. Well, this seems rather interesting, but I think that things like this should be free. Just my opinion.
The score's to harsh. I got the app and i found it way better.
I can't believe a sleep app has SOOO many comments...
I was gonna get this but I don't think it's on the DSiWare Shop anymore(at least not in America) >.<
Try sleeping with sheep in 90 minute cycles. They are pretty fluffy.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/alarm-clock-sleep-with-sheep/id1219978190?l=pl&ls=1&mt=8
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