GoKawiilYou won't always know when you have sleep apnea. In fact, the only symptom some people notice is feeling exhausted after a full night's sleep. But there are other hints that you should consider seeing a doctor for evaluation, and some wearable tech can deliver those.
Sleep apnea is a serious disorder where your breathing repeatedly stops or is disrupted while you sleep. ("Apnea" comes from the Greek word for "without breath.") They typically last at least 10 seconds and can happen dozens of times per hour. As if its health risks and unpleasant symptoms weren't enough, sleep apnea can be hell on partners, too. Snoring, gasping and other restless behaviors can make it hard for both people to get a good night's sleep.
Confirming a diagnosis of sleep apnea requires medical testing. In some cases, that means spending a night in a sleep lab, hooked up to a bunch of wires and sensors. What some consumer smartwatches can do is screen for signs that may suggest you have it. Then, you can visit your doctor to get the ball rolling on a formal diagnosis.
While many smartwatches can track your sleep, screening for sleep apnea is much less common. In fact, the only two major smartwatch makers with sleep apnea notification features with some sort of FDA verdict are also the two biggest players in the smartwatch space: Apple and Samsung.
Without getting too much into the weeds of FDA terminology, I'll just say that Samsung was granted De Novo authorization from the administration in 2024 for the its Sleep Apnea feature, while Apple received FDA clearance (510k) for its sleep apnea notification feature some months later.