A new study has found that sleep tracking apps, while popular and often seen as helpful, can backfire for people who already struggle with insomnia, adding to their anxiety rather than easing it.
The research, published in Frontiers in Psychology, analyzed data from 1,002 adults in Norway. Participants were asked about their use of sleep apps, their overall sleep health, and whether they experienced positive or negative effects from using the technology. About 46% reported they currently used or had previously used at least one sleep app. Women and adults under 50 were more likely to use them.
Most users reported benefits. Around 15% said the apps improved their sleep, and 48% said they valued learning more about their rest patterns. But 17% reported that the apps increased their worry about sleep. People with insomnia symptoms stood out as the group most likely to experience those negative effects.
"In sleep medicine, there is something called orthosomnia, which is when people get anxious about sleep metrics, and in turn sleep more poorly from having that data," said Alex Dimitriu, a double board-certified psychiatry and sleep medicine specialist and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine. "This study is in line with that concept." Dimitriu was not involved in the research.
Orthosomnia describes a pattern where the act of monitoring sleep becomes its own source of stress. Someone who sees they got less deep sleep than expected may lie awake the next night worrying about it, which then worsens the very problem they were trying to solve. For people who already have insomnia, that loop can be particularly hard to break.
Age also shaped how users responded to the apps. Younger adults reported stronger effects overall, both positive and negative. They were more likely to feel they benefited from the data, but also more likely to feel stressed by it. "We found that younger adults were more affected by the feedback from the sleep apps," said first study author Håkon Lundekvam Berge of the University of Bergen. "They reported more perceived benefits, but also more worries and stress."
Most sleep apps track similar measures: how long it takes a person to fall asleep, total sleep duration, and how restorative the sleep appears to be. But Lundekvam Berge noted that the accuracy of this data remains uncertain. The technology is still relatively new, and the science has not kept pace with how quickly the apps have spread. "The rapid development of sleep app technology requires the scientific community to keep up with technological advances," he said.
Researchers found no significant difference in how men and women responded to the apps overall. The more meaningful divide was between those with and without insomnia symptoms. For that group, the data showing hours slept or time spent in various sleep stages may be doing more harm than good.
The study adds to a growing conversation in sleep medicine about whether consumer-grade tracking tools belong in the hands of people who already have a troubled relationship with rest. More research is needed, the authors say, to understand exactly which populations benefit and which may be better served by keeping the phone off the nightstand.