Samsung Galaxy Watch snore detection not working? Fix it now

Trying to track and record snoring when sleeping using your Samsung Galaxy Watch and an Android phone, but it’s not working or showing any data in the Samsung Health app? Sadly, you aren’t alone–quite a few of our readers with the Samsung Galaxy Watch models have these issues!

If the snore detection feature is not working for you, learn how to get it working today.

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Getting snore detection to work on your Galaxy Watch

The good news is that while snore detection initially rolled out on the Wear OS 3 models only, like the Galaxy Watch 5 or 4, it is now available on select older Tizen models, including the Watch 3 and Active 2 models (you may need to update your watch’s software to get this feature.)

For the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, 3, and active 2 models, your watch uses your phone’s bottom microphone(s) to check for snoring rather than the watch’s microphone, so to get any snore data, you must also have your paired phone next to you while sleeping.

So, keep your phone next to you, preferably connected to its charger, to get snoring detection to work.

The Galaxy Watch 5 can detect snoring sounds using the watch’s microphone, so you don’t need your smartphone next to you while sleeping.

All watch models offer the option to record your snoring as audio clips and automatically delete that audio after 7, 31, or 100 days.

Snore detection works when you use Bedtime mode, Goodnight mode, or another Do Not Disturb setting.

Now, if you sleep with another person or pet that snores, this feature also picks up their snoring as well!

Find your snoring reports with other sleep data in Samsung Health, like sleep stages and scores.

If you don’t see any sleep data, it’s likely that sleep tracking isn’t working at all, and consequently, you won’t get any snore data. See this article to fix issues with sleep tracking: How to use sleep tracking on your Samsung Galaxy Watch.

How to record snoring with Samsung Health and your Galaxy Watch

1. Wear your watch when you sleep.
2. Try to keep your sleeping environment quiet–snore detection won’t work well if there is a lot of noise and sounds from other sources (like CPAP machines, televisions, music, and so forth.)
3. Turn on snore detection and select Once or Always. Find this setting in Samsung Health > Sleep > More button (three verticle dots) > Snore detection.
4. Decide if you want your phone to record audio for snoring and, if so, how long you want to keep those recordings on your phone.
5. Allow Samsung Health access to your watch’s or phone’s microphone.
   1. When using a phone, go to Settings > Secuirty & privacy > Privacy > Permission manager > Microphone > Samsung Health and set it to Allow only while using the app.
   2. You can also find the option for the microphone in Settings > Apps > Samsung Health > Permissions.

When using a phone for snore detection, place it within 2 feet of your body on a flat, stable surface. If you set snore detection to always, you must connect it to power, so it’s charging. Position the phone, so its bottom microphone(s) points toward your face so it can listen for and record any snoring.

If you follow all those steps, snore detection should track any sounds you make while sleeping.

Then, the following day, open the Samsung Health app and tap the Sleep section to see if you snore. And if so, learn how long and often you snored throughout your sleep.

6 tips to fix snore detection on your Samsung Galaxy Watch

Not seeing any snoring report? It’s possible that you didn’t snore at all!

If you see no snoring data and verify that the toggle for snore detection is on and set to either Always or Once, you may not have snored.

However, if you (or someone who shares your bed) know that you usually snore, follow our troubleshooting steps below.

Before troubleshooting, check for any updates for your watch, phone, the Wearable app, and the Samsung Health app. If updates are available, install them.

After updating, toggle snore detection on, or if it’s already on, toggle it off, wait a few seconds, and then toggle it back on.

Additionally, make sure that you set the battery setting for the Samsung Health app in Settings > Apps > Samsung Health > Battery to Unrestricted.

#1 Don’t use wireless charging

This feature works best when you charge your phone using a cable rather than wirelessly.

Quite a few of our readers tell us that they only get snore recordings and reports when they plug their phones into a wall outlet.

#2 Set snore detection to Once instead of Always or vice-versa

If you don’t see any snore data, try changing your snore detection setting to Always or Once. Remember that if you choose Always, you must plug your phone into its charger.

#3 Try sleeping alone

If you usually sleep with someone else (or your animal companion,) head towards your guest bedroom or sofa and try a night’s sleep there. See if you get any snoring information.

#4 Silence any noise 

Keeping your sleeping environment as quiet as possible also helps your phone accurately gather and record snoring.

If you usually listen to music, podcasts, watch tv, or use an ambient sleep sound machine, set it on a timer so it turns off during the night.

Fans, A/C, and other things that generate a lot of noise make it difficult for your phone to recognize snoring.

#5 Turn on Blood oxygen during sleep

Although this feature should not impact snore detection, it’s worth a try.

• Go to Samsung Health > Sleep on your phone and tap the More Button (three verticle dots icon.) Choose Blood oxygen during sleep and toggle it on.
• On your watch, go to Samsung Health, scroll down, and tap Settings. Under Measurement, toggle on Blood oxygen during sleep.

#6 Set Heart Rate Measurement to continuous

To detect snoring, your watch and Samsung Health look at your heart rate to determine when you are sleeping and not just resting.

Once it detects you are sleeping (at any stage), it starts tracking your sleep and looking for snoring sounds.

• Go to Samsung Health, scroll down, and tap Setting.
• Under Measurement, tap Heart Rate and toggle on Measure continuously.

Hopefully, you now see your sleep stage information and any snoring reports! 

If you set up snoring detection to record audio, tap the snoring tile to review the audio recordings.

If you have more than one recording, tap each to listen to snoring. 

FAQ for snore detection on Samsung Galaxy Watch

Why do I need to have my phone with me to detect snoring?

For most models, Samsung’s snore detection feature uses your phone’s microphone(s) rather than your watch to listen for and record snoring. However, the Watch 5 can detect snoring using its own microphone, so you don’t need a nearby phone.

You need to wear your watch to detect when you fall asleep, which then notifies the phone to use its microphone to analyze and listen for snoring.

Does snore detection also pick up snoring from others?

Yes, if you sleep with other people or pets who snore, your phone might also measure and record snoring from that person (or pet.)

To minimize your phone picking up any snoring from others, keep your phone’s bottom microphone(s) pointing towards your head and away from others.

If you aren’t sure if the snoring detected is yours, try sleeping a night alone and see if the feature detects any snores.

Does my phone need to be charging for snore detection to work?

Technically, if you choose to detect snoring only once rather than always, you do not need to charge your phone. 

However, in our testing, we needed to have our phone charging (using the charging cable, not wirelessly charging) to get this feature to work regardless of the once or always setting.

That’s why we recommend you always charge your phone when using snore detection. 

Do I have to record snoring, or can the phone just let me know if and when I snored?

You do not have to record the audio of your snoring. You can choose to measure it.

Find these settings in the Samsung Health app > Sleep > More Button (three verticle dots) > Snore detection > Record audio.

If you choose to record audio, you have the option to keep these recordings for either 7, 31, or 100 days. After that time, Samsung Health automatically deletes any expired recordings. 

Do I need to install the Sleep Cycle app on my phone and/or watch to get snore detection to work?

No, you do not need to have SleepCycle on your phone or watch to get snore detection to measure and record any snoring. 

Samsung partnered with SleepCycle to use its snoring detection technology for Galaxy Watch users in the Samsung Health app. That’s why you see a message at the bottom of your snoring report that it’s powered by Sleep Cycle.

If you want additional insights into your sleep, tap the Sleep Cycle button, and you can install SleepCycle’s app on your phone and watch and then use its free plan (Sleep Cycle Freemium) or upgrade to Sleep Cycle’s premium subscription. You do not need a premium app subscription to use the snore detection feature and access your snore reports. 

How to turn off snore detection for your Samsung Galaxy Watch

If you don’t want to use snore detection, you can do this on your phone’s Samsung Health app.

Open Samsung Health and choose the Sleep tile. Tap the More button (three verticle dots) > Snore detection and toggle it off.

When you toggle off snore detection, you automatically disable recording audio. All previous audio recordings remain saved to your phone until they expire.

How to delete your snoring audio recordings

Samsung Health automatically deletes all snoring audio recordings when they reach the data you set to delete recordings after. That’s either 7, 31, or 100 days from when your phone created the recording.

However, you can manually delete recordings by pressing and holding a listed recording, then checkmark the ones you want to remove or choose Select all and press Delete. 

Then, confirm you want to delete those recordings–you cannot recover these once removed.

Final thoughts

I hope you are now able to catch any snoring while sleeping. Your watch must first detect that you are sleeping to trigger snore detection–so short naps usually won’t count! This feature should work whether it’s a nightly sleep or a long nap during the day.

If you have a tip to get this feature working that we didn’t cover, please let us know to pay it forward.