Can Your Smartwatch Detect Sleep Apnea?
Samsung brought apnea alerts to Europe in June 2026. Here is where a watch helps, and where diagnosis begins.
Apnea checks just went mainstream on the wrist
On 5 June 2026, Samsung switched on sleep apnea detection across 34 European countries, including the Czech Republic and Slovakia, through its Samsung Health Monitor app on the Galaxy Watch (Watch 4 and newer). Apple has offered a similar feature since 2024 (watchOS 11, Series 9 and later, and Ultra 2), and Withings has shipped medically certified apnea screening for years. In short: in 2026, spotting the signs of sleep apnea from your wrist stopped being exotic and became a checkbox feature. So what can a watch actually tell you, and where does it stop?
What sleep apnea actually is
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) means your breathing repeatedly stops or shrinks while you sleep. An apnea is a full pause in breathing lasting 10 seconds or more; a hypopnea is a strong reduction in airflow. With each event your blood oxygen drops and your body briefly wakes, usually without you remembering it in the morning. The result is fragmented sleep, daytime fatigue, and over the long run a higher risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular trouble. The catch: a large share of people who have it never know.
How severity is measured: the AHI
Severity is expressed as the Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI), the number of apneas and hypopneas per hour of sleep.
- AHI 5 to 15 — mild
- AHI 15 to 30 — moderate
- AHI above 30 — severe
An AHI under 5 is considered normal.
How a watch spots it (and where the line is)
Watches and rings track a handful of indirect clues: dips in blood oxygen (SpO2 desaturations), breathing rate, heart rate, movement, and sometimes snoring. From those they estimate whether something is happening repeatedly overnight. The crucial point: a watch screens for apnea, it does not diagnose it. It flags that the issue is worth checking. A diagnosis comes from a sleep study (polysomnography, or a limited home polygraphy). That is why Samsung and Apple both describe theirs as a detection of signs, not a diagnosis, and usually measure across several nights.
Which watches do it in 2026
- Samsung Galaxy Watch (Watch 4 and newer): apnea-sign detection in the Samsung Health Monitor app, newly available in the Czech Republic and Slovakia since 5 June 2026.
- Apple Watch (Series 9 and later, Ultra 2, from watchOS 11 in 2024): notifications about possible apnea from breathing disturbances during sleep.
- Withings ScanWatch, ScanWatch Nova and the Sleep Analyzer mat: the only widely available consumer devices that measure a value close to the AHI directly and carry medical certification for apnea. Check the Withings ScanWatch.
Garmin, Fitbit, Polar and Oura measure blood oxygen and breathing, but do not target apnea as a dedicated feature.
How MyBodyAI fits in
MyBodyAI does not diagnose apnea. It works with the same family of signals — overnight blood oxygen (SpO2), breathing rate, and sleep structure — and it tracks them against your own personal baseline rather than a population average. If you use a Withings device that measures an apnea index, MyBodyAI takes that value as the strongest input to its respiratory signal. For other devices it adds context: how your overnight SpO2 and breathing are trending over time. It is not a medical device, but a way to notice when a visit to the doctor is worth it. It is the same baseline-first logic behind how wearables detect illness.
What to do if your watch flags it
- Do not treat it as a diagnosis — but do not brush it off either.
- See a doctor (GP, ENT, or a sleep clinic) and mention the data from your watch.
- A sleep study confirms it, not an app.
- In the meantime, sleeping on your side, less alcohol before bed, addressing excess weight, and a regular schedule all help.
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