Getting a good night’s sleep after a long day of school or work shouldn’t feel like an ordeal, but it can. According to the National Council on Aging (NCOA), over 70 million Americans struggle with ongoing sleep disorders, and approximately one out of every three adults in the U.S. is sleep deprived. When assessing your sleep health, you also need to consider sleep quality and routine since your sleep schedule and habits are linked to your cardiovascular health. Ideally, you want to keep your sleep habits consistent to stay healthy.
Fortunately, getting a better night’s sleep doesn’t require solving a complex formula. Android smartphones, like the Google Pixel, have a built-in bedtime mode to help you develop a healthy nighttime routine. Pairing this bedtime mode with Google’s other digital wellness tools might just be what’s missing from your sleep regimen. Options like Do Not Disturb mode, screen time reduction, and a custom wake-up alarm could make the difference between a restful night and one that leaves you groggily hitting the snooze button the next morning.
How to get the most out of your Pixel’s bedtime mode
The best part of your Pixel’s bedtime mode is that it is free. Plus, you don’t need to download any apps to make full use of it, unless you want to set up a particular soundscape for your alarm (assuming you don’t already own a specific gadget tailored for alarms). Even better, you don’t need the latest Google Pixel 10 to access this — you can do it from any Pixel as long as it is running Android 13 or newer.
There are two ways to set up the Bedtime mode feature and three ways to turn it on. The first way involves going to “Digital Wellbeing” in your Pixel’s main Settings app. In the Digital Wellbeing section, scroll down to “Bedtime mode” listed under the “Ways to disconnect” header. Tapping that will open the Bedtime mode menu. If the feature is disabled, you can tap “Enable bedtime,” which will prompt you to set it up (if you’ve never used it) or to configure your settings.
Alternatively, you can set up Bedtime mode via the Google Clock app, which comes pre-installed on Pixel devices. From the Clock app, tap “Bedtime” in the bottom-right corner, then you can create a schedule, see recent bedtime activity, and select your sleep sounds. Here, you can also enable a sunrise alarm that slowly brightens your screen as you wake up.
You can also access Bedtime mode via the “Modes” menu in your Pixel’s Settings app or by long-pressing the “Modes” tile in the quick settings tray and selecting “Settings.” This will redirect you to the same page where you initially set up Bedtime mode, letting you manage your notification settings, alarms, and display options like applying a grayscale filter or dimming your wallpaper.
