Troubleshooting

A recording stopped mid-night

The most common reason is an interruption. A phone call, a system alarm, or another app that takes the microphone pauses the recording. When that happens you see Recording paused, and the app tries to resume on its own. It retries up to five times with growing waits of 1, 3, 7, 12, and 20 seconds.

If those retries fail while your phone is locked, the recording stays paused and tells you so. The Lock Screen, the Dynamic Island, and the home screen widget switch to Recording paused with a Resume Recording button. If you haven't resumed 30 seconds after the pause, a notification with sound follows: "Another app interrupted the recording. Tap to resume." It's a time-sensitive notification, so Sleep Focus lets it through. Tapping any of these opens the app and restarts the recording, and opening the app on your own does the same. Nothing is recorded while the night sits paused, so resume as soon as you notice. If the app still can't get the microphone back with you there, it shows Can't resume recording.

Music, podcasts, and meditation apps can play all night without stopping the recording. Listening to audio while you record covers how that works.

Other causes:

• Low Power Mode or a low battery. The app keeps the microphone active all night, so if the battery runs down the recording can end early. iOS may also close background apps when power gets low.
• Storage running out mid-session. You see Storage full - recording stopped when the device has no room left to save audio.
• Another app that records, such as a voice memo app or a call, taking the microphone during the night.

To reduce mid-night stops:

• Keep the phone plugged in and put it face-down one to two feet away. Face-down switches off the Always-On Display on iPhones that have one, and plugging in guards against an early battery cutoff.
• Turn on Sleep Focus or Do Not Disturb so calls and alerts don't interrupt the session.
• Close apps that record audio, such as voice memo apps, before you start.
• Confirm you have enough free space, or set a Storage Limit (see Storage & Quality).

You woke up to a blank timeline

A blank timeline usually means the recording never captured audio, or it stopped early in the night. Work through these checks:

1. Microphone permission. Confirm it's granted under iOS Settings > Snore Timeline > Microphone. If it's off, the app can't record and shows Microphone unavailable. Please check permissions.
2. Recording Delay. No audio is recorded during the delay window, which you can set up to 180 minutes. If recording was interrupted or stopped during that period, nothing gets saved.
3. Free space. The app won't start if storage is too low, showing Cannot record - only (82)MB free.
4. Another app held the mic. If something else kept the microphone the whole time, recording may have been blocked from the start.

Placement matters too. Keep the phone one to two feet from your head so it picks up your sounds clearly. Look back at any status messages the app showed, then check permissions and free space before the next session. You may also have had a quiet night with little to detect, which is a perfectly normal outcome and doesn't mean anything failed.

Stop calls and alerts interrupting

Phone calls and system alarms take over the microphone and pause the recording. To keep the night clear:

• Turn on Sleep Focus or Do Not Disturb for your sleep hours so calls and notifications stay silent and don't grab the microphone.
• Leave your music, podcast, or sleep sounds playing if you like. They play alongside the recording, as the next section explains.

If an interruption does happen, the app shows Recording paused and tries to resume up to five times, so a brief one usually recovers. A pause during the fall-asleep delay doesn't restart the delay: the app finishes the minutes you had left, then starts recording. The optional bedtime reminder is marked time-sensitive, so it can still reach your lock screen during Sleep Focus. It only prompts you to begin a session and won't interrupt one that's already running. The Getting Started page covers the same setup for a fresh install.

Listening to audio while you record

You can fall asleep to music, a podcast, an audiobook, or a meditation app while Snore Timeline records. The other app keeps playing and the recording carries on for the whole night.

• Start your audio whenever you like, before or after you tap record. About 2 seconds after another app starts playing, Snore Timeline adjusts its recording in the background, with no need to come back to the app. When the other audio stops, it switches back 20 seconds later.
• Through the phone speaker, the other app plays at its normal volume. The microphone hears it too, so the app corrects its loudness readings while the phone plays audio, and it tracks steady sound like music or rain as background noise instead of snoring. A quieter room still gives cleaner results.
• Through AirPods or headphones, choose iPhone Microphone in Settings so the headphones keep full-quality sound. iOS may turn the other app down a little, because Snore Timeline stays in its most accurate recording mode when the sound isn't coming out of the phone. Bluetooth and AirPods has more on the Microphone setting.

Phone calls and system alarms still pause the recording, and the app resumes after them on its own. A few audio apps can still take the microphone when they start. If that happens, the recording pauses and you get a Resume Recording button and a notification, covered in A recording stopped mid-night.

Status messages explained

Snore Timeline shows short status messages so you know what's going on:

• Recording paused: a call, an alarm, or another app took over the microphone and recording stopped temporarily.
• Attempting to resume recording... and Retrying resume...: the app is trying to get the microphone back.
• Recording resumed!: it succeeded.
• Can't resume recording: it gave up after five tries.
• Another app's audio blocked recording: iOS refused to restart the microphone over another app's playback while Snore Timeline was in the background. The recording stays paused until you tap Resume Recording on the Lock Screen, the widget, or the notification, or open the app.
• Blocked by call or audio: a phone call or system audio such as an alarm is using the mic.
• Storage full - recording stopped and Cannot record - only (82)MB free: both point to needing more free space.
• Switched to (AirPods, iPhone Microphone, Headset Microphone): your input changed to the named device, and recording kept going without stopping.

People sometimes ask whether the Recording Delay starts over when a recording is interrupted and resumes. It doesn't. The delay is a one-time fall-asleep timer that only applies at the start of a session. After an interruption, the app starts capturing audio again right away instead of going quiet for another delay period. If the interruption comes during the delay itself, the countdown carries on with the time that was left.

Bluetooth and AirPods

Snore Timeline works with Bluetooth audio devices including AirPods. The Microphone setting in Settings controls which mic records:

• Automatic records through your headphones' mic whenever they're connected.
• iPhone Microphone records with the phone's built-in mic even while headphones are connected.

Fall asleep to music or a podcast on AirPods? Choose iPhone Microphone. The phone's built-in mic handles the recording and your AirPods keep their full-quality audio connection all night. On Automatic, the AirPods' own mic records, which forces them into lower-quality call mode while you listen.

If your input changes during the night, between the built-in mic, wired headphones, or a Bluetooth mic, the app shows Switched to (AirPods, iPhone Microphone, Headset Microphone) and recording carries on without stopping.

Two things to keep in mind when you record through Bluetooth earbuds:

• Bluetooth earbuds run their own battery down and may disconnect when it's gone, which changes the input.
• AirPods sit in or near your ears, which changes how loud and clear sounds come through compared to the phone mic.

For the most consistent all-night results, put the phone face-down one to two feet away and let the built-in microphone handle the recording. That's the placement the detection is tuned for, and it gives the steadiest breathing capture.

Battery and charging

Recording through the night does use battery, since the microphone stays active while you sleep. On many iPhones the screen is the biggest factor:

• Face-down halves the drain. An iPhone with Always-On Display left face-up overnight can use about twice the battery of one placed face-down, because face-down switches the display off.
• Charging while recording is fine. The app keeps recording in the background with the screen locked whether or not the phone is plugged in, so charging through the night just keeps the battery topped up.

Use a cable that reaches your nightstand so the phone can stay one to two feet away while it charges. If you got no recording at all, as opposed to an early stop, check microphone permission and free space too, since either one can stop recording from starting.

Storage full

Snore Timeline needs free space to save audio. At the start of a session, too little space shows Cannot record - only (82)MB free and the session won't begin. If space runs out mid-session, you see Storage full - recording stopped. A recording needs about 500 MB free to start.

To prevent it:

• Set a Storage Limit (1, 2, 4, or 8 GB) so the app deletes audio from the oldest nights when the limit is reached.
• Turn on Keep History so only the audio files get removed and the episodes, sleep analysis, and timeline history stay.
• Turn on Episode-Only Storage to strip silent portions and keep just the segments with detected episodes.
• Lower the recording quality to shrink file sizes, and free up general storage on your iPhone.

Storage & Quality walks through each of these settings.

Detection seems off

Snore Timeline detects coughs as their own category, alongside snoring and gasps, so a cough is normally labeled a cough. Detection runs on acoustic patterns and confidence scores, so the occasional sound lands in the wrong category, especially when two sounds overlap or bedding muffles one. Misclassifications are a normal limit of automated sound detection and don't mean anything is wrong with your recording.

If an event looks off, play back the audio for that moment and hear what happened. Raising the sensitivity catches more faint sounds but lets in more false detections. Lowering it keeps only the clearer, louder events. How Detection Works explains the confidence thresholds behind each label.

Can't hear or feel the Snore Nudge

The nudge tone plays through the app's own audio engine, over the recording, and if your iPhone's media volume sits below half, the app raises it to half while the tone plays. If it isn't reaching you:

• Check the delivery. If only Vibrate or Wrist tap is on under Nudge with in Settings, the iPhone stays silent by design. Turn on Sound.
• Check where the audio goes. The tone follows the recording's audio route. Recording through AirPods puts it in the AirPods, and a Bluetooth speaker connected to your iPhone can play it instead of the phone. Use Test Nudge during a recording to hear exactly where it lands and how loud.
• Check the volume warning. If the app says your iPhone volume is low when the recording starts, turn it up before bed. The app lifts it to half for each tone, so anything louder than that is up to you. The warning next to Test Nudge in Settings updates as you change the volume.
• Check the ringing duration. If the tone ends before it wakes you enough to roll over, raise Ringing duration under Snore Nudge in Settings. It goes from 2 to 20 seconds, and the default is 8.

If you chose Vibrate and the phone doesn't buzz, check two iPhone settings: Sounds & Haptics > Haptics set to Always Play, and Accessibility > Touch > Vibration turned on. A change to Vibrate applies from the next recording you start. For wrist taps, see Wrist taps don't arrive.

The tone isn't a notification, so Sleep Focus and the silent switch don't mute it. Sleep Focus can hold back the Stop Sound notification, but the Stop Sound button on the Live Activity still works, and the tone ends on its own when its ringing duration runs out. Snore Nudge covers the delivery options.

Wrist taps don't arrive

Snore Nudge and the wake-up alarm deliver wrist taps as iPhone notifications, and your watch taps when it shows one. Tap Test Nudge in Settings, and if nothing arrives, tap Didn't feel anything? under it for a checklist. It covers these, in this order:

1. Lock your iPhone right after the test. Notifications stay on the iPhone while it's unlocked, so the watch never gets them.
2. Let the notifications through. In iPhone Settings > Notifications > Snore Timeline, turn on Allow Notifications, Sounds, Time Sensitive Notifications, and Notification Center, and set Show Previews to Always or When Unlocked.
3. On an Apple Watch: in the Watch app on your iPhone, open My Watch > Notifications, scroll to the list of apps, and turn on Snore Timeline. Wear the watch and unlock it, with Wrist Detection on. On the watch, set Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Haptics to Default or Prominent.
4. On another watch: allow Snore Timeline in the watch's own app and keep that app running in the background, turn off the watch's Do Not Disturb and sleep mode at night, and turn on Share System Notifications for the watch under iPhone Settings > Bluetooth. Wrist taps on other watches has the steps for each brand.
5. Check your iPhone's Focus. Turn off Sleep and Do Not Disturb, or allow Snore Timeline in them.

Still nothing on a non-Apple watch? Turn Bluetooth off and on, restart the watch, and test again. If that fails, remove the watch in its app and pair it again.

If the taps arrive but you sleep through them, If you sleep through the nudges has the fixes.

Audio quieter than expected

A couple of things can make playback sound quieter or more muffled than you expected:

• Recording quality. On Basic (Snore-Focused) quality, quieter snores sound more muffled and softer sounds carry less detail, because that setting compresses the recording to focus on the lower frequencies where snoring sits. Switching to Standard or High Fidelity in Settings gets you more detail and clarity.
• Microphone distance. The farther your phone sits from you, the fainter the recording. Keep it about one to two feet away with the microphone unobstructed.

One more note on starting a session. Siri or a widget can't begin recording if a session is already running (you'll see Recording is already in progress), if storage is too low, or if microphone access is off. Siri, Shortcuts & Widgets covers those launch conditions.

Wearable data isn't showing up

Snore Timeline reads sleep stages and vitals from Apple Health, so a missing Oura, Whoop, Garmin, or other device almost always means the data never reached Health or the app isn't allowed to read it. Match what you see to the fix:

• The night shows "Connect Apple Health". Apple Health is off in Snore Timeline. Tap the prompt, or turn on Apple Health in Settings under Health Integration, and approve the permissions sheet.
• The night says your device's sleep is syncing. The device recorded you, but its app hasn't sent the finished sleep stages yet. Open the device's app to sync it now. The night fills in on its own once the data lands.
• Your device never appears. Open the Health app and go to Browse, then Sleep, then Data Sources & Access. If your device's app isn't listed there, it isn't writing sleep to Health. Turn on its Apple Health connection in that app's own settings. If it is listed, check that Snore Timeline may read Sleep: in the Health app, tap your profile picture, then Apps, then Snore Timeline.
• The whole night shows as Light sleep. Your device wrote "asleep" to Health without splitting it into stages. Snore Timeline counts that time as Light. Some devices only send stages when a setting in their app is on, so check its Apple Health options.
• Stages appear but heart rate or HRV don't. Vitals are separate permissions. Allow them in your device's app and for Snore Timeline in the Health app.
• Older nights are missing. Tap Re-import history in Settings under Apple Health. It pulls up to 2 years of nights from every source and fills gaps without overwriting anything.

Still nothing after a full night? Tap Send Feedback in Settings, or use the contact form, and name your device model. Full setup steps are on the Apple Watch & Apple Health page.

An episode download saved as a 0 KB file

Older versions could save an empty file when you downloaded an episode recorded at Basic or Standard quality or through a Bluetooth microphone. The current version exports those correctly. A download that fails now deletes its partial file, tapping the red X retries it, and a download keeps going for a short while if you switch apps.

Empty files saved by an older version stay in the Files app until you delete them. Download the episode again and the new file replaces the empty one.

Restart the app

When the app is acting up, force-quit it and reopen:

1. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen and pause in the middle to open the App Switcher. On older iPhones with a Home button, double-tap Home instead.
2. Swipe up on the Snore Timeline card to close it.
3. Tap the icon on your Home Screen to relaunch, then start a new recording.