You’re cocooned in the warm embrace of your blankets, the past day’s events fading into a distant memory as you begin to count sheep, a soothing mantra lulling you closer to the edge of sweet dreams. Fifty one… fifty two… fifty th—
Without warning, your smartphone erupts into a blinding explosion of light, transforming your serene sleep sanctuary into a chaotic circus of dazzling brilliance. You bolt upright, heart racing, your mind clawing its way back to consciousness.
Also: Wake up gently with this sunrise alarm clock that’s $30 off for Labor Day
In a frenzied attempt to quell the intrusive glow, you unleash a catastrophic cascade of chaos as you swipe the nightstand clear, sending your charging stand tumbling over the edge, the bedside lamp flickering into darkness, and your glass of water tumbling to the floor, forming an impromptu lake next to your bed.
Or maybe it’s not that dramatic.
Either way, let’s take a look at five of the most common reasons for a smartphone to mysteriously wake up.
Sometimes the easiest, most obvious reason is the answer.
I remember a time when notifications were reserved for important stuff, messages, or things that you really needed to see. Now it seems that every app wants to send you endless notifications, and most of them are garbage.
And these apps can and do throw out notifications at all times of the day and night.
Also: This hidden iPhone feature can help you fall asleep faster
Newer versions of mobile operating systems all feature tools to combat notifications causing havoc to your sleep patterns. On Android, this is called Bedtime mode, and on iOS it is part of Do Not Disturb.
On older versions of mobile operating systems, you’re going to have to take a more aggressive approach to killing notifications for noisy, annoying apps.
Software updates being installed can cause the screen on a smartphone to come to life at odd times of the night – since updates are often scheduled to be installed at night when most people aren’t using their phones.
Operating systems have become better at making this install process as discreet and unobtrusive as possible, but light sleepers might still be stirred by the phone’s rebooting.
Fortunately, updates don’t happen all that often, so this shouldn’t be a bit issue.
A power adapter that’s failing, or a dip/brownout can cause a phone to pop into life randomly.
If you find your handset is popping on and off charge while plugged in or attached to a wireless charger, consider trying a new charger.
While it’s rarer on newer versions of Android and iOS, glitchy apps can cause a smartphone’s display to randomly light up. This can be incredibly hard to pin down as it only needs an app to glitch for a fraction of a second to cause the screen to activate.
If you are having screen activations that aren’t down to any of the above, try updating the operating system and your apps.
If you sleep close to your phone, and your handset is set to respond to voice commands or gestures, it might accidentally activate if it picks up sounds or movements that it interprets as commands.
So, what can you do?
There are a few tricks that you can employ to allow you to have a more restful, undisturbed sleep.
Also: 7 Android accessibility features that can make your life easier
First, don’t sleep with your phone in the same room. I know that’s easier said than done, but there are some good reasons why you shouldn’t.
If parting with your phone doesn’t sound like fun, putting it face down will prevent you from being awakened by any screen activations that do occur.
