Behind the app
What estimated sleep stages really mean
A phone cannot see your brain. Here is what estimated sleep stages are built from, where the accuracy holds up, and where the chart is guessing.
Aug 4, 2026 · 5 min read
Blog
Notes from the people building Tock
Opinions about alarms, explanations of what the app is really doing at 3am, and the design arguments we had along the way. Shorter than the guides and rather more argumentative.
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Behind the app
We generate sleep sounds instead of looping them
Your ear finds the seam in a looping audio file and then cannot unhear it. So most of our non looping sleep sounds are generated on the device.
Jul 28, 2026 · 5 min read
Design notes
Why our streak is a moon and not a flame
Streak mechanics borrowed from fitness apps punish the night you most need slack. Here is how we built sleep streak tracking that forgives.
May 19, 2026 · 5 min read
Opinion
A steady schedule beats extra sleep
Regularity of timing often does more for how you feel than an extra half hour in bed. Here is why the weekend lie in quietly wrecks your Monday.
Apr 22, 2026 · 5 min read
Opinion
The snooze button is a design failure
Hitting snooze is not a willpower problem. The nine minute gap is an accident of 1950s gearing, and it makes every wake harder than the one before.
Mar 11, 2026 · 5 min read
Behind the app
What your phone can actually hear at night
A phone recording sleep at night is listening for snores, coughs and sleep talking. Here is exactly what it does with them, and what it does not do.
Feb 24, 2026 · 5 min read