The Made by Google event that took place last week wasn’t just for announcing cool new devices. In between the exciting hardware announcements, there were quite a few software nuggets mentioned too, one of which was the ability for the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro to use its AI smarts to detect when you are coughing or snoring while sleeping.
This feature functions in the background while you are sleeping and shows the pertinent results within the Digital Wellbeing application. This had been discovered previously via an APK teardown and has been finally released as a Pixel 7 series exclusive — at least for now.
Snoring data in the Digital Wellbeing app shows how long you snored during the bedtime schedule that you have set up on the phone and is measured in minutes and hours. In a similar way, the coughing detector shows you how many times you’ve coughed during the time you were supposed to be sleeping. Both data sets can be seen on a timeline, helping you figure out when exactly these activities are happening. This information can be crucial when trying to determine issues like sleep apnea and the like, although, of course, it does not substitute a medical diagnosis.
To set this up on your Pixel 7 or Pixel 7 Pro, simply open your Settings, then navigate to the “Digital Wellbeing & parental controls” section. Once there, if this is your first time setting it up, you should see a banner letting you know about the feature and prompting you to continue in order to set it up. Otherwise, you can just scroll down a little bit further to the “Bedtime mode” section and tap on it.
In the “Bedtime mode” section, proceed with setting up a bedtime routine if you haven’t already done so. Once that’s complete, you should see a graph showing you your Bedtime activity. At the bottom, there will be a “Cough & snore info” button, tap on that to proceed. Next, you will need to grant this feature the appropriate permissions, specifically access to the microphone.
That is all you’ll need to do to set it up for the next time you go to bed. Your Pixel 7 or 7 Pro will detect coughing and snoring but won’t record or share the audio. You can view the results the next day by accessing the “Cough and snore info” section within Digital Wellbeing.
I just want the steps!
- Go to your phone’s settings
- Navigate to the “Digital Wellbeing & parental controls” section
- At the bottom, there will be a “Cough & snore info” button, tap on that to proceed
- If you do not see that banner, scroll down to the “Bedtime mode” section
- Set up a bedtime routine
- Tap on the “Cough & snore info” button
- Grant permissions to the microphone
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