Why are night cues off?

What's on the Night tab

• Night cues: a quiet sound during your late-night window. It fades in, decays to silence, and stops on its own within 15 minutes.
• Ambient sound: soft sound for when you can't sleep. It's always available, and it stops on its own within 30 minutes.
• The night glow: an optional, slow red glow while night sound plays, one cycle every 6 seconds. It's off by default; turn it on in Settings → Night glow.

Night sound plays at no more than 40% of your phone's volume. Keep the volume comfortable, and take care with headphones while sleeping.

Stop the sound

Tap Stop sound on the Night tab. You don't have to: a cue stops on its own within 15 minutes, and ambient sound within 30.

Can't get back to sleep?

Open the Night tab and tap Play ambient sound. It fades out and stops on its own within 30 minutes. Skip the night practices tonight: rest comes first. If you're often unable to sleep, or you're worried about your sleep, talk to a doctor or another qualified healthcare professional.

Why are night cues off?

Before a cue can play, the app runs a fixed set of rules on your phone, called the rest check. If any rule isn't met, cues stay off and the Night tab shows the reason. In plain words, cues need:

1. your safety questions answered, all with "no";
2. a sleep session started with Going to sleep;
3. at least 5 hours since you went to sleep, so your deepest early sleep isn't disturbed;
4. at least 6 hours since the last cue;
5. at least one morning check-in in the past 7 days, with hours slept and a 1–5 clarity rating;
6. less than 4 hours of sleep debt over the past 7 days, against your sleep target;
7. an average morning clarity of at least 2.5 out of 5 over the past 7 days.

If the app can't read your history, or it's missing or out of date, cues stay off. That's on purpose: when DreamGate isn't sure, it chooses rest. Ambient sound is never blocked by the rest check.

The exact rules and numbers are in Methodology and Sources, section 3.

Turning cues back on

• Safety questions: answer or review them in Settings → Safety questions. Any answer other than "no" keeps night cues and the night glow off, by design. If an answer changes, update it.
• Check-ins: when you capture your morning, add the hours you slept and your 1–5 clarity rating. That's your morning check-in.
• Sleep target: set it in Settings → Sleep target (4–12 hours, default 8). Sleep debt is measured against it.
• Short on sleep? Then the rest check is doing its job. Skip the night practices until you've caught up.

When the night glow won't turn on

The glow needs all of these: safety answers all "no", the setting turned on, your phone's Reduce Motion setting off, and night sound playing. Leave it off if changing light bothers you.

Safety first

DreamGate's night features aren't right for everyone. Read the Wellness and Medical Disclaimer, and talk to a doctor first if any of its section 4 applies to you. Stop if your sleep gets worse or a practice leaves you anxious.

Related