Overview
Snollo is set up in under two minutes. The core steps are: install, grant three permissions, place your iPhone, and tap Start before bed. This guide covers every step in detail, explains what each permission does, and includes fixes for the most common setup issues.
What You Need
- iPhone running iOS 17 or later
- The Snollo app (free from the App Store)
- Apple Watch Series 4 or later (optional, but improves sleep stage accuracy)
Step 1 — Download Snollo
Open the App Store, search Snollo, and tap Get. No account, email, or payment is required. The free tier includes nightly snore detection, sleep stage breakdown, listen-back audio clips, and 7 days of history — all features that never expire.
If you already have Snollo installed, make sure it is updated to the latest version before proceeding.
Step 2 — Grant Permissions
Snollo asks for three iOS permissions. Each one controls a specific data source. Here is what each permission enables and what happens without it:
Microphone (required for snore detection)
What it enables: Real-time audio classification — detecting snoring, breathing, coughing, and sleep talking using the iPhone microphone.
Without it: No sound events, no snore detection, no listen-back clips. The app will still launch but the core functionality does not work.
If you missed it: Go to Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone → Snollo and toggle it on.
Motion & Fitness (required for iPhone-only sleep stages)
What it enables: Sleep stage estimation from iPhone accelerometer data when no Apple Watch is paired. The app uses motion patterns — still phases, restless periods, transitions — to estimate light, deep, and REM sleep.
Without it: If you are not wearing an Apple Watch, sleep stages will not appear in your morning report.
If you missed it: Go to Settings → Privacy & Security → Motion & Fitness → Snollo and toggle it on.
Apple Health (Apple Watch users)
What it enables: Snollo reads your Apple Watch’s heart rate, HRV, blood oxygen (SpO2), and breathing rate data from Apple Health after each night. This produces the heart rate and SpO2 charts and significantly improves sleep stage accuracy.
Without it: No heart rate, HRV, blood oxygen, or breathing rate charts. Sleep stages are estimated from iPhone-only data instead.
To configure: Go to Settings → Health → Data Access → Snollo and enable:
- Heart Rate
- Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
- Sleep Analysis
- Respiratory Rate
- Blood Oxygen
No Watch app is required. Snollo reads the data that your Watch writes to Apple Health automatically each morning.
Step 3 — Position Your iPhone
Placement significantly affects detection quality, especially when not wearing an Apple Watch.
Without Apple Watch:
The iPhone microphone needs a clear path to your breath and snoring sounds. Good positions:
| Position | Quality | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mattress beside pillow | Best | Highest mic sensitivity, use a silicone case to dampen vibration |
| Nightstand within 1–2 ft | Good | Face-down reduces ambient noise |
| Low bedside stand facing bed | Good | Good compromise of distance and stability |
| Across the room | Poor | Audio pickup drops sharply beyond 3 feet |
| Under pillow | Poor | Muffles sound, generates constant friction noise |
With Apple Watch:
Placement is much more flexible. The Watch handles heart rate, motion, and sleep stage data from your wrist. The iPhone can sit on the nightstand at a normal distance. The microphone still captures snoring, but the proximity requirement is less strict.
Step 4 — Tap Start Before Bed
Snollo does not auto-start. Each night you must:
- Open Snollo
- Tap the Start button
- Put the phone face-down (or in your preferred position) and go to sleep
If you close the app or forget to tap Start, no data is recorded. This is intentional — Snollo only records when you explicitly start a session. Think of it like starting a stopwatch before a run.
Recommended: Plug your iPhone into a charger before tapping Start. Overnight audio recording typically consumes 10–15% battery. Charging eliminates drain and is safe to run all night.
Step 5 — Review Your Results in the Morning
In the morning, open Snollo to see:
- Sleep quality score — overall score for the night
- Sleep stage breakdown — time in Light, Deep, and REM sleep
- Sound event timeline — timestamped snoring, breathing, and other events
- Listen-back clips — tap any event to hear what the mic captured
- Heart rate and SpO2 charts (with Apple Watch only)
The session ends automatically when you tap Stop in the morning, or you can let it run past your wake time — Snollo uses motion and audio patterns to approximate when you woke.
Troubleshooting
Sleep stages are missing
Most likely cause: Motion & Fitness permission is off.
Go to Settings → Privacy & Security → Motion & Fitness → Snollo → toggle on. Also check Settings → Health → Data Access → Snollo if you wear an Apple Watch.
No snore events recorded
Check in this order:
- Microphone permission — Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone → Snollo
- Did you tap Start? — if you forgot, nothing recorded
- iPhone placement — was it within 1–2 feet of your head?
- Did you actually snore? — if snoring is infrequent or mild, no events is a valid result
Heart rate chart is empty
Apple Watch data requires Apple Health permission. Go to Settings → Health → Data Access → Snollo and enable Heart Rate. Also confirm your Apple Watch was charged and worn during the night — if the Watch ran out of battery, it stops writing heart rate data to Health.
Battery drained overnight
Plug in your iPhone before starting a session. Snollo is safe to run while charging. If you cannot charge overnight, fully charge your iPhone before bed — a full charge will typically end the night at 85–90%.
Settings Reference
| Setting | Location | What It Controls |
|---|---|---|
| Microphone | Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone | Snore detection, all audio features |
| Motion & Fitness | Settings → Privacy & Security → Motion & Fitness | Sleep stages (iPhone-only mode) |
| Apple Health | Settings → Health → Data Access → Snollo | Heart rate, HRV, SpO2, breathing rate |
For a deeper look at iPhone snore detection without Apple Watch, see iPhone snoring tracker without Apple Watch.