I finally went in for a sleep study. These days they start with a night of at-home monitoring. Not only is it simpler, but you’re sleeping somewhere familiar, so the results are going to be more representative. This place at least uses a medical-grade monitoring ring and a phone app to collect and report the data.
Easy, right?
Well, first let’s say I’m glad I keep a micro-USB cable for charging the Kobo and my power brick.
Seeking Compatibility
Second, there was the problem of pairing the device.
The app installed happily on my FairPhone 4, but no matter what I did, it just wouldn’t pair with the ring. I don’t know if there was some extra permission I missed, or if the app relies on Google services in a way that microG can’t handle.
Last week I got the Pixel 5 back from the repair shop that replaced the fire-hazard battery. I thought, well, I’ll try that. But the first thing I did when I got the phone home was install /e/OS on it (since mainstream Android is no longer supported on it, but /e/OS is). So that didn’t work either.
OK, how about I dig out my tablet that’s running stock Android? Nope, too old. The app wouldn’t even install. Same with Katie’s phone.
If it had been earlier in the day, I would have considered reinstalling stock Android on the Pixel 5.
In the end, I borrowed our son’s iPad. The app installed, and it paired immediately. I wore the ring overnight, kept waking up with my hand numb because I’d pinched a nerve or slept on it funny, and in the morning I hit Stop and uploaded the results.
Our Own Devices
The system is simple…if you have a up-to-date, mainstream mobile device to pair it with. We’ve been hanging onto older devices on the “If it ain’t broke, don’t replace it” principle.
I guess in a way they are “broken,” and so is the nonstandard replacement, under some circumstances. At least we can buy newer hardware. Not everyone’s in that position. I just don’t want to have to.
I’m beginning to think I should put stock Android back on the Pixel, until Android 14 becomes too old to run things, just to keep it on hand for situations like this. Like keeping a Windows partition on your Linux box. Except it has to be an extra physical device.
