Question 1

What is mellows?

Accepted Answer

mellows is an AI-powered sleep health app.

It connects with your Apple Health sleep and health data to help you understand and improve your sleep through sleep insights, personalized guidance, and better sleep experiences—while building a bedtime rhythm that feels right for you.

1. Sleep Health Insights

mellows goes beyond telling you how long you slept last night. It helps you understand what happened during your sleep and what factors may have influenced it, using insights from your sleep and health data.

Sleep Performance: Evaluates your daily sleep performance based on sleep duration, regularity, efficiency, and daytime behavioral factors.
Sleep Recovery: Helps you understand how well your body recovered during the night and offers data-informed suggestions for the day ahead.
Sleep Age: Continuously assesses your sleep health across multiple dimensions and tracks how it changes over time.
Long-Term Trends: Looks beyond individual nights to help you discover long-term patterns across your sleep habits, physical state, and lifestyle.

2. Your AI Sleep Coach & Companion · mia

mia is your personal AI sleep assistant in mellows. Powered by agent technology, mia understands your sleep and health data and combines it with your personal context to provide more natural, personalized insights and guidance.

She can:

Analyze your sleep and health data and answer questions about your sleep
Offer personalized recommendations based on your current state
Guide you through breathing and relaxation exercises
Help you find sounds and music that suit how you feel in the moment
Help you track everyday behaviors that may affect your sleep
Learn your sleep patterns over time and become a companion for your ongoing sleep journey

3. High-Quality Sleep Content & Bedtime Rituals

Sleep is more than data. mellows also creates a warmer, more immersive bedtime experience to help you leave the busyness of the day behind and gradually settle into the night.

Nature Soundscapes: Real recordings of rain, forests, waves, campfires, and more
Sleep & Meditation Music
EMDR Music
Spatial Audio Soundscapes
Breathing Exercises
Bedtime Rituals & Relaxation Guidance

From understanding your sleep, to knowing what you can do tonight, to truly settling down—mellows is here to turn sleep from something you simply track into an experience worth taking care of.

Question 2

Which platforms does mellows support?

Accepted Answer

mellows is currently available on iPhone. Apple Watch is supported through Apple Health. Android is not currently supported.

Question 3

How do I set up mellows for the first time?

Accepted Answer

Download mellows from the App Store, create an account, and follow the quick setup guide. You’ll need to connect Apple Health so mellows can access your sleep and health data. If you’d like to receive daily sleep insights, you can also enable notifications.

That’s all you need to do. You’ll be ready to go in just a few minutes.

That’s all you need to do. You’ll be ready to go in just a few minutes.

Question 4

How much data does mellows need?

Accepted Answer

Different mellows features require different amounts of data.

You can start enjoying soundscapes and music from your very first session. Sleep insights become more personalized as mellows learns from your data. Typically, after 7–30 nights of consistent tracking, mellows can build a more complete picture of your personal sleep baseline.

Some long-term metrics also require enough historical data before they can be calculated. For example, Sleep Age needs about 7 nights before it can be calculated, and becomes more confident at around 14 nights; some other long-term trend metrics need a longer history still.

That’s why mellows doesn’t draw conclusions from a single night. As your data builds over time, your insights become more stable, meaningful, and personal.

Question 5

Can I use mellows without an Apple Watch?

Accepted Answer

mellows doesn’t require dedicated hardware, but it needs sleep and health data from Apple Health.

mellows has been fully tested and optimized with Apple Watch data, so you can use its core sleep features based on the sleep and physiological data recorded by Apple Watch. We’ll gradually expand support for other devices.

If you use another device that syncs data to Apple Health, some of that data may also be available in mellows. However, the metrics and features available depend on the data provided by each device, so we can’t guarantee full support for every device yet.

Without a device that can track sleep and nighttime physiological data, you can still use some mellows features, but core features such as sleep and recovery will be limited.

Question 6

How does mellows track my sleep?

Accepted Answer

mellows doesn’t track your sleep directly. It reads your sleep and related physiological data from Apple Health. This data is typically recorded by your iPhone, Apple Watch, or other connected devices and then synced to Apple Health.

When you first set up mellows, you can grant it permission to access your Apple Health data. mellows only requires read access and does not write to or modify your health data.

In simple terms: Your device records → Apple Health stores → mellows reads and analyzes

Question 7

What sleep and health data does mellows use?

Accepted Answer

mellows reads available sleep and physiological data from Apple Health, including sleep duration, sleep efficiency, sleep stages (deep sleep, REM sleep, light sleep, and awake time), as well as heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), blood oxygen, respiratory rate, wrist temperature, and workouts.

mellows also reads your date of birth and biological sex from Apple Health. These are needed to compare you against the right reference range for your age and sex in Sleep Age, Sleep Performance and Recovery, and mellows has no other source for them.

This data comes from Apple Health. mellows analyzes these underlying signals and uses them to calculate metrics such as Sleep Performance Score, Recovery, and Sleep Age, helping you understand your sleep from different perspectives.

Question 8

Why does mellows need access to Apple Health?

Accepted Answer

Apple Health is how mellows accesses your sleep and related physiological data. mellows uses the available data to show your sleep history and metrics, analyze long-term trends, and give mia the personal context she needs to answer questions about your sleep.

Connecting Apple Health is optional, and you can revoke access at any time. If you turn off access, mellows will no longer be able to receive the relevant health data, so sleep analysis, trends, and mia’s personalized features that rely on this data will be limited.

Question 9

How do I delete my data and my mellows account?

Accepted Answer

Your original sleep and health records are managed by Apple Health. If you want to delete sleep or health data stored in Apple Health, you’ll need to manage it directly in the Health app on your iPhone. Deleting your mellows account does not delete this data from Apple Health.

If you want to delete your mellows account and the data associated with it, go to Settings → Profile, scroll to the bottom, and select Delete Account.

After you delete your account, your mellows account will be permanently deleted, and data associated with the account will be handled according to our data retention and deletion policies. This action cannot be undone and takes effect immediately, with no grace period during which the account could be restored, so please make sure you want to proceed before confirming.

Note that deleting your mellows account does not cancel an active Premium subscription. Subscriptions are billed by Apple, so cancel it separately in Settings → [your name] → Subscriptions or Apple will keep charging you.

For complete details about how we collect, use, store, and delete data, please see our Privacy Policy.

Question 10

Where is my sleep and health data stored?

Accepted Answer

Your sleep and health data is encrypted and stored on your iPhone. mellows reads data from Apple Health and calculates your scores and trends on your device. Your nightly sleep records, scores, and recovery scores are not stored on our servers.

Your sleep schedule goals are backed up to our servers so you can restore them after reinstalling the app or switching phones. Sleep journals that you ask mia to remember are also stored on our servers. Your Sleep Age history and behavior journal entries are stored only on your device.

When you chat with mia, your messages and the summaries you allow us to share are sent through our servers to third-party AI model providers to generate responses. When AI Sleep Insights is enabled, the summary from your most recent night is also sent this way to generate the insight. Summaries are discarded after use and are not stored. Chat history is retained for up to 90 days, and you can delete it at any time. We use paid services, and these providers are not allowed to use your data to train their models. The specific providers are listed in our Privacy Policy.

Your raw health data (individual heart-rate readings, minute-by-minute sleep stages, blood oxygen and so on) is not uploaded to our servers. mellows doesn’t store health data in iCloud, and will never sell your health data.

Question 11

Why isn’t my sleep data showing in mellows?

Accepted Answer

First, make sure mellows has permission to read your Apple Health data. On your iPhone, go to Settings → Privacy & Security → Health → mellows and make sure access to sleep and other relevant data is enabled.

Then open Apple Health and check whether your sleep data is actually there. If Apple Health has no sleep records, your Apple Watch or other wearable may not have synced the data to Apple Health yet. In that case, mellows has nothing to read.

If your sleep data is already available in Apple Health but still isn’t showing in mellows, try reopening mellows and give it a moment to sync before checking again.

Question 12

What is Sleep Performance Score?

Accepted Answer

Sleep Performance Score is mellows’ overall assessment of how well you slept last night, on a scale of 0 to 100. It doesn’t look at sleep duration alone. Instead, it evaluates the quality of your night across multiple dimensions.

The score takes into account eight factors: sleep duration, sleep efficiency, sleep continuity, sleep timing and regularity, sleep architecture (deep sleep and REM sleep), cardiovascular recovery, breathing quality, and sleep debt.

mellows compares your data with population reference ranges while also taking your personal sleep baseline into account. As more data accumulates, your personal baseline becomes more refined, and your score becomes increasingly tailored to what good sleep means for you.

So, Sleep Performance Score isn’t a simple conversion of any single sleep metric. It’s a comprehensive assessment of your overall sleep throughout the night.

Question 13

Why is my sleep score different from Apple Health?

Accepted Answer

This is because they measure sleep in different ways.

Apple Health primarily records and displays data such as your sleep duration and sleep stages. mellows’ Sleep Score takes a broader view, combining factors such as sleep efficiency, sleep timing, and sleep continuity with physiological data including heart rate, HRV, and respiration. It also takes your personal sleep baseline into account.

So, mellows’ Sleep Score isn’t simply calculated from Apple Health data, nor does it correspond directly to any single metric in Apple Health. The two look at different aspects of your sleep, so it’s normal for the results to be different.

Question 14

What is Recovery Score?

Accepted Answer

Recovery Score is a 0–100 score that shows how well your body recovered overnight. It’s driven primarily by heart rate variability (HRV), along with resting heart rate, sleep structure, sleep continuity, and lifestyle factors.

For the most complete data, wear your Apple Watch while you sleep so mellows can access overnight HRV and heart rate. Without it, Recovery will gradually become less complete and may not be available depending on the data your device provides.

Recovery levels range from Needs Improvement to Fair, Good, and Great.

Question 15

What’s the difference between Sleep Performance and Recovery Score?

Accepted Answer

They answer two different questions.

Sleep Performance (0–100) measures how well you slept last night, based on factors such as sleep duration, efficiency, timing, and sleep structure.

Recovery Score (0–100) measures how well your body recovered physiologically overnight, based primarily on heart rate variability (HRV) and resting heart rate.

The two scores don’t always move together, and that’s completely normal. You might get a full night of sleep and have a high Sleep Performance score, but still have lower recovery after intense exercise, drinking alcohol, or being sick.

Question 16

What does the Recovery Timeline mean?

Accepted Answer

The Recovery Timeline shows how your recovery builds throughout the night. The curve helps you see when your body settled down and began to recover, when that recovery process was interrupted, and when your body was more activated during the night.

Question 17

What do Sleep Stability, Sleep Regularity, and Breathing Quality mean?

Accepted Answer

These are plain-language names for the dimensions behind your Sleep Score.

Sleep Stability reflects how continuous your sleep was—the fewer times you wake up, the better. Sleep Regularity reflects how consistent your bedtimes and wake times are. Breathing Quality reflects your breathing rate and blood oxygen levels throughout the night.

Each dimension is rated as Great, Good, Fair, or Needs Improvement. Tap your Sleep Score to see all the details.

Question 18

How does mellows determine my sleep type?

Accepted Answer

Your sleep type describes whether you naturally tend to go to bed and wake up earlier or later.

mellows looks at the midpoint of your sleep each night over a period of at least two weeks, then classifies your sleep pattern as Early Bird, Intermediate, or Night Owl.

Question 19

What’s the difference between my Circadian Window and my target bedtime?

Accepted Answer

Your Circadian Window is the period when your body is naturally most inclined to fall asleep, based on your recent sleep patterns and personal baseline. Your target bedtime is the time you’ve chosen as your goal.

Looking at the two together helps you see how closely your target bedtime aligns with your body’s natural rhythm. Your Circadian Window typically becomes more stable after around two weeks of data.

Question 20

Why did my scores change after two weeks?

Accepted Answer

Some of mellows’ scores are measured against your personal baseline—the normal range mellows learns for you from your own history across more than a dozen metrics.

This baseline matures in stages, around 7, 14, and 30 nights of data. As more of your own history becomes available, your scores rely less on general reference ranges and more on what’s normal for you.

So it’s normal for some scores to change over time. As mellows gets to know you better, your scores become better aligned with what “normal” actually means for your body—not just what’s typical for the general population.

Question 21

What is Sleep Age, and why is it different from my actual age?

Accepted Answer

Sleep Age is an estimated “body age” based on your recent sleep, designed to give you a simple way to understand how your sleep compares with your actual age. A lower Sleep Age generally indicates better sleep health.

It’s estimated using factors such as HRV, sleep duration, deep sleep, sleep efficiency, sleep regularity, and resting heart rate. If these signals are weaker than typical levels for people your age, your Sleep Age may be higher than your actual age. As they improve, your Sleep Age may decrease.

Your Sleep Age can also be lower than your actual age, which can indicate that your recent sleep patterns are particularly strong.

Sleep Age becomes available after you have at least 7 nights of data.

Question 22

What is Aging Rate?

Accepted Answer

Aging Rate is the companion metric to Sleep Age. Instead of giving you an age, it shows whether your recent sleep patterns suggest that you’re aging faster or slower than the passage of time.

A rate of around 1.0× means you’re aging at roughly the same pace as time. Below 1.0× means slower aging, which is a positive sign; above 1.0× means faster aging.

It compares your sleep over the most recent two weeks with the weeks before that, so it typically unlocks after around three weeks of consistent data.

Question 23

Why does a metric say “Collecting Data” or appear locked?

Accepted Answer

Some metrics need several consecutive nights of data to be accurate. mellows uses this time to calibrate your personal baseline before showing a score or value.

Sleep Age becomes available after around 7 nights. Aging Rate, Circadian Window, and Sleep Type need around 2–3 weeks of data. Your personal baseline continues to mature throughout the first month.

Once enough data has been collected, the metric will unlock automatically.

Question 24

Who is mia?

Accepted Answer

mia stands for Mellows Intelligent Assistant. She’s your personal sleep coach and a companion who gets to know you over time. mia understands your sleep and health data, combines it with your personal context, and gives you more natural, personalized insights and guidance.

She can:

Analyze your sleep and health data and answer questions about your sleep
Give you personalized sleep suggestions based on how you’re doing
Guide you through breathing and relaxation exercises
Help you find sounds and music that fit how you’re feeling
Help you log daily habits that may affect your sleep
Learn your sleep patterns over time and become a companion you can turn to night after night

Question 25

What can you ask mia?

Accepted Answer

When it comes to sleep, recovery, and how you’re feeling day to day, you can ask mia almost anything. She combines your sleep and health data, personal history, and how you’re feeling right now to give you answers based on your own experience—not generic sleep advice.

You can ask her:

Ask why you slept poorly: “Why didn’t I sleep well last night?” “Why do I keep waking up in the middle of the night?”
Ask about your sleep data: “How has my sleep been this week?” “What’s changed in my deep sleep recently?”
Ask about your sleep trends: “How does my sleep compare with last month?” “Which metrics are improving, and which ones should I pay attention to?”
Ask about your recovery: “How did last night’s sleep affect my recovery today?” “Why am I feeling so tired today?”
Ask what might be affecting your sleep: “What daily habits might be affecting my sleep lately?” “How is coffee affecting my sleep?”
Ask what you can do: “What can I do tonight to fall asleep more easily?” “What should I focus on changing right now?”
Ask what to listen to: “What should I listen to right now?” “Find me a soundscape to help me unwind tonight.”
Ask mia to help you relax: “Guide me through a breathing exercise.” “I’m feeling a little anxious. Can you help me relax?”
Ask mia to log something: “Log that I had coffee this afternoon.” “Note that I exercised before bed tonight.”

Over time, mia gets to know your sleep patterns through your data and activity history, so every conversation becomes more personal—grounded in your real data and context.

Question 26

Does mia get better the longer I use her?

Accepted Answer

Yes. mia uses your latest sleep and health data together with your history when answering your questions. As your sleep patterns change, her insights and recommendations adapt to reflect your most recent data.

The more nights you record in mellows, the more personal history and context mia has to work with. This allows her to better understand your longer-term patterns instead of looking at just one night at a time.

Question 27

Is mia free?

Accepted Answer

Conversations with mia are part of mellows Premium. Sleep metrics and daily summaries are available for free, while a Premium subscription unlocks conversations with mia, AI-written sleep insights, Trends, and the full library of premium Spatial Mix soundscapes.

The annual plan includes a 7-day free trial, so you can experience the full set of Premium features before deciding whether to subscribe.

Question 28

What is Spatial Mix?

Accepted Answer

Spatial Mix is mellows’ signature immersive soundscape format. Each mix is carefully layered from natural sounds—rain, waves, wind, and more—with each layer positioned at a specific point in three-dimensional space to create depth, distance, and a sense of being there.

Every Spatial Mix in the mellows audio library is crafted by our sound designers, not automatically generated.

Any pair of stereo headphones will do: mellows renders the positioning itself, so no Dolby Atmos or spatial-audio support is required. Turn spatial positioning on in Settings → Audio. Headphones with motion sensors, such as AirPods Pro or AirPods Max, add head tracking on top of that.

Even with spatial positioning turned off, or when listening through regular headphones or speakers, every Spatial Mix remains a rich, carefully crafted soundscape with multiple layers of detail.

Question 29

What devices do I need for Spatial Mix?

Accepted Answer

Any pair of stereo headphones will do. mellows renders the three-dimensional effect itself, so you hear each element in its own position on ordinary wired or Bluetooth headphones, with no Dolby Atmos or spatial-audio support required.

What AirPods Pro, AirPods Max and other motion-sensing headphones add is head tracking, which keeps the sound anchored in place as you turn your head.

Through the iPhone speaker the positioning largely collapses, because the effect relies on each ear hearing something slightly different.

Question 30

Can I create my own Spatial Mix?

Accepted Answer

Not yet. Custom Spatial Mix creation isn’t currently supported, but it’s planned for a future release.

Question 31

Can I set a sleep timer?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Open the timer in the player and pick one of the presets, from 10 minutes to 2 hours, or dial in your own anywhere between 5 minutes and 6 hours. When the timer ends, playback gradually fades out and stops, so the sound won’t keep playing all night after you fall asleep.

Question 32

What is EMDR music?

Accepted Answer

EMDR music is a self-regulation tool using alternating rhythms to guide attention and help the mind settle.

It's made for moments like these:

Ease Stress: Relieve tension and emotional fatigue
Quiet the Mind: Ease overthinking and settle attention
Wind Down: Create a calmer state before sleep
Support Focus: For meditation, journaling, and mindfulness

Alternating left and right sounds, best with headphones.

The name EMDR comes from a form of psychotherapy delivered by trained therapists. mellows' EMDR music borrows its alternating left-right rhythm as an everyday relaxation tool. It is not therapy and is not a substitute for professional help.

Question 33

How do I subscribe to mellows Premium?

Accepted Answer

In the app, go to Settings → Subscription and choose a monthly or annual plan. The annual plan includes a 7-day free trial.

All purchases are securely processed through the App Store.

Question 34

Is mellows free?

Accepted Answer

Yes. mellows offers a range of features you can use for free, including key sleep metrics such as Sleep Score, Recovery, Sleep Age, daily summaries, and short-term trends. You can also freely try breathing exercises, and a selection of soundscapes is available to listen to for free.

A mellows Premium membership unlocks Trends, which provides deeper insights into your long-term sleep patterns, conversations with mia, AI-written sleep insights that explain each night in plain language, and the full library of premium Spatial Mix soundscapes.

Question 35

Can I use mellows on multiple devices?

Accepted Answer

You can use mellows on different devices, but an account can only be online on one device at a time. When you sign in on a new device, the current device is signed out automatically. After you switch to a new device, your data and premium membership status will sync, except for your Sleep Age history, behavior journal, and mia chat history.

mellows is currently available only for iPhone.

Question 36

How do I redeem a promo code?

Accepted Answer

If you have a promo or redemption code, go to Settings → Subscription → Redeem Code and enter your code. This will open Apple’s secure redemption interface.

Promo codes are distributed through partnerships, collaborations, and promotional campaigns, and are applied to your account through the App Store.

Question 37

How do I cancel my Premium membership?

Accepted Answer

You can cancel your subscription anytime through the App Store: Settings → Subscriptions.

Your Premium benefits will remain available until the end of your current billing period. After that, you won’t be charged again.

Question 38

Can I request a refund?

Accepted Answer

All mellows subscriptions and purchases are processed through the App Store, so refund requests are handled and reviewed by Apple. mellows cannot issue refunds directly for App Store purchases.

You can submit a refund request through Apple’s refund request page. You can also go to Settings → [your name] → Media & Purchases → View Account → Purchase History on your iPhone, find the relevant purchase, and follow the instructions.

Whether a purchase is eligible for a refund, and whether a refund is ultimately issued, is determined by Apple according to its refund policies.

Question 39

Why is there no sound, or why did playback stop?

Accepted Answer

mellows supports continuous background playback, and your phone’s mute switch won’t stop playback.

If you can’t hear anything, try these steps:

Make sure your phone’s volume is turned up
Check that your Bluetooth headphones or other audio device is connected
If there’s still no sound, force-quit mellows and reopen the app

If playback was interrupted by a phone call or audio from another app, simply return to mellows and tap play again.

Question 40

Why isn’t Spatial Mix working as expected?

Accepted Answer

mellows renders its own spatial audio, so you don’t need Dolby Atmos or Apple’s Spatialize Stereo setting.

Make sure Spatial Mix is turned on under Settings → Audio, and use headphones that support spatial audio, such as AirPods Pro or AirPods Max.

Head tracking is enabled automatically when supported by your headphones. On other devices, Spatial Mix smoothly falls back to a non-head-tracked experience.

Question 41

What should I do if mia isn’t responding or is slow to respond?

Accepted Answer

mia needs an internet connection to work. If mia isn’t responding, first make sure your Wi-Fi or cellular connection is working properly, then try closing and reopening mellows.

If mia is just taking longer to respond, it may be due to your current network conditions or high service demand. Wait a moment and try again.

There is also a daily limit on how many messages you can send to mia, which protects the service from abuse. If you reach it, mia will say so and tell you when you can continue.

To start a completely new conversation, open the history icon at the top of the chat and tap the + button.

If you want to delete all chat history, go to Settings → Intelligence → Chat History & Data → Clear Chat History.

Question 42

Does mellows use a lot of battery?

Accepted Answer

Playing audio naturally uses some system resources, but mellows itself does not add significant extra battery usage. Spatial Mix with head tracking may use slightly more power because the system needs to process spatial positioning in real time, but this should not noticeably affect everyday use.

To save even more battery, you can lower your screen brightness and turn on Low Power Mode.

If you notice unusually high battery usage while using mellows, email us at support@mellows.ai with your device model and iOS version so we can look into it.

Question 43

How do I report a bug or share feedback?

Accepted Answer

In the app, go to Settings → Support → Help & Feedback → Send Feedback, or email us directly at support@mellows.ai.

Please include your device model, iOS version, and a description of the issue. Screenshots or screen recordings are also very helpful.

How can we help?

Getting Started

1. Sleep Health Insights

2. Your AI Sleep Coach & Companion · mia

3. High-Quality Sleep Content & Bedtime Rituals

Sleep Tracking

Your Sleep Metrics

mia, Your Sleep Assistant

Sounds & Playback

Account & Subscription

Troubleshooting

Still have questions?