Apple Sleep Expert Responsible For Night Shift Leaves Company

Sleep researcher Roy J.E.M Raymann, the man behind sleep features on Apple devices, including Bedtime and Night Shift, has left the company to focus on a new start-up focused on tracking sleep.

Raymann, who first joined the Cupertino company from Phillips Research in 2014, joined Apple’s growing health team to focus on using mobile technology to track sleep and improve sleep quality, reads a new report from MobiHealthNews.

During his three-year tenure, he helped develop Night Shift, a tool for the Mac that shifts display colors to the warmer end of the spectrum after dark, and the bedtime feature in iOS 10 that reminds users when to go to bed and tracks sleep habits. He also worked on Apple’s HealthKit, which serves as a centralized system to store health information, including sleep data.

“What you see at Apple is a genuine passion for everything related to health, and it’s not exclusive to fitness,” Raymann said.

It appears that Raymann departed Apple in April of this year, taking his talents to SleepScore Labs – a San Diego company that helps people who experience suboptimal sleep. It’s not yet completely clear as to why Raymann left Apple.

Apple’s surprise Beddit takeover may have been in response to losing Raymann, or alternately, Raymann may have left because of the impending deal.

It’s not yet clear what Apple plans to do with Beddit’s technology, but Apple is continuing to sell the Beddit sleep monitor and has updated its privacy policy to note that it is collecting sleep-related data that could influence future projects at the company.