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Step one: set up the phone for a clean night
Place the phone on a nightstand or bed surface about an arm's length from the sleeper, microphone facing them, charging, with notifications silenced and airplane mode on if possible. Close other audio apps and confirm there is enough storage for several hours. Do a thirty-second test, speak normally and play it back to check the sound is neither muffled nor clipped. Keep the position the same each night, because moving the phone changes loudness and makes comparisons unreliable. If two people share the bed, note which side the phone is on so the clips stay interpretable.
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Step two: choose what to capture and label
Decide before bed whether you want a full-night recording or only sound-triggered clips. Full recordings preserve context but create large files; triggered clips are easier to scan but may miss quieter patterns. Add a short note each morning covering bedtime, alcohol, congestion, sleeping position and tiredness. For example, a couple might record Monday on the back and Tuesday on the side, with the same phone placement. Labels turn two similar audio files into a comparison, and they make later review faster than listening to hours of unmarked sound.
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Step three: review patterns and decide next steps
Review the recording in the morning by jumping to the loudest moments, then compare timing across nights. Look for repeated clusters, not one dramatic clip. In the example, if the back-sleeping night shows long loud stretches and the side-sleeping night shows few, that is a useful observation to keep, not a diagnosis. Save short clips with dates and notes. If snoring is loud, frequent, or paired with gasping, pauses in breathing or heavy daytime tiredness, bring the recordings and notes to a qualified clinician, who can interpret them properly.