Introducing Backup Mode: an automatic fallback that lets the Eight Sleep app speak directly to your Pod over Bluetooth when cloud or Wi-Fi infrastructure is unavailable. It kicks in automatically when systems are down, allowing users to access critical functionality through the app: turn the Pod on/off, change temperature levels, flatten the Base, stop sounds, and dismiss or snooze alarms. Data and events are stored on the Pod and streamed back to the backend when the service returns, so Autopilot can finish processing them.
Why we built Backup Mode
When the cloud or Wi-Fi infrastructure goes down, users expect no disruptions to their sleep. In building Backup Mode, we had two priorities:
- Keep users in control of their sleep experience during outages.
- Preserve the integrity and security of data so that Autopilot and reports remain accurate once systems recover.
Backup Mode addresses both priorities: immediate, manual control via local channels plus robust, secure queuing and eventual sync.
How Backup Mode works
Backup Mode is enabled when either a cloud outage is detected or a Wi-Fi outage occurs. These two outages are different in the technical scope; however, when either of them occurs, they trigger a similar experience on the Eight Sleep app, providing access to the critical functionality.
- When a cloud outage is detected, the incident response team enables Backup Mode for all Pod devices affected.
- When a Pod device loses Wi-Fi connectivity for a period of 5 minutes, Backup Mode is activated automatically.
Once Backup Mode is enabled, the Eight Sleep app attempts to open a Bluetooth session with the nearest paired Pod and negotiates a secure direct control channel (no user action required). The UI of the app changes contextually to show that it is operating in Backup Mode, so users are aware of the limited functionality and temporary suspension of Autopilot availability.
What functionalities are available with Backup Mode
We want to be explicit about what Backup Mode does and what it does not do, which differs slightly whether there is a cloud outage or a Wi-Fi outage.
What you can do during a Cloud outage:
- Open the app
- Turn your Pod on/off
- Adjust temperature levels manually
- Send the Base to full flat
- Dismiss or snooze any active alarm when it triggers
- Turn the sound off
What you can do during a Wi-Fi outage:
- Open the app
- Turn your Pod on/off
- Adjust temperature levels manually
- Set the Base to any position
- Dismiss or snooze any active alarm when it triggers
- Turn the sound off
What is limited during Backup Mode:
- Bedtime schedule will not kick in. If the outage occurs before your set Bedtime, your Pod won’t turn on automatically as it normally does on other evenings. You must turn it on manually using the controls available in Backup Mode.
- Autopilot will not run real-time adaptive behavior; temperature and elevation must be managed manually. Autopilot requires accurate, continuous sleep phase detection, which depends on backend processing and timestamp-aligned telemetry. Because the backend is unreachable, Autopilot cannot confidently detect sleep phase transitions and therefore cannot safely make automated adjustments in real time.
- Sleep & Health reports will lag until the backend comes back online. Analyzing real-time biometrics requires heavy computing, which runs on the cloud, to ensure a high degree of accuracy. So whenever there is a Wi-Fi or cloud outage, the data is stored on the device until it is able to sync with the backend for processing.
- You cannot save new alarms. Because the device is not connected, you won’t be able to create, edit, or save new alarms until service is restored.
How it’s rolling out
Today, we began a gradual rollout of Backup Mode with a firmware update for Pods 3, 4, and 5. Phase 1 protects you during cloud outages. Wi-Fi outage support will arrive in a second release immediately following (it is already being tested in beta).
Closing thoughts
Backup Mode is not only about technical resiliency. It’s about respecting the implicit agreement we have with all of our customers and helping you get better sleep. We chose a design that keeps users in control, preserves data integrity, and restores the backend’s ability to make intelligent, personalized adjustments after the fact.
We’ll keep iterating, with chaos testing, safer local intelligence, and continuous transparency, until bedtime is truly outage-proof and you can enjoy a perfect night, every night.
— The Eight Sleep Engineering Team