CPAP Data Tools & Apps

If you've ever popped the SD card out of your CPAP machine, plugged it into your laptop, and stared at a folder full of cryptic files, you already know the gap this page fills. Your machine records a remarkable amount of data every night — far more than the friendly app on your phone shows you — and a whole ecosystem of tools exists to unlock it. This hub is your map to that ecosystem: the free desktop classic (OSCAR), the manufacturer apps (myAir, DreamMapper), the newer cloud analyzers (SleepHQ, AirwayLab, SomniCharts), and the compliance reports your doctor or insurer may ask for.

We'll keep this honest. Every tool here has real strengths and real limits, and the right choice depends on your machine, your comfort with software, and whether you want to read raw charts yourself or have them explained in plain language. SomniCharts is one of the options below, and we'll tell you exactly where it fits — and where it doesn't.

The landscape of CPAP data tools, in one view

Broadly, CPAP data tools fall into three camps:

1. Desktop analyzers you install on a computer and feed with your SD card — powerful, free, and detailed, but with a learning curve. OSCAR is the leading example.
2. Manufacturer apps that sync from your machine automatically — convenient, but deliberately simplified. ResMed's myAir and (formerly) Philips' DreamMapper live here.
3. Cloud/web analyzers you upload your SD-card data to from any browser — no install, work on Chromebooks, and increasingly add interpretation, not just charts. SleepHQ, AirwayLab, and SomniCharts are in this group.

Here's a quick orientation before we dig into each:

One trust point to carry through all of this: a single night's numbers are noise; trends over weeks are what matter. Any tool that only shows you last night — like most manufacturer apps — is hiding the part that actually tells you whether therapy is working.

OSCAR: the free desktop standard (and its friction)

OSCAR (Open Source CPAP Analysis Reporter) is the most-recommended free tool in the CPAP community, and for good reason: it reads detailed data from most major brands and shows you everything — AHI, leak rate, pressure, and the flow rate waveform breath by breath. It is also a desktop install with no auto-scoring, no plain-language explanations, and no Chromebook support.

Start here if you're new to it:

• OSCAR CPAP Software Guide — and the Easier Cloud Alternative covers what OSCAR does, where it gets in your way, and the no-install cloud route if the desktop install is a dealbreaker.
• Once it's running, How to Read OSCAR Charts in Plain English (AHI, Leaks, Pressure) walks you through the daily view so the charts stop looking like an oscilloscope readout.

If you remember SleepyHead, OSCAR is its successor. SleepyHead was discontinued in 2019 and its developer rolled the project into OSCAR — so if you're hunting for an old download, SleepyHead Is Gone — What to Use Now to Read Your SD Card explains your current options.

OSCAR alternatives: the web-based wave

OSCAR is excellent, but installing software, locating the right device folder, and decoding raw charts isn't for everyone — and it won't run on a Chromebook or phone. That's where browser-based analyzers come in. You upload your SD-card data and read it from any device.

• OSCAR Alternatives: Best Web-Based CPAP Analysis Tools (2026) compares the main web options — SleepHQ, AirwayLab, and SomniCharts — on device support, waveform depth, pricing, and whether they interpret the data or just display it.
• If you mostly care about one practical question — will this tool even read my specific machine? — go straight to OSCAR vs SleepHQ vs SomniCharts: Which Tool Reads Which Machine, a factual support matrix across ResMed, Philips (including the encrypted DreamStation 2), Löwenstein, and Fisher & Paykel.

A note on device coverage, because it's the most common gotcha: the Philips DreamStation 2 stores its SD-card data in an encrypted format that OSCAR and most third-party tools cannot read. SomniCharts does support DreamStation 2, alongside ResMed, other Philips Respironics models, and Löwenstein prisma. If you own a DS2, that single fact narrows your tool list considerably.

Manufacturer apps: convenient, but they hide a lot

The app that came with your machine is the easiest tool to use — and the most limited. It syncs automatically and gives you a tidy score, but that simplicity comes at the cost of detail.

ResMed myAir

myAir works only with ResMed machines and gives you a 0–100 daily score. The catch is what that number is made of: it's weighted heavily toward usage hours, and ResMed has never published the exact formula. It does not break out event types, leak detail, or flow limitation — so you can score a near-perfect 100 with a residual AHI close to 5. How to Read Your ResMed myAir Score (and What It Hides) unpacks what the score actually measures and, more importantly, what it leaves out.

Philips DreamMapper

DreamMapper, Philips' equivalent app, shut down in January 2026. If you relied on it, you now need another way to see your data. myAir & DreamMapper Limitations: Why Your CPAP App Isn't Enough covers both apps' blind spots and what fuller analysis looks like once you outgrow the manufacturer dashboard.

The common thread: manufacturer apps are designed for reassurance, not investigation. They rarely show the flow rate waveform, often understate or omit leak detail, and tend to focus on a single night. For the metrics they skip, the Reading Your CPAP Data pillar — especially CPAP Flow Limitation: The Hidden Metric Beyond AHI and CPAP Leak Rate: What's Acceptable and How to Fix High Leaks — is where the real signal lives.

Cloud reporting head-to-head: SomniCharts vs SleepHQ

Among the cloud tools, SleepHQ is the closest competitor to SomniCharts: it's browser-based, shows waveforms, and is popular in the CPAP community, with a free tier and a paid Pro tier. Its device support leans toward ResMed. SomniCharts vs SleepHQ: Cloud CPAP Reporting Compared lays the two side by side on device support, waveform depth, pricing, and — the biggest difference — automatic plain-language interpretation.

Here's where we'll be plainly self-interested but accurate: SomniCharts' three differentiators are AI plain-language interpretation, multi-vendor support (including the encrypted DreamStation 2 and the under-served Löwenstein prisma line), and cloud upload from any browser. SomniCharts imports ResMed, Philips Respironics (incl. DS2), and Löwenstein prisma data and explains it in plain language automatically, rather than leaving you to decode the charts yourself. If you primarily want raw charts to study, OSCAR or SleepHQ may suit you fine; if you want the charts and an explanation of what they mean, that's the gap SomniCharts is built for.

Online analyzers: upload and understand your night

If "install software" is the part that stops you, an online analyzer removes it entirely. You upload the data straight off your SD card and get a read-out in your browser — no desktop app, works on a Chromebook, works on a phone.

Online CPAP Data Analyzer: Upload Your SD Card and Understand Your Night explains the workflow end to end across ResMed, Philips, and Löwenstein. If you're not sure how to get the data off the card in the first place, How to Download CPAP Data from Your SD Card (ResMed, Philips, Löwenstein) covers that step for each brand.

A trust-building detail worth knowing before you analyze anything: large mask leak can invalidate or under-report your AHI. When leak climbs past the threshold (ResMed reports excess leak and flags roughly 24 L/min at the 95th percentile; Philips reports total leak, a different baseline), the machine can miss events it would otherwise catch — so a suspiciously good AHI on a high-leak night isn't necessarily good news. A good analyzer surfaces that context; a score-only app doesn't.

CPAP compliance reports: for your doctor or insurer

Sometimes you don't need deep analysis — you need a document. Insurers, sleep clinics, and DOT medical exams often ask for proof that you're using your machine. CPAP Compliance Report: How to Get One for Your Doctor or Insurance explains the standards: the 4-hour rule (a night "counts" at 4+ hours of use) and the common 70% of nights over a 30-day window benchmark, plus how to generate a clean, shareable report.

While "compliant" hours prove you're wearing the mask, they don't prove therapy is working. How to Read CPAP Usage Hours and What 'Compliant' Really Means draws that distinction — and it's why we keep pointing back to the data, not just the hours.

How the numbers fit together (so the tools make sense)

Whichever tool you choose, the metrics it shows you mean the same things. A few anchors so the charts aren't intimidating:

• AHI (Apnea-Hypopnea Index) is events per hour. The widely used benchmark for effective CPAP is a residual AHI below 5 events per hour — the level the AASM defines as an "optimal" titration and the normal, non-apneic range. Some clinicians aim lower (under 1–2) when it's comfortably achievable, but there's no formal guideline setting "below 2" as a target, and goals are individualized with your provider. For the full picture, see What Is a Good AHI on CPAP? AHI Ranges and Residual AHI Explained.
• Event types matter as much as the count. A rise in central (clear-airway) events behaves differently from obstructive ones. CPAP is designed to splint the airway open and reliably treats obstructive apneas, but it doesn't directly correct the unstable breathing drive behind central events. A climb in central events on CPAP can signal treatment-emergent central sleep apnea (TECSA), which appears in roughly 5–15% of PAP titrations and resolves on its own in about 60–80% of cases within weeks to a few months of continued CPAP. Persistent cases warrant a clinician's evaluation (possibly BiPAP or ASV) — not a do-it-yourself pressure increase, which doesn't fix central events and can sometimes provoke them. Central Apneas Showing Up on CPAP: Treatment-Emergent CSA Explained goes deeper.
• Pressure numbers like the 95th-percentile figure tell you what your machine is actually delivering most of the night, which often differs from the prescribed maximum — see CPAP 95th-Percentile vs Median Pressure: What the Numbers Mean.

One more honest caveat about all CPAP tools: the AHI your machine reports is a device estimate, not a lab score. Machines infer events from airflow and pressure; they have no EEG to detect the brain arousals a sleep lab scores. That's part of why device-reported AHI can differ from your sleep study's AHI, and why the trend over weeks beats any single night.

Picking your tool: a short decision guide

• Own a DreamStation 2? Its SD data is encrypted; OSCAR and most third-party tools can't read it. SomniCharts can — see the support matrix.
• Want it free and don't mind a desktop install and a learning curve? OSCAR.
• On a Chromebook or phone, or done with installing software? A web-based analyzer.
• Want the charts explained, not just displayed? That's the case for an AI-driven cloud tool like SomniCharts.
• Just need a document for insurance or a DOT exam? A compliance report.
• Switching brands and worried about losing your history? Switching CPAP Brands? Keep Your Data History Across Vendors.

Whatever you pick, remember the recurring theme: the tool's job is to turn raw SD-card data into something you can act on with your clinician. Use the numbers to have a better-informed conversation about your therapy — that's where the value is, and it's the throughline across every guide in this hub.