April 21, 2024 8:36 PM CDT

The Best White Noise App Is Built in to Your iPhone

I love white noise apps, but I wanted to listen to my meditation app to fall asleep then have white noise play to mask sounds. I accidentally found out how to do this on my iPhone using the “Background Sounds” feature.

The instructions on how to use this feature are simple. Here’s the instructions straight from Apple’s website.

  1. Go to Settings  > Accessibility > Audio & Visual > Background Sounds, then turn on Background Sounds. Tip: You can quickly reach Background Sounds when you tap the Hearing Devices button in Control Center, if you’ve added it there.
  2. Set any of the following:
    • Sound: Choose a sound; the audio file downloads to your iPhone.
    • Volume: Drag the slider.
    • Use When Media is Playing: Adjust the volume of the background sound when iPhone is playing music or other media.
    • Stop Sounds When Locked: Background sounds stop playing when iPhone is locked.

You can play balanced noise, bright noise, dark noise (my favorite), ocean, rain, or stream. They work offline, and you can play them on top of any audio through your phone.

This feature makes this the best white noise app for me. I love other standalone apps more when I just need noise, but when I need two audio sources at the same time, nothing else can compete.

My favorite noise apps are Dark Noise, Noise Gen, and White Noise (you can record your own noise on this one, which I love).

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