What Is White Noise

White noise is random audio that is mostly used in masking tinnitus and helping people sleep. Not only there is white noise, but there are also several other types of sounds such as brown noise, pink noise, ocean sounds, etc. that broadly serve the same purpose.

1. On iOS 15

iOS 15 adds a native way of generating background sounds or commonly known white noise that can help you drown distractive sounds while sleeping or working. However, the option is buried deep in the Accessibility settings. You need to either install iOS 15 or try the other methods on this list for this to work.

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone and scroll down to open Accessibility > Audio/Visual.
  2. On this page, you’ll find the option Background Sounds. Tap to open and turn on the background sounds by toggling the switch next to it.
  3. You can adjust the volume, and choose from six different sound types. There’s balanced noise, bright noise, dark noise, ocean, rain, and stream.

2. Play a White Noise Playlist on Apple Music/Spotify/YouTube

If you don’t have iOS 15 just yet, you can still play white noise on your iPhone. You can find curated playlists of background noises that can help you sleep on Apple Music, Spotify, and even YouTube. You can even ask Siri to play one for you. Here are all the playlists that I have on my iPhone and you can just click on one to add it to your iPhone. While Spotify and YouTube are free to use, you would need an Apple Music subscription if you wish to listen to white noise on iPhone with Apple Music.

White Noise 1 Hour on Apple MusicSleep White Noise 8 hours on SpotifyRainforest Rain Sounds for Sleeping on YouTube

3. Use a White Noise app

If you just need white noise to fall asleep then both methods above work great. However, if you want to customize that experience or need a custom sound then you would need professional apps. There are plenty of white noise generator apps with varying features. I mostly use Relax Melodies as it can create a sound with 15 different samples. The app has more than 50 different noises and sounds such as ocean sounds, winds blowing, leaves rustling, fire crackling, etc.

  1. Install Relax Melodies app on your iPhone from the App Store. Open the app and create a mix.
  2. Select from the list of available sounds and you can choose up to 15 different sounds and adjust the volume of each sound. Once you have your mix, you can save it for later and even set a timer before going to bed.

Background Sounds on iPhone

So these were the three different ways to generate white noise on your iPhone. The first method is built right into iOS 15 and works really well. The second method is kind of a workaround but gets the job done as most of us already have those apps. Lastly, Relax Melodies is the tool to create a custom white noise on your iPhone. Which one do you prefer? Let me know on Twitter. Also Read: 15 Best New iOS 15 Features, Tips, and Tricks