Do you use an app to play white noise on your iPhone? Did you know iPhone has this functionality built in as Background Sounds? This was added in iOS 15, so not available yet when I published Eyes & Ears.

Apple’s first-party solution is pretty basic. You can choose among six white noise sounds (two more will be added in iOS 18); set the volume; allow the sounds to play under other media, such as music and podcasts; and have the sounds stop when your iPhone locks.

Third-party apps, such as Calm, provide the added functionality of a sleep timer, which iPhone can do for media but currently not for white noise. However, I think many users will be perfectly content with the built-in capability.

Background Sounds settings

Set Up Background Sounds

To set up this feature, go to Settings > Accessibility > Hearing: Audio & Visual > Background Sounds. Choose a sound. As of iOS 17, the choices are Balanced Noice, Bright Noise, Dark Noise, Ocean, Rain, and Stream. iOS 18 is forecast to add Night and Fire.

Below, you can optionally indicate whether sounds can play with media and whether they should stop when iPhone locks.

Play Sounds

At the top of the settings screen is a toggle to start or stop playing Background Sounds.

For a more convenient approach than navigating to this screen, add Hearing to Control Center. Then, tap Ear glyph for Hearing menu [ear] in Control Center for the Hearing menu. There, you can tap “Background Sounds” to choose a sound and set its volume and/or tap Ear with Waveform glyph for Background Sounds [ear with waveform] on the left to toggle the sounds on and off.

The new, more customizable Control Center interface as of iOS 18 makes it possible to add a dedicated button for Background Sounds. There, you can long-press the button to change sounds and adjust the volume.

Another option is to add Background Sounds to Accessibility Shortcut, which I discussed in The Speed of Touch. This is at the bottom of Accessibility settings.

After adding the feature (and you can rearrange the items as you wish), triple-click the Home Button or Side Button. If there’s only one feature in the shortcut, it will toggle instantly. Otherwise, you’ll get a menu of options in the chosen order.

Note: When you use Accessibility Shortcut to trigger Background Sounds, you cannot preset the volume of the sounds, but can use your volume buttons during play.

Background Sounds are a great way to promote focus, calm, or rest. I often sleep with white noise in hopes of eliciting more vivid dreams. What’s your experience? Feel free to share in the comments…