Plays soothing background audio to mask distractions, support concentration and reduce sensory overload.
Background sounds such as rain, ocean waves, white noise or deep tones can help mask distracting environmental sounds. For people with ADHD, tinnitus, stress sensitivity or anxiety, constant, steady sounds often have a calming effect and improve the ability to concentrate. The feature is built into iOS and macOS. On Android and Windows, third-party apps are required.
Open Settings > Accessibility > Audio/Visual > Background Sounds. Turn on Background Sounds and choose a sound such as rain, ocean or white noise. The volume is adjustable independently from the system volume.
Tip: The feature can also be quickly toggled from Control Centre if "Hearing" has been added as a control.
Android does not have a built-in background sounds feature. Recommended free alternatives: Relax Melodies, Calm or Rain Rain Sleep Sounds (all available in the Play Store). These apps offer individually customisable background sounds and timer functions.
Windows does not have a built-in background sounds feature. Recommended free alternatives: myNoise (browser or app), Noisli (browser), A-Soft Noise Generator (Microsoft Store). These apps offer a wide variety of background sounds that can be individually customised.
Open System Settings > Accessibility > Audio. Turn on Background sounds and choose a sound (e.g. rain, ocean, stream, white noise). The volume can be set independently from the system volume. The sounds continue playing even when other media is playing.
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