‘Wish I learned this sooner’ cries iPhone owner over feature that plays rain and ocean sounds to ‘help you relax’
APPLE fans can take advantage of a feature buried in their iPhones that is designed to improve focus or contribute to a better night’s sleep.
The Background Sounds tool was introduced with the advent of iOS 15, but it has remained one of the iPhone’s best-kept secrets.
The “built-in background noise,” be it lapping waves or pattering rain, is designed to help users fall and stay sleep.
Apple says the feature can also be used to mask “unwanted environmental noise” while working or studying.
“Who knew? I didn’t,” Reddit user wrote
“This is pretty cool. I wish I learned this sooner as I’m currently staying at a hotel for business for the last week, and I have very noisy neighbors.”
To take full advantage of the feature, you just have to enable it in a few taps.
Navigate to Settings and tap Accessibility. Select Audio & Visual, followed by Background Sounds, and toggle it on.
To quickly access the option menu, search Background Sounds in the gray search bar at the top of the Settings panel.
When you choose a sound, the audio file downloads directly to your device. Some options include water sounds like an ocean, rain, or stream.
Alternatively, you can opt for Dark Noise or Bright Noise, two synth-heavy musical pieces.
Make further changes to the listening experience by dragging the slider to adjust volume.
The “Use When Media is Playing” setting allows you to play the background sound below music or videos.
You can also opt to stop the sound once your iPhone is locked.
Once enabled, Background Sounds will be added to the hearing section of Control Center. You can enable it by tapping the gray ear icon.
Fans of the hidden feature have raved about its many uses, with one dubbing it “Apple‘s built-in white noise maker.”
Several users remarked that they’d stumbled upon it accidentally and were surprised to find it “buried” in Accessibility Settings.
“I actually use the background sounds to help sleep because I cannot sleep in silence,” one Redditor wrote.
“I use this while camping since I usually sleep with a fan at home!” another exclaimed.
Others shared they relied on the feature to make up for drawbacks of certain Apple products.
“I use this all the time when studying in coffee shops,” one user wrote.
“Ever since they got rid of the AirPod Pros’ noise cancellation, I put the rain under my Spotify music to drown out the background noise.”
iPhone tricks to try today
Here are some of the best...
- Typing cursor – When typing, hold down the space bar to turn your keyboard into a trackpad, letting you move around words and sentences more easily
- Close all Safari tabs – To do this in one go, simply hold the overlapped squares in the bottom right-hand corner, and press close all tabs
- Delete lots of photos quickly – Hold down on a photo and then drag your finger diagonally in Photos to select lots of images at once, then hit delete
- Convert currency quickly – Swipe down from the top of your Home screen, then tap in the bar and type a currency (like €200) and it will automatically covert to your local currency
- Check if you’re due a battery upgrade – Batteries inside smartphones degrade over time. Just go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health, and check out the Maximum Capacity reading. Generally a battery is considered worn when you’re down to 80% capacity. If you’re below, you can buy a battery swap from Apple
- Move apps around faster – Hold an app until it starts wiggling, then (while still holding) tap other apps, causing them to stack so you can move them around easier