How to Use the iPhone’s White Noise Machine (2023)

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Did you know that the iPhone has a secret built-in sound machine hidden in Settings? Maybe you like to go to bed just a bit earlier than everyone else, or maybe you’re a big reader in a loud household. In these circumstances, being able to use your iPhone as a sound machine is a great solution. In this tip, we’ll go over how to find your iPad or iPhone’s white noise feature.

Why You’ll Love This Tip

• Fall asleep easier than ever before with your iPhone’s white noise feature.
• Use Background Sounds to focus when reading or working in a distracting environment.

How to Use White Noise on iPhone & iPad

Looking for a white noise app? If you have an iPhone, you already have the ability built-in to use it as a sound machine without needing to pay for a subscription, download an app, or pay for features you’ll never use. To discover more iPhone hidden gems, be sure to sign up for our free Tip of the Day newsletter. Now, here’s how to use background sounds on iPhone or iPad:

Discover your iPhone's hidden features

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1. On your iPhone, open Settings.
   
   
2. Tap Accessibility.
   
   
3. Tap Audio/Visual.
   
   
4. Tap Background Sounds.
   
   
5. First, tap Sound to pick the sound you want.
   
   
6. You’ll have six options to choose from. (If you want to preview the noises before you choose one, you'll need to toggle Background Sounds on first, which we'll go over in step 8).
   
   
7. Then, tap Back.
   
   
8. Now, toggle on Background Sounds. The sound will automatically begin to play. If you don't like the sound you chose, you can change it at any time using the steps above.
   
   
9. You can adjust the volume of only this noise by sliding the volume scale up or down.
   
   
10. You can also toggle on Use When Media is Playing to continue to hear the sound even while scrolling social media or watching other videos.
    
    
11. You can also add a Control Center shortcut by going back to your main Settings page and tapping Control Center.
    
    
12. Under More Controls, tap the green plus sign next to Hearing. If you see a red minus sign next to Hearing instead of a green plus sign, Hearing is already added to your Control Center, and you can go to the next step.
    
    
13. Open the Control Center, and tap the Hearing icon.
    
    
14. You can tap either of the Background Sounds icons to quickly turn the feature on and off.
    
    
15. While Background Sounds are active, the controls will expand, allowing you to quickly change the sound that’s playing or adjust the volume of the sound. Your controls will look a little different if you're not using AirPods or other headphones, but you'll still be able to access the Background Sounds controls.
    
    
16. If you turned on Use When Media is Playing, the volume slider will change to a Volume with Media slider instead whenever media starts playing.
    
    
17. Simply tap the Background Sounds icon to turn it off again.
    
    

Instead of downloading a sound machine app, you can use the built-in white noise on your iPhone. Next, find out how to use Live Listen with the Hearing Control Center shortcut.