Sleep comes naturally for some people. As soon as they hit their beds, it’s light out. For others, falling asleep is a challenge; without outside help, they might roll and turn on their beds all night. One of the ways to manage insomnia is by inducing sleep by creating the right atmosphere for sleep, meditation, and ambient noise.
Ambient noise refers to the sounds that are used to induce sleep. There are different types of ambient noise, but one of the most commonly used types is white noise.
What is White Noise?
White noise, also known as static, is a sound that contains all the sound frequencies in the audible sound spectrum in equal decibels. Studies show that white noise has a calming effect on humans. It calms down babies, improves the symptoms of ADHD, and induces sleep.
Many sleep apps have white noise and other ambient noises. However, based on their functionality and people’s reviews, we’ve highlighted the best white noise apps in no particular order.
Calm
Calm is a dual utility app for meditation and sleep, although many people use it for meditation. It has over 100 million users. While it has options for meditation and relaxation, it has a great collection of white noises for sleep. What netted Calm a space on this list is the multiplicity of options available to users. A single app that can help with meditation, yoga, and even calming down the effects of anxiety and lack of focus is a coup. If you’re one of those that have trouble sleeping because of anxiety, this app can help treat the root cause. This app has it all if you need yoga and meditation in addition to white noise.
Another great feature we love about Calm is the interface. The images are soothing, and the entire UI is calming on Android and iOS. But all the quality that comes with the Calm app is best enjoyed when you have a pro subscription. The free option has some options, but if you want to enjoy the benefits of this app, you’ll need to pay for the Pro version.
Pzizz
Pzizz is one of the best sleep aid apps in the UK and the American markets. Among the more than one million users of this sleep app are many celebrities like J K Rowlings, who have espoused this app’s benefits in helping them fall asleep better and take power naps.
Pzizz is great because it doesn’t just help with sleepless nights; it also helps people who need short power naps in the daytime to stay focused. Some of the great features that Pzizz include the hybrid music system, which is simply a mixture of sounds that help you fall asleep and wake you up. There are over 100 billion sequences of these remixed sounds. Pzizz also incorporates sonorous narrations used in tandem with the music to soothe the listener. Users can customize the variable voiceover option to get the right effect.
Personalization is another feature that put Pzizz on this list. With time, the Pzizz algorithm gets to know you and your sleeping habits. Then, like any good friend, it starts to curate a list of sounds you’ll like. Because of this feature, some users think of Pzizz as a personal sleep assistant.
In addition to offering sleeping aid, Pzizz offers sleep tracking options that take note of the users sleeping history. Other advanced features include fadeout timers, custom voice alarms, etc.
All of these features can also be used offline, allowing users to have complete unrestricted access to the services Pzizz offers, whether online or offline.
Atmosphere
Atmosphere is another great white noise app. It has Android and iOS versions and can work offline, so you can still access sounds without a network. In Atmosphere, there are many ambient noises in addition to white noise. There are also calming nature sounds like forests and waves. These sounds can be played individually and concurrently, allowing users to control the ratio of one sound to the other. With this feature, users can curate individual sounds that work best for them. In fact, users can curate sounds for activities like office work, meditation, yoga, etc.
The interface for Atmosphere is simplistic and easy to use. However, if you care more for apps with exceptional aesthetic UI, Atmosphere might be a bit underwhelming.
Unlike other sleep apps, Atmosphere has a great free package that allows users to access most of the services.
Tide
Tide has a good collection of ambient noises for users, but its major feature is based on relaxation. Just like Calm, it can be used for activities other than sleeping. Some features include meditation functions, breathing modes, daily quotes, and a sleep journal to log in to your progress.
The user interface on Tide is also great and relaxing.
Dark Noise
Dark noise is a cool sleeping aid app with fifty sounds. What makes it stand out is that it allows users to customize their sounds and curate a playlist that works for them. Other benefits include timers and fade-outs that protect the battery of the user. When the time elapses, the playlist stops playing, assuming the user has fallen asleep. The user interface of Dark Noise is a big advantage, and users can choose their theme from the options. As great as Dark noise is, it only works on Apple’s operating system, iOS.