Brown noise for sleep
A deep, steady sound to rest under. It fades in softly, and the sleep timer can fade it out once you’re asleep.
Ready when you are. It starts quietly and fades in.
What is brown noise?
Brown noise is a deep, steady rumble, like distant surf, heavy rain on a roof, or a waterfall heard from far away. It carries much more energy in low sounds than in high ones: each octave up is about 6 decibels quieter. The name comes from Robert Brown, the botanist who described Brownian motion, not from the color.
Brown, pink and white noise
Brown noise is the deepest of the three. Pink noise has equal energy in every octave, so it falls off more gently (about 3 decibels per octave) and sounds softer and more balanced, like steady rain or wind in the trees. White noise has equal energy at every frequency, which makes it the brightest, like a fan or gentle static. Ours is softened slightly at the very top, so it’s easier on small speakers. All three are set to the same loudness, so switching between them doesn’t jump.
Why some people sleep with brown noise
A steady sound can make sudden ones, like a door, traffic or a neighbor’s dog, less noticeable, because the change in sound is smaller. Many people also find a low, even rumble easy to stop noticing. It may help some people relax and fall asleep, but it isn’t a treatment for insomnia or any other condition, and research on noise and sleep is still limited.
How loud should it be?
Quieter than you might think: a soft murmur that covers the room’s small sounds, not something you’d have to talk over. That’s why it starts at a low volume and fades in over a few seconds. If you listen through headphones or earbuds for a long time, keep the volume low.
If you’re playing it for a baby, keep it low and far away: use a quiet volume, place your phone or speaker well away from the crib (never in it or on the rail), and use the sleep timer rather than playing it all night. This follows advice from a 2014 study of infant sleep machines (Hugh et al., Pediatrics).
Questions
Does it download anything?
No. The noise is made by your browser, on your own device. Once the page has loaded it uses no data, and it keeps working even if you lose your connection.
Will it keep playing when my screen locks?
On Android phones and on iPhones with iOS 17.5 or later, it should keep playing, with play and pause on the lock screen. On older iPhones the sound stops when the screen locks, so leave the screen on. Some phones’ battery savers can still close the browser in the background.
How does the sleep timer work?
Choose 15, 30 or 60 minutes. The noise fades out gently over the last minute, then stops. Choosing a different time starts the timer again from that moment.
Will I hear it loop?
It plays a 30-second stretch of noise that repeats with no gap. The end is blended into the start, so there’s no click, and it’s long enough that you won’t notice a pattern.