Best White Noise Apps

Nine options for iPhone and Android, compared only on what their own store listings state, next to what the research says white noise can and cannot do.

Which White Noise App Should You Use?

Our pick for most people is BRW. After that, choose by the one condition that matters most to you:

• Our pick — BRW: white noise plus four more colours — brown, pink, blue and green — so you can switch to a softer sound in one tap. It plays fully offline, has a sleep timer that fades out, mixes noise with nature sounds, and shows no ads label on Google Play. Free on Android and iPhone.
• Free on Android and iPhone, no ads label, plays offline: BRW (the app from this site) or myNoise. Both listings name white noise, state offline play, and carry no "Contains ads" label on Google Play.
• You never want a subscription: myNoise, which unlocks everything with one purchase. On iPhone, TMSOFT sells White Noise for $0.99 and White Noise Pro for $2.99 as one-off purchases.
• The biggest classic sound list: White Noise Lite by TMSOFT, first released for the original iPhone in 2008. The free version shows ads.
• Nothing to install on an iPhone: Background Sounds in iOS Settings. Apple's support page names white noise among its sounds [1].
• For a baby's room: the app matters less than the volume and the distance. Read the volume section before you choose.

How This Comparison Was Checked

BRW is listed first as our pick. Every fact about every app, including BRW, comes from the developer's own store listing, the “Contains ads” label on Google Play, or Apple's support documentation, checked on 24 September 2026 in the US stores. After BRW, the other apps are listed alphabetically. When a listing does not state a feature, the table says Not stated.

Nine White Noise Apps Compared

Ratings are the public store averages, with the number of ratings in brackets, on the day in the caption. They change daily.

Not stated means the developer's own listing does not say it. It does not mean the feature is missing: the app may have it and not advertise it.

What Does the Research Say White Noise Can Do?

White noise is the most studied noise colour, so this is the one list where the research can be quoted directly. It does not support the strong claims that app listings often make, and you should know that before you pay for anything.

Sleep: the evidence is very low quality. A 2021 systematic review in Sleep Medicine Reviews assessed 38 studies of continuous white or broadband noise and sleep [2]. Results ranged from improved sleep to disrupted sleep. Under the GRADE criteria, the authors rated the evidence that continuous noise improves sleep as very low quality, noted that this “contradicts its widespread use”, and warned that it may also affect sleep and hearing negatively.

Focus: a small effect, and only for some people. A 2024 meta-analysis in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry pooled 13 studies (335 participants) of children and young adults with ADHD or high ADHD symptoms [3]. White and pink noise gave a small benefit on laboratory attention tasks (effect size g = 0.249). In the comparison groups without ADHD, the effect was negative (g = −0.212). If you do not have attention problems, white noise may make lab-style tasks slightly harder.

Covering speech: this is what white noise does best. A 2020 review in Indoor Air modelled 34 tests from 14 laboratory studies in which steady broadband noise was used to make background speech less intelligible [4]. Performance on verbal tasks began to drop once speech rose above a Speech Transmission Index of about 0.21. That is the mechanism: noise does not remove a voice, it lowers how much of it your brain can decode. How sound masking works explains the detail.

Each App in One Paragraph

Our pick first, then in the same order as the table, with store links so you can check each claim.

BRW — Brown Noise for Sleep — Our Pick

Despite the name, its listing names white noise with brown, pink, blue and green, plus rain, ocean, fan and other sounds. It states offline play, a sleep timer that fades out, and mixing. The download is free; Premium unlocks the full library, unlimited mixing and unlimited timers. Google Play shows no ads label and a 4.51 rating from 541 ratings. The iPhone version launched in August 2026 and has no ratings yet.

Apple Background Sounds

A setting, not an app: Settings > Accessibility > Audio & Visual > Background Sounds. It needs iOS 15 or later, and it also runs on Mac and Apple Vision Pro. Apple's support page lists white noise with ocean and rain sounds, and on iOS 26 and macOS Tahoe it adds a timer and an equalizer [1]. It is the right first test for an iPhone owner. It does not exist on Android.

BetterSleep

A full sleep platform — sleep tracker, sleep recorder, stories, guided meditations — with white noise as one of more than 300 sounds and music tracks. Its listing mentions timers, saved mixes and a Smart Mix feature that hides audio loops. Premium features are an auto-renewing subscription.

Dark Noise

An Apple-only app with 50+ sounds, custom mixes, a fade-out timer, Siri Shortcuts and interactive widgets. Its listing does not name white noise specifically, so check the library in the free version first. The current version needs iOS 26 or later.

myNoise

Every soundscape has a set of sliders, so you can take the harsh top off white noise yourself. Its listing states offline listening, no ads and no subscription: one purchase unlocks everything, including future soundscapes. Creation Mode combines up to 10 sliders from different soundscapes. It does not mention a sleep timer.

Noisli

Well known as a web app for focus. The official iPhone app costs $1.99, plays white, pink and brown noise offline, and has a fade-out timer — but its last update on the App Store was in April 2017. There is no official Android app: the Google Play app called “noisli” is from a different developer.

Rain Rain Sleep Sounds

A rain-first app with a mixer, a fade-out timer and two unusual tools: an Oscillator that slowly varies each sound's volume, and Soften, which cuts high frequencies — useful if white-noise hiss bothers you. Its listing names pink noise but not white. The free version has a small banner ad; a Premium subscription removes it.

White Noise Deep Sleep Sounds (Slumber Studios)

A large library aimed at adults and babies, with white, brown and pink noise free and green and blue noise in premium. Read the terms: the free version plays for eight hours, and continuous play needs the $49.99-a-year subscription. The Android listing carries the “Contains ads” label.

White Noise Lite (TMSOFT)

The veteran: TMSOFT created White Noise for the original iPhone in 2008. It has 50+ looped sounds, a Mix Pad that sets position, pitch and volume per sound, recording, and an alarm clock. The Lite version shows ads; on iOS the paid White Noise ($0.99) and White Noise Pro ($2.99) remove them.

How Loud Is Safe for White Noise?

Keep it soft, and keep the phone away from the pillow or cot. A 2014 study in Pediatrics measured 14 infant sleep machines at maximum volume [5]. At 30 cm, every one exceeded 50 dBA, the recommended noise limit for hospital nurseries. Three exceeded 85 dBA, a level that, played for more than 8 hours, exceeds occupational limits for adults. A phone speaker is not a sleep machine, but the lesson carries over: distance and a low setting matter more than which app you use.

For your own ears, the WHO-ITU safe listening standard sets a weekly sound allowance of 80 dB for 40 hours for adults, and 75 dB for 40 hours for children [6]. Overnight listening on earbuds adds up fast. Use a speaker across the room, or the lowest earbud level that still covers the noise you want gone.

Turn the level down until the sound you want to cover just stops being clear, then stop. More volume above that point adds exposure and buys nothing.

White Noise or Another Colour?

Most people who find white noise too hissy are really looking for a darker sound. Pink noise takes 3 dB per octave off the top, and brown noise takes off twice as much. The white noise page explains the difference and has a free player, and brown vs white noise compares the two directly. Every app in the table with more than one colour lets you switch in a tap, so test them before you pay.

Try It Before You Install Anything

The player at the top of this page plays white noise in your browser, free, with no account. If you want it offline, on a timer, with the screen locked, BRW is the app from the same maker, free on both stores.

References

Every source below was opened and checked on 24 September 2026. The numbers match the markers in the text.

1. Use Background Sounds on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Apple Support, article 109346. support.apple.com/en-us/109346
2. Riedy SM, Smith MG, Rocha S, Basner M. Noise as a sleep aid: A systematic review. Sleep Medicine Reviews. 2021;55:101385. doi:10.1016/j.smrv.2020.101385 · PubMed 33007706
3. Nigg JT, Bruton A, Kozlowski MB, Johnstone JM, Karalunas SL. Systematic review and meta-analysis: Do white noise or pink noise help with task performance in youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or with elevated attention problems? Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 2024;63(8):778–788. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2023.12.014 · PubMed 38428577
4. Haapakangas A, Hongisto V, Liebl A. The relation between the intelligibility of irrelevant speech and cognitive performance — A revised model based on laboratory studies. Indoor Air. 2020;30(6):1130–1146. doi:10.1111/ina.12726 · PubMed 32735743
5. Hugh SC, Wolter NE, Propst EJ, Gordon KA, Cushing SL, Papsin BC. Infant sleep machines and hazardous sound pressure levels. Pediatrics. 2014;133(4):677–681. doi:10.1542/peds.2013-3617 · PubMed 24590753
6. World Health Organization and International Telecommunication Union. Safe listening devices and systems: a WHO-ITU standard. 18 September 2019. who.int

Frequently Asked Questions

Related pages

• White Noise — The flat reference colour, measured at 0.00 dB per octave — the best of the five at making speech unintelligible.
• Best Brown Noise Apps — Seven brown noise apps compared on facts from their own store listings.
• Best Sound Mixing Apps — Eight ambient sound mixer apps compared on layers, per-sound control, saved mixes, ads and price.
• Best Tinnitus Masking Apps — Nine tinnitus apps compared on their store listings, next to what NICE, the AAO-HNSF guideline and Cochrane say about sound therapy.
• Brown vs White Noise — The widest gap on the site — 5.98 dB per octave, about 38 dB apart by 8 kHz — and what each colour can and cannot cover as a result.
• Pink Noise — Equal energy in every octave, measured at −3.07 dB per octave — the natural-sounding default and the audio industry's calibration signal.
• Sound Masking — Masking does not block sound. It raises the floor so the sound stops standing out — and the colour has to match the intrusion.
• Brown Noise App — Which brown noise app to install, whether it is really free, and the five things an installed app does that a browser tab is not allowed to.