We make Drop, the app this guide uses. Every step also works with other sound apps, and the first option below is free and already on your iPhone.

White noise, rain or a fan do not make you sleep; what they do is mask sudden sounds, so a car door or a voice in the corridor stands out less. Whether it helps you is personal, and so is the sound: some people prefer rain or a fan to pure noise. If you have ongoing trouble sleeping, talk to a doctor.

No app needed: iOS has Background Sounds (Settings, Accessibility, Audio & Visual) with a few sounds such as noise, rain, ocean and stream, and its own timer to stop them. If that is enough for you, use it.

Step by step

  1. Install Drop. Get Drop from the App Store. Ten sounds are free, with no ads and no account: rain, dewdrops, fire, forest, river, coffee shop, ocean waves, thunderstorm, bus and fan.
  2. Pick one steady sound. Choose a sound without sudden changes. A fan, rain or the bus are steadier than birds or a storm. Try one for a few nights before switching.
  3. Set the volume low. Turn it down until it just covers the room's noises. It should not be the loudest thing you hear, and lower is gentler on your ears over a whole night.
  4. Lock the screen. Drop keeps playing with the screen locked, so the phone can stay dark on the nightstand.
  5. Make it stop on its own, if you want. Drop has no sleep timer yet, so use the Clock app: Timers, set a time, When Timer Ends, Stop Playing. When it ends, iOS stops what is playing. Or leave the sound on all night.
  6. Take a few slow breaths first. Before you start the sound, open Drop's breathing guide, set how long each breath lasts (2 to 8 seconds) and how many cycles, and follow the animation. Each session grows the plant in the app, which makes it easier to keep the habit.

What Drop does and does not do

Drop has 32 nature, ambient and noise sounds, ten of them free, a breathing guide, a plant that grows with each session, streaks, widgets and no ads. It works offline, needs no account, and runs on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Drop Pro unlocks the other 22 sounds, by subscription or with a one-time lifetime purchase.

It has no sleep timer of its own yet, plays one sound at a time with no mixer, and has no white, pink or brown noise generator: its noise sounds are a fan, a bus and an electric hum. More on Drop's page. If you want to mix sounds or fine-tune noise, other apps do it better, and we say which in the best white noise and sleep sound apps for iPhone.

Questions people ask

Does white noise help you fall asleep?

It masks sudden noises such as traffic or voices, which some people find helps them fall and stay asleep. It does not work for everyone; try it for a few nights.

How do I make white noise stop automatically on iPhone?

In the Clock app, set a timer and choose When Timer Ends, Stop Playing. When the timer ends, iOS stops what is playing.

Can I play white noise on iPhone without an app?

Yes. Settings, Accessibility, Audio & Visual, Background Sounds plays a few built-in sounds such as noise, rain, ocean and stream, and can stop on its own with a timer.

Does Drop keep playing when the screen is locked?

Yes. The sound keeps playing with the screen locked.

Is Drop free?

It is free to download, with ten sounds free and no ads. Drop Pro unlocks the other 22 sounds by subscription or with a one-time lifetime purchase.