Play rain sounds and other ambient noise with Background Sounds

Play ambient soundscapes in the background with your iPhone, iPad or Mac. Listen to ocean sounds, rain, bright noise and more.

iPhone showing the Background Sounds menu. The Background Sounds button is at the bottom of the screen in the centre.

iPhone or iPad

Requires iOS 15 or iPadOS 15 or later

  1. Open Control Centre, then tap the Hearing buttonNo alt supplied for Image. If you can't see it, add the Hearing button to Control Centre.

  2. Tap the Background Sounds switch buttonNo alt supplied for Image to start or stop playing background sounds.

  3. Tap the name of the current sound to view other sounds, then tap a sound name to listen to a preview. After you’ve chosen a sound, tap Background Sounds to go back.

  4. Tap the background to go back to Control Centre.

To stop playing when your device is locked or to lower the volume when other media is playing, tap Background Sounds Settings, then choose an option.

If you use Headphone Accommodations, your current settings will be applied automatically to Background Sounds.

Mac

Requires macOS Ventura or later

Find out how to play background sounds on Mac

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