brownfm

Brown noise, made with math on your iPhone.

Download Brown FM on the App Store

How to play brown noise on iPhone

Use Brown FM to generate and adjust brown noise on your iPhone, or choose Dark Noise in Apple’s built-in Background Sounds. Here’s how to set up each.

Use Apple Background Sounds

  1. Open Settings → Accessibility → Audio & Visual → Background Sounds.
  2. Turn on Background Sounds, open Sound, and choose Dark Noise. The sound file downloads to your iPhone.
  3. Adjust the volume. Turn off Stop Sounds When Locked if you want it to keep playing with the screen locked.
  4. On iOS 26 or later, use Equalizer to adjust tone and balance, and Stop Sounds with a Timer to choose a duration or stop time.

Apple calls its low noise option “Dark Noise.” It’s part of iOS, separate from the third-party Dark Noise app. Background Sounds requires iOS 15 or later; the equalizer and timer require iOS 26 or later.

Steps checked against Apple’s iPhone guide and Background Sounds support, September 15, 2026.

Use Brown FM for adjustable brown noise

  1. Get Brown FM on an iPhone running iOS 26 or later. Access requires a subscription or lifetime purchase.
  2. Start playback, then open Sound. Adjust depth for a deeper or lighter tone, texture for smoothness and detail, and space for stereo width.
  3. Enable Movement if you want the tone to evolve gently. Save your preferred combination as a preset.
  4. Set a sleep timer when you want playback to end, or leave it playing with your screen locked. Fade settings let sessions start and end gradually.

Brown FM creates the sound live rather than repeating a recording. You can also ask Siri to play Brown FM, select a saved sound, or set a timer, and add playback controls through widgets or Control Center.

Choose the controls you want

Apple’s option gives you built-in sounds, tone adjustment, and a timer. Brown FM lets you shape the generation itself through depth, texture, space, and movement, then return to your saved settings. For payment options and other apps, see the iPhone brown noise app comparison.

If playback stops

For Apple Background Sounds, check the lock-screen and timer settings above. For Brown FM, check whether your timer finished or another app or call interrupted the audio, then tap Play again.

Brown FM works offline after purchase access is verified. Purchasing, restoring access, and occasional verification require a connection. See offline requirements and saved sound controls.