As someone who has struggled with sleep throughout my life, I will do anything to catch more Zs. I've read all the expert tips and tried countless products, yet the one technique that has truly helped me get better quality sleep didn't require more time, effort or money because it was right there on my iPhone.
For over five years, I've been able to get better sleep thanks to a hidden feature on my iPhone. This is what I discovered.
The hidden iPhone feature that lulls me to sleep
You can use the iPhone's Background Sounds feature to play ambient soundscapes when you want to rest or focus. These include ocean (my favorite), rain, stream, night, fire, balanced noise, bright noise and dark noise. It's basically a built-in white noise machine.
You can enable Background Sounds to play continuously, even when other media is playing, and adjust the volume accordingly. You can also set up a feature that lets you easily turn it off by locking your iPhone. I've never tried this, though, as I only turn on Background Sounds at night for sleep.
Background Sounds is the icon with the three music notes on the bottom right. Anna Gragert/CNET
How to turn on Background Sounds
To add Background Sounds to your iPhone's Control Center for easy access, make sure you have iOS 15 or later. You can also add it to iPadOS 15 or later. Swipe down from your screen's top-right corner. Tap the "+" symbol at the top left and then "Add a Control" at the bottom. Scroll down to the Hearing Accessibility section and click "Background Sounds." You can also search for it in the top bar.
Click "Add a Control" to add another feature to the Control Center. Anna Gragert/CNET
Once you add Background Sounds, it will be available in your Control Center. To access the sounds, simply hold down the Background Sounds icon with three music notes, select your sound and adjust the volume. The ocean sound is my longtime go-to, as I like its steady volume and repetitive waves.
... continue reading