Dark Noise Update

the official app icon for sound-generator app dark noise from developer charlie chapman.

Dark Noise is one of my favorite applications. I first used it years ago as my go-to white noise generator. (I particularly like the thunderstorm sound.) Over the years, I’ve become friends with the developer, Charlie Chapman, who does all the right things with his application.

So it’s no surprise to me that he recently released a version that now gives you Dark Noise controls in Control Center. If you haven’t played with Control Center on iOS 18 yet, you really should. It gives us all of the stuff we’ve been asking for for years now. It’s fully customizable with multiple screens, and while I haven’t nailed down my Control Center strategy just yet, I’m having a great time figuring it out.

Dark Noise 3.0

This week we got a nice update to my favorite white noise app, Dark Noise. I suffer from tinnitus, which means I hear a high pitch ringing in my ears constantly (in my case a minor third interval between my two ears). As such, I’ve nearly always got some background noise, whether it be a podcast, music, or some white noise. As such, Dark Noise may very well be the app I use most. (The thunderstorm is my favorite.)

The reason us nerds are such fans of Dark Noise is because it was the first app of this genre to really do it right with automation hooks, customizability, and tasteful design. This latest iteration ups the game with higher quality sounds and better features. The business model has also changed with a free version, which is probably enough for most people, and a subscription tier, Dark Noise Pro, with more sounds and features.

Users who purchased Dark Noise before the 3.0 update will have all current Dark Noise Pro features unlocked automatically. There may be features in the future that require Dark Noise Pro, but for now original users will get all of the same features Dark Noise Pro.

Whether you go with the free or paid version, in my opinion you’re getting the best background noise app available.

Dark Noise on the Mac

Unfortunately, I played in too many bands growing up and now I’m dealing with tinnitus. So I’m pretty invested in background noise apps, which have generally been pretty terrible, until Dark Noise.

If you enjoy Dark Noise on your iPhone or iPad, get excited because Dark Noise is now on the Mac. If you’re not familiar with Dark Noise, it’s a simple ambient noise app that’s delightfully customizable. They’ve already got a library of sounds to choose from, but if you can’t quite find what you’re looking for, you can pick and choose and build your own sounds to help you sleep, focus, or relax.

There’s also iCloud syncing so the perfect soundscape you created will also be available on your Mac. It’s pretty full-featured and does have menu bar actions with keyboard shortcuts and widgets to feel right at home on your Mac. Try Dark Noise for yourself on your Mac or on your iPhone and choose the sounds or make a mix that’s right for you.

If you’d like learn more about the story behind Dark Noise’s creation, we interviewed its develop, Charlie Chapman, on the Automators Podcast.

Dark Noise 2

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I run Dark Noise from my iPhone to my HomePod a lot. It’s a great background noise app with an intelligent design made by Charlie Chapman. (Charlie was a guest on Automators a few months ago.)

Charlie’s now released version 2 of Dark Noise with several new sounds – Rain on Tent is my favorite new one – plus the ability to mix sounds so you could have wind and rain if the mood strikes you. Additionally, this new version will sync your settings between multiple devices, adds iPad cursor support, and adds even more app icons.

As before, Dark Noise has excellent automation support. I have several Shortcuts that involve context setting, and several of them start up a Dark Noise sound as step one—my congratulations to Charlie on an excellent release. If you haven’t already, go check out Dark Noise.