If you have tinnitus and own an iPhone, there is a helpful feature on your device that you may not be aware of. It’s not an app you download, and it’s not advertised as a tinnitus tool, but it can offer real tinnitus relief.
It’s called Background Sounds, and it’s hidden in your iPhone’s Accessibility settings.
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"Treble Health helped me turn down the sound of my tinnitus. Now I can breathe, and get on with my life!"
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This built-in function transforms your phone into a portable sound therapy machine, no internet, no subscriptions, no third-party apps required.
Let’s walk through how it works and why it may be one of the simplest tools available to support you and provide you with some tinnitus relief.
What Is Apple’s Background Sounds Feature?
Background Sounds was designed by Apple to help users stay focused and calm.
But for people with tinnitus, it serves another important purpose: it provides steady, calming sound enrichment, a key component in tinnitus treatment.
Once turned on, Background Sounds plays continuously, even if your phone is in airplane mode.
This means you can use it overnight or in areas without Wi-Fi or cellular service, making it ideal for consistent sound therapy for tinnitus.
Apple offers eight pre-installed sound options, often acting as white noise for tinnitus or other therapeutic sounds:
- Balanced Noise: A steady, full-spectrum sound for a consistent background.
- Bright Noise: A high-frequency dominant sound, often perceived as crisp.
- Dark Noise: A low-frequency dominant sound, often perceived as deep or rumbling.
- Ocean: Mimics the calming, rhythmic noises of sea waves.
- Rain: Mimics the gentle, consistent patter of rainfall.
- Stream: Evokes the natural flow and gurgle of a running stream.
- Night: A calming ambient sound often associated with nighttime tranquility.
- Fire: The gentle crackling and warmth of a burning fire.
These sounds are similar to those used in professional tinnitus retraining therapy and may be familiar if you’ve tried white noise, pink noise, or nature-based sound therapy in the past.
How to Turn It On
Setting up Background Sounds is easy:
- Open Settings.
- Tap Accessibility.
- Select Audio/Visual.
- Tap Background Sounds.
- Toggle the feature On, then choose your preferred sound and volume level.
For quick access, you can add it to your Control Center, allowing one-swipe control during the day or night.
The sounds can play through your phone’s speaker, AirPods, Bluetooth headphones for tinnitus, or even directly through Bluetooth-connected hearing aids.
Why Sound Therapy Works for Tinnitus
Sound therapy promotes a process called habituation, where the brain gradually learns to ignore the sound of tinnitus.
By playing gentle, non-distracting background noise, the goal is to reduce the contrast between the internal ear ringing and your surrounding environment.
Over time, consistent exposure to sound therapy can help the brain stop reacting emotionally or physically to tinnitus.
That’s a critical milestone in long-term tinnitus relief.
For bedtime use, Background Sounds is especially helpful for sleep with tinnitus.
For optimal use of this feature, try to position your phone close to your bed, activate airplane mode, lower the screen brightness, and allow the sound to play overnight.
Because this iPhone feature doesn’t depend on a data connection, it’s one of the few tinnitus therapy tools that run seamlessly offline.
There’s always a catch….
While Background Sounds is a helpful feature, it’s not perfect for every situation.
- Battery life is a concern if you’re relying on AirPods or Bluetooth headphones; they typically don’t last all day.
- Using noise-canceling headphones (like AirPods Pro) for long periods can increase sound sensitivity over time, a condition called hyperacusis.
- Although Background Sounds offers great options, the sound quality and personalization don’t match dedicated tinnitus devices.
- It’s also important to remember that volume matters. Sound therapy should be slightly softer than your tinnitus, not louder.
The goal isn’t to mask the sound completely, it’s to help your brain reduce its focus on the tinnitus over time.
How It Compares to Professional Devices
Apple’s Background Sounds can be a powerful short-term tool, but it’s not a replacement for medical-grade hearing aids for tinnitus or tinnitus maskers.
Devices like the Widex SmartRIC or other tinnitus specific hearing aids offer:
- Custom sound therapy that adjusts to your tinnitus profile, which is more tone or frequency specific
- Open-fit ear tips that preserve natural hearing
- All-day wearability without needing a phone nearby
- Longer battery life and professional programming by an audiologist
These are the gold standard for people with hearing loss or those needing full-day tinnitus relief.
But for mild cases, or as a first step, Apple’s feature lowers the barrier to tinnitus treatment, and that’s a win.
Final Thoughts
Tinnitus relief doesn’t always have to start with expensive equipment. If you already own an iPhone, Background Sounds gives you a free, accessible, and easy way to begin managing your symptoms.
It’s not about masking the noise forever, it’s about creating the right sound environment so your brain can begin to tune out the tinnitus naturally through habituation.
To simplify matters, we’ve condensed everything into a video, allowing you to visually observe and understand how things function: Apple’s Hidden iPhone Feature for Tinnitus Relief
If you’re ready to move past quick fixes and find a truly effective path to managing your auditory challenge, don’t wait.
Book a free consultation with Treble Health and speak to our experienced audiologists today. We are here to provide you with personalized guidance.
We will explain your options clearly. We will help you make a plan that fits your life. With our expert support, better hearing and a calmer mind are absolutely within your reach.
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