Everything Soothr does.

1. Install

Soothr is free for iPhone (iOS 16.4 or later). Android is on its way. There’s no account and nothing to set up.

2. Play and stop

Tap the big round button. The sound fades in over three seconds. Tap it again to stop: it fades out gently, never cuts.

The screen dims itself eight seconds after you last touch it, leaving only the timer and a soft stop button. Touch anywhere to bring it back.

3. Scenes and favourites

A scene is a sound to sleep to, like Deep Chords or Soft Rain. Your scenes, under the play button, shows your favourites first, then what you played recently. Tap one to switch. If something is playing, it crossfades over four seconds and keeps going.

Browse all scenes shows every scene, grouped into Music, Nature and Noise. You can also tap the scene’s name at the top. In Browse, tapping a scene plays it, and the list stays open so you can try a few. Tap Done when you’ve found one.

To make a scene a favourite, tap its star in Browse, or press and hold it anywhere.

4. Sleep timer and fade

Tap the timer under the play button. Choose 15, 30, 45, 60 or 90 minutes, or ∞ to play until you stop. It starts at 45 minutes.

Fades over sets how long the ending takes: 5, 10 or 20 minutes, within the timer. The sound slowly softens to silence, then the app stops so your phone can rest. When it’s done, the screen says “Rest well.”

5. Drift

Drift is on unless you turn it off. Over the first 20 minutes the sound grows a little darker, slower and softer, and rain grows lighter, so it follows you down as you fall asleep. Turn it on or off in Tune.

6. Tune

Tap the sliders button at the top of the screen. Tune shows controls for the sounds in the current scene, with words instead of numbers:

• Chords: how often they change, darker or warmer, a soft flute, and the mood: still (minor) or warm (major)
• Rain: lighter or heavier, closer or further away
• Ocean: faster or slower waves, closer or further away
• Overall: deeper, slower and wider

Every change eases in over a second or so, so there are no clicks. Your changes stay with that scene until you tap Reset.

7. Settings

• Volume ceiling: the loudest Soothr will ever play
• Tuning: A = 432 Hz (a little lower) or the standard 440 Hz, for the musical scenes
• Opens with: the scene Soothr starts on
• Morning check-in: after a session of 20 minutes or more, the next morning Soothr asks “How did you sleep?” once. Your answer stays on your phone. Turn it off any time.

8. Calls, headphones and the lock screen

• Lock your phone and the sound keeps playing. Pause or play from the lock screen.
• A call or alarm pauses the sound. Afterwards it fades back in over three seconds, as long as the timer has time left.
• Unplug or disconnect your headphones and the sound stops, so it never suddenly plays from the speaker.

More help on the support page.