Big World, Little People

Free White Noise

March 2, 2010 at 2:40 am Leave a comment

There are loads of things I love about living right on Broadway. Watching the crowds. Showing Oliver the cars and buses driving past. Having Pinkberry across the street, and loads of cafes and restaurants within a one block radius. Free jazz concerts every night, and even Alleluja man.

But the noise is a killer. I don’t mind it myself, but when we’ve spent hours getting Oliver to sleep and then managed to creep out and shut the door behind us, only to have a honking truck or fire engine siren roar past and leave him screaming for dear life – on those nights, Broadway makes me very upset. And it’s a pretty regular occurrence.

People suggested noise machines, and a friend really talked up the Brookstone one. I was one click away from dishing out $100 for it – and then my husband suggested checking the iTunes store.

Brilliant idea! Within minutes, I had myself a totally free app (White Noise Lite, it’s called – and it seems to be available to BlackBerry, too) that plays:

• Chirping crickets
• Crashing waves
• Chugging trains
• Rainstorms

…and those are just my top noises. You can upgrade to a paid version but this one is working out great. And there’s something pretty magical about walking into your city bedroom to hear crickets chirping away. I think I’m sleeping better now, too.

I’ve loaded the app on the iTouch because if someone calls the iPhone while it was chirping away, it would definitely cause more distress than the sirens. So we’ve hooked up the Touch to some cheapo speakers – and can now transport ourselves to the Caribbean or the woods any time we please. For free.

Entry filed under: iPhone, Recommendations.