The Best Brown Noise App: What Real Brown Noise Needs
Brown noise became the sound people with ADHD, insomnia and loud flats swear by, and every app now claims to have it. Many of them ship a low-passed white noise or a short loop with a click at the seam. Mindael renders brown noise the proper way, a random signal with energy falling 6 dB per octave, measured in our studio, and it is free on the App Store. This page is the checklist for judging a brown noise app, and how Mindael meets it.
The best brown noise app plays true brown noise, with a 6 dB per octave slope and no audible loop, keeps it steady all night, lets you set a timer that fades, mix it with rain or a binaural beat, and plays it offline. Mindael does all of this with studio-measured brown noise, plus pink, white and green noise, free on iPhone, and you can hear the sample on this site.
What to look for, and how Mindael covers it
| What you need | In Mindael |
|---|---|
| True brown noise | Random signal with energy falling 6 dB per octave, checked against the spectrum |
| No loop | Generated and rendered long enough that there is no seam to hear |
| The other colors too | Pink, white and green noise, so you can match the room |
| A fading sleep timer | Set the time; the noise fades instead of stopping |
| Mixing | Brown noise under rain, or under a delta or beta beat |
| Steady volume | No swells or fades inside the sound itself |
| Works offline | The noise is on the phone, not streamed |
| Price | Free to download and use on the App Store |
What brown noise actually is
Brown noise is a random signal whose energy drops 6 dB for every octave you go up. In practice that means the low frequencies dominate, the hiss that makes white noise tiring is gone, and what is left sounds like a distant waterfall or the hum of a plane cabin. It is the color most adults pick for a busy mind, and the one most people with ADHD describe as the sound that lets them work. You can see the spectrum and hear the sample on our brown noise page.
Why “measured” matters
Two apps can both say brown noise and sound different. One has run white noise through a low-pass filter; it is dull but still hissy. One has a 30 second loop with a click at the join, which a light sleeper hears every time. We generate ours as a true random process with a 6 dB per octave slope, render it long, and check the spectrum before it goes in the app. That is the difference between a sound that works for eight hours and one you turn off at two in the morning.
The research, honestly stated
The sleep evidence is strongest for broadband noise in general: a 2017 study found broadband sound cut the time to fall asleep by about 38 percent. The attention evidence comes from a 2007 study in which background noise improved memory performance in children with attention difficulties, and a 2024 meta-analysis that found a small, reliable benefit of white and pink noise on task performance in youth with ADHD. Brown noise shares the broadband character of those sounds with less of the harshness, which is why people tolerate it for longer. We do not claim more than that.
Keep it safe
A 2014 study in Pediatrics measured infant sleep machines and found several exceeded safe levels at full volume. Keep brown noise below 50 dB at the pillow, use the timer, and if you share a bed, use the quieter of the two preferences.
How to switch in five minutes
- Download Mindael and open Sleep or Focus modeBrown noise is in both.
- Play the sample firstDeep, soft, like a waterfall heard from inside. If it hisses, it is not brown.
- Set the volume below your inner voiceFor sleep, just above the room noise. For work, low enough to think in words over it.
- Add a layer if you want oneRain for texture at night, a beta beat for a work sprint.
- Set the timerForty-five minutes for sleep, twenty-five or fifty for work.
Brown noise, measured, not guessed.
We render our brown noise with a true 6 dB per octave slope and check the spectrum in the studio. Put it under rain for the night or under a beta beat for the morning, set the timer, and let it run.
- Brown, pink, white and green noise, measured to spec
- No loops, no swells
- Mixer, fading timer, works offline
Free · No account needed · Works offline Frequently asked questions
What is brown noise?
Random noise whose energy falls 6 dB with every octave, so the bass dominates and the hiss is gone. It sounds like a low waterfall or a plane cabin. The name comes from Brownian motion, not the color.
Is brown noise good for ADHD?
A 2007 study found background noise improved memory performance in children with attention difficulties, and a 2024 meta-analysis of white and pink noise found a small but reliable benefit on task performance in youth with ADHD. Brown noise is the color most adults with ADHD report choosing because it is the least sharp.
Brown noise or pink noise for sleep?
Pink noise has the research for deep sleep and is the better masker for a loud room. Brown noise is softer and is the choice for a loud mind. Many people run brown noise with rain on top.
How loud should brown noise be?
As low as still works. A 2014 study found some sleep machines exceeded safe levels at full volume. Keep it below 50 dB at the pillow.
Is the Mindael brown noise app free?
Yes. Mindael is free on the App Store, with brown, pink, white and green noise.
Sources
- Söderlund G, Sikström S, Smart A. Listen to the noise: noise is beneficial for cognitive performance in ADHD. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2007.
- Nigg JT, et al. Systematic review and meta-analysis: do white noise or pink noise help with task performance in youth with ADHD or with elevated attention problems? Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2024.
- Hugh SC, et al. Infant sleep machines and hazardous sound pressure levels. Pediatrics, 2014.
- Messineo L, et al. Broadband sound administration improves sleep onset latency in healthy subjects in a model of transient insomnia. Frontiers in Neurology, 2017.