Listening to the sounds of sleep
By Meg Rivera
SLEEP routines can be as personal as the email handles we choose. Not even people who sleep in the same room fall asleep in the same way. Some of us need to have a shower and a hot drink first. Others can just remove their shoes and fall belly-first into the sheets to emerge only when the sun rises again.
However unique your bedtime routine is, I’m fairly certain of one similarity among us all. If we have to spend the night away from our familiar beds, falling asleep can be a little more difficult than usual.
There will be strange noises to listen to, scratchy sheets that feel a bit unwashed and that steady creaking sound that you can’t see the source of and just won’t go away. How’s a body to get any sleep?
Don’t reach for that melatonin pill just yet. Ambient noise has been proven to help people fall asleep easier. This week, we review three apps that provide ambient noise that help you transition from wakefulness to sedated rock a little bit easier. When you find yourself away from home, or just have a lot on your mind, flick one of these apps on and drift off into blissful, much-needed sleep.
App name: Relax Melodies HD
App developer: iLBSoft
Available on: iTunes, Google Play
Easy to use: Yes, and I love how all the sounds are in a single-view menu, rather than in a catalogue that you have to swipe through.
Overall comment: This app has been featured in places like Amazon, Health Magazine and People Magazine. It contains ambient noise from all sources, including those from nature, and some from musical instruments. I can imagine that people who are into music would enjoy this, because that is where most of the sounds come from. The timer allows you to set how long you want the sounds to play, and you can also control the volume. Three clicks out of five.
App name: Sleep Pillow Sounds: white noise machine lite
App developer: Clear Sky Apps LTD
Available on: iTunes, Google Play
Easy to use: It could do with a tutorial at the beginning, but it’s nothing too difficult to figure out.
Overall comment: I love this app! You get given a few sounds to use on their own, but I love the “Mixes” option the most. You can create your own mix of ambient sounds (mine is the falling rain and the sounds of humpback whales talking), so you tailor the atmosphere that you want to fall asleep to. It is a little difficult to understand at first, but it’s so worth it once you do. Four clicks out of five.
App name: White Noise Lite
App developer: TMSOFT
Available on: iTunes, Google Play
Easy to use: Yes, and I recommend going through the tutorial at the beginning before using this first.
Overall comment: I use this app on my iPod, and have come to rely on it when I have a hard time falling asleep in a new place. Recommended by Dr. Mehmet Oz (of Oprah fame), this app has a selection of ambient noise preloaded into the initial download, with the option to download more sounds for free. You can choose to have it fade in when you wake up too, so you come out of sleep just as easily as you slid into it. Four clicks out of five.
