Listening to music, podcasts, or other audio content on your iPhone can be a great way to pass the time or get some work done. But if you’re like most people, you probably don’t pay much attention to the background sounds your iPhone is making. Here are four tips for listening to background sounds on your iPhone:

  1. Use headphones. The ambient noise from the world around you will drown out most of the sound coming from your iPhone’s speakers, making it easier to focus on what you’re listening to.
  2. Set a timer. If you want to focus on one specific audio track and avoid distractions, set a timer and let it play until it goes off. This way, you can easily switch between different audio tracks without having to pause and restart the music every time.
  3. Use Siri voice control. If you have an Apple Watch or an iPad with Siri enabled, you can use voice control to listen to audio content without having to take your hands off of the wheel or keyboard. Just say “Play [audio],” “Pause [audio],” or “Next [audio]” and Siri will do its best to comply.
  4. Use AirPlay Mirroring . If you have an Apple TV or another AirPlay-enabled device in range of your iPhone, you can use AirPlay Mirroring (available in iOS 11)to send audio from your iPhone directly into another speaker or TV screen without having to use headphones or open any apps first." ..

What Are Background Sounds?

Background Sounds are like having a sound machine from your bedroom in your iPhone and iPad. The sounds can also be played over Bluetooth to external devices.

There are six different sounds to choose from, including Balanced Noise, Bright Noise, Dark Noise, Ocean, Rain, and Stream. All six of these can be played in the background of whatever you’re doing on your iPhone and help fill in the silence or drown out other background distractions. In the future, there’s always a possibility that Apple will add even more sounds.

It’s worth noting that at the current time, there’s no way to load your own background sound. Note as well that they don’t have a time limit. They’ll only turn off when you disable them.

Why Are Background Sounds in Accessibility?

Apple sees Background Sounds as a way to diversify its array of accessibility features by being more inclusive.

The company says in its official announcement of the feature that it targets “support of neurodiversity” and aims to mitigate “distracting, discomforting, or overwhelming” everyday noises. In other words, the feature can help you focus and relax during the day and mitigate distracting sounds that are bothering you.

That being said, the feature has the ability to appeal to many different people, so it’s interesting that Apple decided to stick with the accessibility angle instead of a more generalized approach.

How to Enable Background Sounds on iPhone and iPad

First, open the Settings app.

Next, tap Accessibility.

Under the Hearing section, tap Audio/Visual.

Finally, tap Background Sounds.

From here, you can toggle Background Sounds on and off and choose which sound you’d like. You can also adjust the volume of the sound as it plays over other media. If you don’t want the background sound to play while, for example, you’re listening to music, uncheck “Use When Media Is Playing.”

You’re now on your way to a relaxing, distraction-free experience with your iPhone or iPad. If you want other particular sounds, consider trying out a third-party white noise app.

RELATED: The Best White Noise Apps for Helping You Fall Asleep