I replaced my brown-noise browser tab with a menu bar app

Posted by oldmanrahul 1 day ago

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Comments

Comment by chrislh 17 hours ago

There's a sneaky menu bar background noise app already built into MacOS. You can add "Hearing" to the menu bar (or control center) from settings, and then use that to enable "Background Sounds"

Comment by xattt 15 hours ago

I can’t quite tell if Apple putting handy utilities (e.g. white noise) and options (e.g. reduce motion) within Accessibility settings, along with controls for braille readers and joystick controls, is part of a universal provision initiative (i.e. reducing stigma in having to use Accessibility settings).

Comment by upbeat_general 13 hours ago

My uneducated guess is that it’s done to avoid clutter for the rest of the settings and because accessibility is a good justification to outweigh this concern.

Comment by oldmanrahul 1 hour ago

This is my guess as well.

It's probably easier to get buy-in from stakeholders if what you want to add is hidden behind menu options (reduced risk).

Comment by oldmanrahul 1 hour ago

Good find! Will check it out.

Comment by nozzlegear 14 hours ago

I've been trying to use this since they introduced it, but something on my Mac is constantly turning it off, seemingly at random. Sometimes it'll happen 3-4 times per minute until I give up and turn on a YouTube video.

Only affects the background noise feature, doesn't affect any other sound, music or video. I have no idea what causes it.

Comment by bonsai_spool 17 hours ago

Yes! It also exists on iOS, where it’s possible to play both brown/white/pink/fire/seaside noise at the same time as other media

Comment by maroonblazer 16 hours ago

I had no idea this existed, thank you!

Is "Dark noise" the equivalent of "Brown noise"?

Comment by hatthew 15 hours ago

Yes.

Note: Generally "dark" (as opposed to "bright") means emphasis on the lower frequencies, which is a good description for brown noise, but they aren't formally the same. Formally, brown noise refers to a power distribution that drops ~6 dB per octave, and I have no idea how strictly apple's "dark noise" matches the technical specifications of that.

Comment by xoxxala 17 hours ago

iOS and iPadOS also have that under Accessibility-Audio Visual settings.

Comment by memorydial 17 hours ago

I really like this. I had a look through the source code as well and it's cool you shared it.

I generally listen to white noise when I am trying to concentrate, but its Dave Clarke's techno/electo podcast, "White Noise"! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36FkrrpzFOA

Comment by oldmanrahul 1 hour ago

Thanks for checking it out!

Comment by SugarReflex 16 hours ago

What's the deal with brown noise and dark noise etc? How does it help you? And how does it help you?

Comment by callc 15 hours ago

I use brown noise sometimes to focus. It’s like an auditory blank wall.

I’m sure I could train my brain to ignore the random sounds around me, since I grew up in a not super noisy city.

It really does help me ignore the distracting sounds. It gives my easy something to focus on rather than distracting noises.

Comment by wvbdmp 10 hours ago

I have noticed that shoegaze/wall-of-sound music can work well for this, eg. My Bloody Valentine. With the added benefit of being music.

Comment by 0xbadcafebee 14 hours ago

The colors refer to variations in wavelength (light ~ sound) adjusted to human perception of soundwaves (https://tinyurl.com/3bzy7a7s). It helps muffle ambient sound that might distract your brain. Studies show they have effects: brown = executive function/memory, pink = sleep/concentration, green = calming, white = productivity/annoying.

Dark noise isn't an accepted term, it's a marketing term for a tweaked version of brown noise

Comment by oldmanrahul 1 hour ago

This ^^^

Comment by tacoooooooo 17 hours ago

this is pretty cool. some of the lower frequencies make my ears feel weird. I wonder if this could be extended to do binaural beats

Comment by oldmanrahul 1 hour ago

Thanks for checking it out!

I've considered adding binaural beats, but kept v1 simple with two sounds I regularly use... I also think you're only supposed to listen to binaural for ~40 mins or so to get you brain on the right wavelength.

Will look into it!

Comment by jdjfnfjdjjeh 14 hours ago

Ummmmm might want to rethink the naming ... South park defined the term brown noise as a sound designed to make you shit yourself ( this was over 2 decades ago BTW )

Comment by oldmanrahul 1 hour ago

LOL

Comment by scottchiefbaker 15 hours ago

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