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"

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).

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.

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).

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

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.

I had no idea this existed, thank you!

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

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.

Good find! Will check it out.

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

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

Thanks for checking it out!

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

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

This ^^^

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.

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.

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

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!

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 )

That’s “brown note”:

https://southpark.wiki.gg/wiki/The_Brown_Note

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_note

Thanks for the correction ... But its still too close for comfort :)

LOL