iPhone App of the Week – Ambiance

This week’s iPhone app is Ambiance.  Now I know this app has been around for awhile now but it’s constant expansion makes it feel like a new app every time I use it.  I’ve recently been confined to my office doing very mundane computer work.  Being in my office all day has lead to many distractions (people walking in without knocking, the phone ringing off the hook, etc) which has prompted me to find a way to drown out all of those distractions.  I’m one of those people that get distracted when I’m listening to music so I’ve taken to listening to ambient sounds.  This is where Ambiance comes in.

Created by Matt Coneybeare, Ambiance is an application that plays various “white noises” on a loop allowing the user to drown out distractions, relax and focus.  With Ambiance users can choose specific sounds, add them to mixes and playlists and set the duration and volume level at which each of them plays.  You can set the application to sound an alarm or turn off after a set amount of time, perfect for waking up or falling asleep.  Ambiance offers a great feature that I have yet to see in any of the ambient sound iPhone apps – a “sound store” where new tracks are added daily.  You can browse through hundreds of different sounds to find exactly what you’re looking for.  Users can download the sounds directly to their phone through the application free of charge.

One of my favorite features of Ambiance is the ability to make mixes.  These are not your typical mixes, this feature allows you to overlay various sounds and adjust each tracks volume to come up with a personalized track just for you.  For example, I have two mixes that I have been playing for awhile now.  As Fall approaches I’ve been looking forward to those foggy, overcast rainy days so I created one mix that overlays the sound of ‘rain from inside a car’, ‘rain and windshield wipers’ and ‘thunderstorm’.  I also created a mix of ‘rain interior’, ‘fire crackling’ and ‘thunderstorm’.  Each of the tracks on these mixes have their volumes set differently so that it’s just right for me.

The only downside of the app is that it can crash on me quite a bit when I’m creating mixes but that could just be my phone and not the app itself.  Overall this is a great app with an abundance of sounds available.  Whether you like the sounds of Tokyo’s city street marketplaces or an airplane cabin you will find a sound that is perfect for you to relax to and drown out the outside world.  The app is usually $4.99 (which is a little pricey but worth it) but is on sale for $.99 right now so go get it!

Do you use Ambiance?  What are your favorite sounds to fall asleep to?  Let us know in the comments.