Review: Sleep Machine - Thunderstorms
Score:
80%
Having trouble getting off to sleep is something that afflicts many of us from time to time and there as many remedies as there are people willing to proffer their opinion. One such which is surprisingly effective is something monotonous or relaxing to listen to, which is where Sleep Machine comes in, a free application by the Pico Brothers.
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The problem with going to sleep in silence is that your mind fills in the silence with its own thoughts and worries - having an audio book, some white noise or, as here, natural sounds, is a good way to fill the gap. It's something soothing for your ears to receive and your mind to wind down to.
It's worked for me for years, with radio shows and particularly technical podcasts(!) and, as here, there's something particularly soothing about being snug and warm and dry in bed while the rain pours down outside and thunderstorms rage in the distance. I even wrote a song about it a long time ago, but that's another story for another day(!)
Pico Brothers have named their implementation 'Sleep Machine', with, presumably, other natural sound effects coming soon. 'Thunderstorms' is free, hopefully the others will be too. Some people find thunderstorms (even distant ones) frightening, of course, so look out for the 'Babbling Brook' or 'Gentle Waves' editions.
The interface is simple but very slick, though it does only work in portrait mode, about the only flaw I could find. A traditional d-pad like control lets you increase or decrease the volume of the sound effects (perhaps the developers could add in support for the hardware volume controls on the phone?) and adjust the 'timer' in 15 minute increments. The idea then is that the sound effects stop so that you don't have the rain playing all the way through the night and causing your mind to wake your body for multiple toilet breaks!
The rain and thunder soundtrack is very well done indeed and it's hard to spot the break point where the sample repeats. The timer and main display elements are done in subdued colours on a dark background, good for battery preservation on OLED screens and for night time use.
The idea of a timed sound effects application to aid sleep isn't new, of course, but this is very well done and you can't argue at the price. Comments welcome as to how effective it is at helping you get to sleep!
Steve Litchfield, AAS, 21 April 2011
Reviewed by Steve Litchfield at