Whether you just want some background noise while you read or wash the dishes, want to keep your fish entertained while you’re out, or you have trouble sleeping without a constant drone, the new Ambient Sounds feature for HomePod in iOS 13.2 is here to help and this article will show you how to use it.

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To get these new ambient sounds on your HomePod, you’ll need to make sure your iPhone is running iOS 13.2 or later and iOS 13.2.1 on your HomePod.  

To get in on the action, simply summon Siri and request one of the following sounds.

• Fireplace
• Forest
• Night
• Ocean
• Rain
• Stream
• White Noise

It may also be necessary to specifically mention in some form that it is an ambient sound that you are after in order to not confuse it with a song with a similar title.

If you are less concerned about the specific type of background noise, you can simply request…

 …to have Siri select a random ambient sound to set the mood.

It’s also worth noting that Siri recognizes alternative names for the above ambient sounds , but it seems that “white noise” is the only one that only responds to its specific name.

Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t seem to think that we need a reference list of all of the available ambient sounds and thus we have no way of knowing how many options we have. 

They also work with the new sleep timer feature which you can learn how to use here or in this video: 

Final Thoughts

Though we’ve always been able to select ambient sounds as part of our Apple Music accounts, it’s nice to have an official set of ambient sounds.  They can help us relax or can provide some enjoyable atmosphere for dinner or a glass of wine and a chat with our significant other.  

Have you found any other ambient sounds that we missed?  Which one(s) are your favorites and when do you like to use them?  Let us know in the comments.  Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram where we regularly post all sorts of HomeKit content. 

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