Slo vs Dark Noise: Which Ambient Sound App Fits? (2026)

Slo is the one to try if you’re on Android, or if you’d rather play 180 sounds free in a browser before installing anything. Dark Noise is the one if your devices are all Apple and you want Siri Shortcuts, interactive widgets and Apple Intelligence Magic Mixes. Slo is our own app, which you should weigh when you read this.

The short verdict

Your phone probably settles this before anything else does. Dark Noise isn’t on Android, so if that’s what you carry, Slo is the only one of the two you can use, and it brings 200+ sounds with 89 free and a timer that runs to 24 hours and fades out before it stops. If your phone, tablet and laptop all have an Apple logo, Dark Noise has the deeper hooks into them, with Siri Shortcuts, interactive widgets, themes, alternate icons, and Magic Mixes built on Apple Intelligence.

Both play ambient sound and both let you build custom mixes, so what you’re really choosing between is wider access and closer Apple integration.

The Dark Noise details here come from its current official App Store listings, read on July 31, 2026, with no controlled product test behind them. Slo’s numbers come from our own app source, version 3.132, on September 14, 2026. Neither app can guarantee better sleep.

Slo vs Dark Noise at a glance

Decision	Slo	Dark Noise
Verified catalogue	200+ sounds, 89 free; 22 noise-color recordings	50+ sounds
Mixing	Any number of layers, a volume per layer, saved and reusable mixes	Custom mixes in the app
Browser option	180 sounds free, no account	No official web player found
Mobile platforms	iPhone and Android	iPhone and iPad
Desktop	Mac app	Mac app
Apple integration	No verified parity claim	Siri Shortcuts, AirPlay, interactive widgets
Visual customization	No verified themes/icons claim	10 themes and 20+ Home Screen icons
Timer	15 minutes to 24 hours, fade-out up to 2 minutes	Fade timer
Newer differentiator	Mixes that remember their balance	Apple Intelligence Magic Mixes
Pricing	Monthly, yearly or one-time lifetime	Check current App Store terms

Exact prices stay off this page, because App Store amounts and entitlements change by region. Dark Noise’s listing currently shows an app with in-app purchases, so read the checkout screen for the feature you want before you buy.

What Slo offers

Slo ships 200+ recorded sounds and keeps 89 of them free for good. Twenty-two are noise-color recordings across seven colors, and 5 of those are brown, so you can find the brown that suits your room rather than living with the only one on offer. The mixer has no layer cap, gives each layer its own volume, and remembers the balance for every combination you build, so a mix comes back exactly as you left it. A mix you keep can be exported as a file and opened on a different device. The timer runs from 15 minutes to 24 hours and fades the sound out over up to 2 minutes before it stops. Playback runs as a background audio service on iPhone and Android, and on Android the app asks to be left out of battery saving when the timer is two hours or longer. Each sound downloads on first play and stays on the device, so in the app a saved mix plays offline afterwards.

The full library comes as a monthly subscription, a yearly subscription or one lifetime purchase, and 180 sounds play free at slonoise.com with no account. Dark Noise has things Slo doesn’t. There are no Magic Mixes here, no themes, no alternate icons, and no adaptive or generated audio, and nothing in the way of sleep stories, meditation, tracking, an alarm, a recorder or a voice.

What Dark Noise offers

Dark Noise is an ambient sound app for Apple devices, covering iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Its current App Store listing states 50+ sounds, custom mixes, a fade timer, AirPlay, Siri Shortcuts, interactive Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets, 10 themes, and more than 20 Home Screen icons.

The listing also carries an update that older comparisons missed. Dark Noise 3.5 added an iOS 26 design and Magic Mixes, which use Apple’s on-device Foundation Model to build a soundscape from a prompt. Whether you get them depends on Apple Intelligence being available on your hardware, and the feature says nothing about how you’ll feel or sleep afterwards.

Dark Noise is not listed for Android. On Mac it picks up desktop features such as a mini player, keyboard shortcuts, menu-bar support, and widgets.

The differences that matter

Android and browser access

If you’re on Android, Slo is the one you can actually install, with all 200+ sounds on the phone and 180 more in a browser. Dark Noise stays on Apple devices. On an all-Apple setup that limit costs you nothing; on an Android phone it ends the comparison in a sentence.

Apple system integration

Sound count isn’t where Dark Noise pulls ahead. Siri Shortcuts, AirPlay, interactive widgets, Lock Screen controls, and its Mac utilities put playback within reach of the things you already do on Apple devices. We haven’t verified equivalent integrations for Slo, which is why the feature table says “not verified” and doesn’t claim they’re absent.

Mixing and AI-assisted creation

Both apps combine sounds. Slo takes any number of layers, each with its own volume, and stores the balance per combination. Dark Noise has custom mixes and, on current Apple systems that support it, Magic Mixes written from a prompt. Pick by how you’d rather work, naming the ingredients yourself or describing a scene and hearing what the app makes of it.

Catalogue size and curation

The counts are 200+ for Slo with 89 free, and 50+ for Dark Noise. That lead proves nothing about quality. What matters is whether the noise color or the environment you keep coming back to is in there, and whether it sounds comfortable once it’s looping.

Visual customization

Dark Noise officially lists 10 themes and more than 20 Home Screen icons, which is worth something if how the app looks on your screen is part of the routine. Slo has no themes and no alternate icons, and puts its surface into 200+ sounds, the mixer and the timer.

Which one should you choose?

Your priority	Better first test	Why
Android phone or tablet	Slo	Dark Noise isn’t listed for Android at all
Listen before installing	Slo	180 browser sounds play free without an account
Siri and Apple automation	Dark Noise	Shortcuts and starting playback by voice are official features
Home or Lock Screen widgets	Dark Noise	Its listing includes interactive widgets
Prompt-generated soundscapes	Dark Noise	Magic Mixes builds one from what you type
Manual browser layer mixing	Slo	Every layer keeps its own volume, and nothing caps how many you add
Apple-only setup with strong visual customization	Dark Noise	Themes and alternate icons are on the listing

If you’re doing this to sleep, try either app against plain silence first, and keep the level at the lowest point that covers whatever is actually waking you. A bigger library or a cleverer shortcut won’t change how you sleep. Our page on how sound affects sleep quality sets out a safer way to test it.

Slo sleep presets

Compare bright masking with a deeper base

The first mix targets varied apartment noise. The second puts more weight in low frequencies. Keep the lowest comfortable balance.

White Noise and Ocean for Noisy Apartments

An even hiss with slow waves over it, for an apartment where the noise never settles.

• White Noise 66%
• Ocean Waves 35%

Play this mix View details

Rain and Brown Noise for Deep Sleep

Brown noise covers the traffic and the boiler, and rain softens the sharper sounds inside the room.

• Brown Noise 65%
• Rain 38%

Play this mix View details

Frequently asked questions

Is Slo a Dark Noise alternative for Android?

For playing and mixing ambient sound, yes. Slo runs on Android with all 200+ sounds, 89 of them free, and another 180 play in a browser. Dark Noise’s official listing covers iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Does Dark Noise work on Mac?

Yes. Its official Mac App Store listing covers custom mixes, a mini player, timer, keyboard shortcuts, menu-bar support, themes, and widgets.

Can I use Dark Noise in a browser?

The current product listing shows no official browser player, so check Dark Noise’s own site if browser access decides this for you. Slo plays 180 sounds free at slonoise.com with no account, a volume on each layer and timers of 15, 30 or 60 minutes.

What are Dark Noise Magic Mixes?

According to the App Store, they use Apple Intelligence and Apple’s Foundation Model to build a soundscape from a prompt you type. Whether you get them depends on your Apple hardware and software.

Which app has more sounds?

Slo has more on paper. Its app source says 200+ recorded sounds, 89 of them free, including 22 noise-color recordings, while Dark Noise’s listing says 50+. A bigger count tells you nothing about which recordings you’ll like or whether one of them covers the noise in your room.

Official sources checked July 31, 2026

• Dark Noise, official iPhone/iPad App Store listing — 50+ sounds, mixes, timer, Siri Shortcuts, widgets, themes, icons, platform support, and Magic Mixes update.
• Dark Noise, official Mac App Store view — Mac mini player, shortcuts, menu-bar support, mixes, timer, themes, and widgets.
• Slo app source, version 3.132 (sound list, timer, fade-out and store products), and the slonoise.com sound catalogue, reviewed September 14, 2026

Related comparisons and guides

• Best white noise apps, free and paid
• Complete guide to noise colors
• Slo vs myNoise

Filip Kowalski is the developer of Slo and writes about sound, sleep, and focus.