Setting Up This Smart Speaker Feature May Help You Get to Sleep Faster

A smart speaker in the bedroom can perform all sorts of tasks, from taking commands and triggering smart home devices to even helping you get to sleep. Here’s how to hopefully get a better night’s sleep with your Google, Amazon, or Apple smart speaker.

Use Your Smart Speaker as a White Noise Generator

White noise refers to a sound that includes all audio frequencies across the audio spectrum. It sounds like a constant hiss and is often associated with detuned analog broadcasts on TV or radio.

Some people find that white noise can help them sleep, which is where your smart speaker comes in. By issuing a command like “play white noise,” you can turn your smart speaker into a simple white noise machine.

Google Assistant on Nest devices, Amazon Alexa on Echo devices, and Siri on both models of HomePod are all capable of generating white noise.

You can even modify the volume from across the room by issuing “turn the volume down,” type commands (something traditional “white noise machines” don’t do). Though your phone can operate as a sleep sound generator, there are some compelling reasons to use another device to generate white noise.

Play Other Ambient Sounds Too

White noise isn’t the only ambient sound you have access to on your smart speaker. You can also play other background sounds that are associated with relaxation, to help you drift off to sleep.

The exact sounds that you have access to will differ depending on which smart speaker you are using.

Google Assistant Ambient Sounds

Google Assistant has 14 sounds available to you including white noise. You can trigger a random one by saying “help me relax,” or “play ambient noise.”

You can also play specific ambient sounds by calling them out specifically. The full list of noises are: relaxing sounds, nature sounds, water sounds, running water sounds, babbling brook sounds, oscillating fan sounds, fireplace sounds, forest sounds, country night sounds, ocean sounds, rain sounds, river sounds thunderstorm sounds, and white noise.

Amazon Alexa Ambient Sounds

Thanks to Amazon’s third-party Skills, Alexa has the largest range of sounds available of any smart speaker. A quick search reveals hundreds of options for relaxing sounds, many of which will undoubtedly be duplicates or mixes.

As a result, if you can think of it then you can probably play it. This includes options like delta waves, pink noise, brown noise, a crackling fireplace, a distant thunderstorm, city noises, the “Space Deck” sounds, plus catch-all premium options like SleepJar (“Alexa, open SleepJar,”) and Sleep Sounds (“Alexa open Sleep Sounds,”).

Apple HomePod Ambient Sounds

Siri on the HomePod has access to the same limited number of ambient sounds that you can play in the background on your Mac or iPhone. This is the most underwhelming option of all, but at least the HomePod sounds good.

Just ask “Hey Siri, play sounds,” to play a random sound, or call out a specific sound by name: ocean, rain, stream, night, fire, dark noise, balanced noise, and bright noise.

One thing that can boost Siri’s disappointing selection is a subscription to Apple Music (or Spotify). There are many ambient sound selections on the services, which you can either trigger with a device like your iPhone or use your voice if you know the album or song name.

Can White Noise Really Help You Sleep?

There’s not a lot of concrete evidence that proves or disproves whether or not white noise can help you sleep. Even so, some people swear by it. If it works for you then your smart speaker can become another weapon in your arsenal to help you get a better night’s sleep.

A 2020 systematic review of 38 articles published in Sleep Medicine Reviews came to the conclusion that the quality of evidence in support of white noise as a sleep aid is poor and that noise may even lead to more disrupted sleep.

However, according to the same review, most studies used sample sizes that were too small to produce statistically significant results. One such study (with only ten participants) studied the effects of white noise on residents of a high-noise environment and found it significantly improved sleep for the study group.

This isn’t going to be the case for everyone, but one argument that many proponents cite is the ability of white noise to mask other noises that might otherwise keep you awake. You might notice a similar effect if you easily fall asleep in the passenger seat of a car or while on an airplane.

For those who suffer from tinnitus, white noise is a treatment option that many swear by. It can be hard to sleep in silence when you’re focusing on the ringing in your ears. Many turn to fans and air conditioners for this reason, but white noise is a solution that could work when you don’t want these devices running.

White noise and other ambient sounds might not be a magical sleep aid, but many people find comfort in them. Ambient sounds like the rush of waves or a distant thunderstorm might just be enough to distract you from stressful thoughts that can keep you awake.

You Can Also Play Podcasts and Stories

You’re never too old for a bedtime story, which is why you can say “OK Google, read me a story,” and you’ll get a children’s bedtime story (I got a region-appropriate Australian version of The Ugly Duckling when I tried).

Alexa has Skills like Bedtime Stories (“Alexa, open Bedtime Stories,”) and Amazon Storytime (“Alexa open Amazon Storytime,”) though these both have paid elements to them.

Alexa users with an Audible subscription can also listen to books using commands like “Alexa, read my book,” which opens the last thing you were reading. You can also specifically name the book, skip back and forward, jump to chapters, and more. Check out the full list of Audible Alexa commands.

Google Assistant can do the same with books you’ve purchased from Google Play Books, while Siri integrates with the Apple Books store to access any audiobooks you have purchased.

Siri on the HomePod also has full access to the Apple Podcast library, and you can play anything simply by asking for the podcast by name (with modifiers like “play the first episode” or “play the newest episode” to get where you want). You can also subscribe using a voice command if you come across something you like.

Google Assistant can do this using Nest devices, but you need to link your podcast service of choice first. On Google, this is a matter of opening the Google Home app on your smartphone and then using Settings > Add > Service > Podcast.

Alexa users subscribed to Amazon Music can access podcasts natively simply by asking for the podcast by name. You can also link other services like Apple Podcasts via the Alexa app. Find the “Skills & Games” section of the app then search for “Apple Podcasts” or “Spotify” or whatever it is you use, then authorize. You can then invoke the Skill using “Alexa, open Apple Podcasts,” or similar.

Don’t Forget to Set a Sleep Timer

Finally, make sure that your smart speaker isn’t running all night by setting a sleep timer. Just ask “set a sleep timer for one hour” or however long you want your white noise, ambient sound, audiobook, or podcast to play for.

If you’re just starting out on your smart home journey, starting out with a single room is a good idea. The bedroom might just be the perfect place. After adding a smart speaker, you can add plugs, switches, and bulbs when you’re ready.