Tinnitus is a ringing or buzzing sound in the ears that can be caused by exposure to loud noises, earwax buildup, or other factors. It can be extremely frustrating to deal with, and it can make it difficult to sleep, focus, or even go about your daily life.
Fortunately, there are many apps available for tinnitus treatment and management. Some are designed for those who want to manage their symptoms at home, while others are intended for professional use at clinics and hospitals. The best apps for tinnitus are those that offer relief from symptoms with minimal effort on the user’s part—and some even include educational information about tinnitus itself.
Here is a list of some of the most popular apps available today:
Best Apps For Tinnitus
When you live with bothersome tinnitus, having the right coping tools close at hand can make a big difference in the quality of your day.
Tackling tinnitus columnist Glenn Schweitzer
But if you have a smartphone, you already own one of the most powerful tinnitus coping toolkits ever created.
There are many apps that can help you to better manage tinnitus in a variety of different ways. The only problem is that there are quite a lot of apps to choose from, and not all of them are created equal.
So I’m here to help. I’ve put together a list of my favorite tinnitus-related apps across many different categories, all to help you find relief from the ringing in your ears.
Do tinnitus apps work?
Yes. From sound masking, guided meditation and breathing techniques, to educational content, habituation assistance, and sensorineural hearing loss improvement, there really is an app for every need.
Despite what your doctor might have told you or what you might have read online, if you suffer from tinnitus, you do not “just have to live with it.” There are many ways to find tinnitus relief, and these apps are just one more toolset available to every tinnitus patient. Also, if you wear hearing aids, many manufacturers now make accompanying hearing aid apps that include tinnitus masking programs.
Best apps for sound masking
myNoise (Android and iOS)
NatureSpace (Android and iOS)
At its best, sound masking is one the most powerful coping tools available to tinnitus sufferers. The strategy is remarkably simple: You just use various types of background noise to partially cover the sound of your tinnitus. For most sufferers, the right background noise or music can often provide immediate (though temporary) relief and help you focus less on the tinnitus.
A woman looks at her smartphone.
Smartphone apps for tinnitus can help calm the
ringing in your ears.
It’s an effective way to cope, but in practice it can get tricky, because not all sound masking sounds are created equal, and there are a seemingly endless number of sound masking/sound therapy apps available in the app store. Here are my top two app recommendations, available for both Android in the Google Play store, and iOS devices in the App Store:
myNoise (Android and iOS): MyNoise features a massive library of soundscapes and ambiances, including various experimental sounds specifically created for tinnitus patients. Best of all, every soundscape is completely customizable via sliders that let you control the individual volume of various elements of the soundscape. Want more birds, but less rain, stronger wind, and no chimes? Simple. Or maybe you want the sound of more chatter in the café ambiance, but less clinking of cups and silverware? Two clicks and it’s done. MyNoise makes it easy to dial in the perfect soundscape or combination of sounds to mask your tinnitus.
NatureSpace (Android and iOS): Naturespace has been one of my favorite masking apps for a long time for one very specific reason: No other app can hold a candle to the quality of their nature soundscapes. And that’s because all of the soundscapes are actual high-fidelity audio recordings of real nature. According to NatureSpace, “Our specialized team of audio engineers record outdoor environments in 3D using proprietary holographic microphone techniques drawn from binaural, classical, and field recording practices. The results are astonishing: Naturespace recordings preserve the entire hemispheric sound field, including the sounds that occur in front, behind, beside, and above the listener over headphones.” The app itself is free, along with 6 included soundscapes, with the remaining 120+ recordings available via in-app purchases a la carte.
Runner up: BetterSleep (Android and iOS)
Best apps for comprehensive tinnitus relief and habituation
Rewiring Tinnitus Relief Project
Quieten (Android and iOS)
OTO: Tinnitus Relief and Therapy (Android) (iOS)
There may not currently be a cure for tinnitus, but lasting relief is entirely possible through a mental process called habituation. And only a select few apps are specifically designed to help you habituate to the sound of your tinnitus.
The human brain is fully capable of tuning out the sound of tinnitus (even when it’s loud) just like it does all other meaningless background noise. The problem is that when tinnitus becomes severe, it triggers a powerful and progressively worsening fight-or-flight stress response that never fully ends because the tinnitus doesn’t just magically go away. And it’s this reaction that prevents the brain from being able to ignore the sound. We are evolutionarily hardwired to focus on sounds that our brain and nervous system interpret as the sound of something dangerous.
But you can completely change your underlying emotional, psychological and physiological reaction to the sound of your tinnitus. And when you do, your brain can start to automatically tune out and ignore the sound of your tinnitus more and more of the time. Here are two apps whose sole purpose is to help you habituate and find lasting relief:
Rewiring Tinnitus Relief Project: First I have to disclose that this is my app that I created to help tinnitus sufferers habituate and find relief as quickly as possible. It was originally designed to accompany my book (Rewiring Tinnitus: How I finally Found Relief from the Ringing in my Ears), but ultimately evolved into a standalone program for tinnitus habituation. The 54-track album feature a powerful audio technology called Brainwave Entrainment that can change your mental state in minutes, and all you have to do is press play. It features guided tinnitus meditation tracks, sleep induction tracks, guided tinnitus spike relief techniques, relaxation tracks, and more, all embedded with various masking sounds and brainwave entrainment to put you in a sedated state of relaxation automatically. I may be biased, but as an experienced tinnitus coach, I know what works.
Quieten (Android and iOS): Quieten is an excellent new app from author, therapist, and tinnitus expert Julian Cowan Hill. It features a wide variety of free audio and video educational content to help you habituate and better understand tinnitus, as well as meditations, coping tools, relaxation techniques and more!
OTO: Tinnitus Relief and Therapy (Android) (iOS): OTO is a comprehensive tinnitus therapy app that is packed full of science-based tools to help you habituate and better cope. It features cognitive behavioral therapy lessons and techniques, relaxation techniques, breathing exercises, a library of masking sounds, and mindfulness training, all to help you find relief from tinnitus.
Runner up: Beltone Tinnitus Calmer (Android and iOS)
Best paid app for meditation
Waking Up (Android and iOS)
When it comes to tinnitus coping, it’s important to reduce your stress and anxiety levels as much as possible, and mindfulness meditation is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal. Mindfulness has been shown to be helpful for tinnitus coping, but it’s also a remarkably effective way to better manage your mind.
There are a ton of excellent mindfulness meditation apps on the market, but for me, the Waking Up meditation app from author Sam Harris stands above the rest. The app itself is not marketed or built for tinnitus patients specifically, but mindfulness is an important tool that should be every tinnitus sufferer’s toolkit.
I’ve personally used Waking Up on a daily basis for more than a year now and it has had a profoundly positive impact on my quality of life with tinnitus on almost every level. I cannot recommend this app enough!
Runners up: 10% App, Headspace, Calm
Best free app for meditation
Insight Timer (Android and iOS)
Insight Timer is the most popular free meditation app by far, and for good reason: it features more than 60,000 free guided meditations, breathing exercises, and music tracks.
It’s not just traditional meditation either, Insight Timer features guided meditations for better sleep, relaxation, anxiety relief, focus, and more, making it an excellent option for tinnitus sufferers who want to experiment with different types of meditation to help them cope.
Insight Timer also includes a great meditation timer feature built into the app that allows you to set up custom meditation sessions. This is a focus training tool that plays a soft chime (or whatever sound you select) at preset intervals to help keep you focused while you meditate. This way, if your mind is wandering, and the chime goes off, it instantly brings you back to the meditation. You can also incorporate various background sounds into your meditation sessions, such as ambient music, nature sounds, and white noise.
Best apps for breathing techniques
Breathwrk (iOS only)
Prana Breath: Calm & Meditate (Android only)
Breathing techniques are a powerful way to cope with tinnitus, especially during spikes and on difficult days. Fortunately, there are a handful of excellent apps featuring guided breathing exercises to help you learn and practice the most effective techniques, of which there are many.
Some breathing techniques can trigger a relaxation response in the nervous system very quickly, while other techniques can help with everything from falling asleep faster, lowering stress levels, improving emotional regulation, increasing energy and focus, and so much more!
Here my top two app recommendations for learning the most powerful breathing techniques:
Breathwrk (iOS only): Breathwrk is one of the top breathing exercise apps for iOS, featuring thousands of positive reviews in the app store, with a combined 4.9/5 star rating. As far features, Breathwrk includes 10+ guided breathing techniques, visual, audio, and vibration cues, breathing lessons, progress tracking, and so much more.
Prana Breath: Calm & Meditate (Android only): Prana Breath is one of the most popular and powerful free guided breathing apps for Android, featuring 8 preset breathing protocols, visual, audio, and vibration cues to make it easy to follow along, as well as the ability to set up custom breathing sessions with timing intervals of your choosing. Prana Breath also allows you to increase the difficulty and complexity level of each technique as you practice, while recording of all of your breathing sessions so you can see your results and track progress over time. The app itself is free and ad-free, though there is a premium “Guru” version of the app (that I highly recommend) that can be unlocked via in-app purchase that adds an additional 50 breathing techniques.
Best app for improving hearing loss
AudioCardio (Android and iOS)
Many patients with tinnitus also have hearing loss. It’s a difficult combination, but it opens the door to additional treatment strategies, because improving a person’s hearing can often improve their tinnitus as well. AudioCardio delivers a new type of sound therapy that functions kind of like physical therapy for hearing, and one that could actually improve and strengthen hearing in patients with sensorineural hearing loss, based on preliminary data.
In a clinical trial at Stanford University, more than 70% of 42 study participants experienced at least a 10-decibel improvement in their hearing at the targeted frequency after two weeks of using AudioCardio’s algorithmically generated sound therapy for one hour per day. Self-reported user data over the longer term shows that some people experienced as much as 15-25 decibel improvements across the whole frequency range.
So how does it work? First, the app performs a hearing test to identify the lowest decibel level sound that you are able to hear at a range of different frequencies. The app then targets the user’s worst frequency and delivers a unique sound therapy called Threshold Sound Conditioning.
In most cases of sensorineural hearing loss, the hair cells are damaged, but not destroyed. A person can still hear sounds at the affected frequency if they are loud enough. The app plays algorithmically generated tones right at the threshold of what a person can hear.
The tones themselves are inaudible, or barely audible. The app’s creators say that by stimulating the hair cells right at the threshold, the app can strengthen the hair cells, leading to improved hearing.
If you suffer from tinnitus and sensorineural hearing loss, I recommend giving AudioCardio a shot. You can try it free for two weeks, after which the prices range from $9 to 15 per month. (Use promo code RT20DC for a 20% discount.)
Other apps and honorable mentions:
ACRN Tinnitus Protocol (Turn your volume down before attempting this): Acoustic Coordinated Reset Neuromodulation (ACRN) is a tinnitus treatment protocol utilized by several popular tinnitus apps such as Neuromonics. Many users report these apps as helpful in treating tinnitus, though both options can be expensive. This web app offers a free implementation of the ACRN Tinnitus Protocol, so tinnitus suffers can experiment without having to commit to any one (potentially expensive) treatment program.
First, you use the slider to identify the frequency of your tinnitus sound, and then the app generates ACRN sound therapy targeted specifically to that frequency.
It’s worth checking out, though it really works best for tinnitus sufferers who experience tinnitus as a single, constant tone.
Audible: This may seem like an offbeat recommendation, but more often than not, highly engaging spoken word audio content can be a more powerful coping tool than masking alone. Audiobooks can be a welcome distraction from tinnitus for many sufferers. Podcasts work well for this, too.
Want more? See Glenn’s columns and our other articles about tinnitus.
Other apps you may enjoy
We’ve rounded up apps in several hearing categories to help you make the most of your smartphone or tablet.
Smartphone apps for hearing loss — my top picks
Hearing aid apps: What you need to know
Brain training exercise apps for hearing loss
The best apps for phone captioning
The best smartphone decibel meter apps to measure noise levels
The best apps for learning sign language
Cochlear implant recipients reconnect to music with new app
best tinnitus masking device
Tinnitus is a common symptom of hearing loss. While you might not notice it until you’ve returned to a calm environment, noise can fuel the ringing in your ears. That’s how tinnitus not only makes it harder for you to follow conversations, but also prevents you from staying focused or achieving restful sleep.
In loud environments, a hearing aid can mute ambient noise, boost your ability to hear speech, and tame your tinnitus. When you’re back to the “raging” quiet, covering up the phantom noise using a tinnitus masker can bring relief. Many hearing aids come with integrated tinnitus masking; some even offer training programs that help you tune out your tinnitus. Getting a hearing aid early on is vital in maintaining your hearing and mental health.
We’ve compiled the best hearing aids for tinnitus masking and we explain what that means.
The best hearing aids with tinnitus masking: Signia Pure Charge&Go AX
The Signia Pure Charge&Go is a receiver-in-the-canal (RIC) hearing aid with superior sound processing and Bluetooth LE support.
Many hearing aids use artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically adapt audio processing to the listener’s surroundings. What sets the Signia Pure Charge&Go AX apart from other hearing aids is its dual-processor setup. One processor is dedicated to speech-specific frequencies, while the other handles environmental sounds. By separately processing two audio streams, Signia’s Augmented Xperience (AX) platform produces better speech clarity and contrast to background noise. This is crucial for people with moderate to severe hearing loss.
Signia Pure Charge&Go AX
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Signia Pure Charge&Go AX
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The Signia Pure Charge&Go AX optionally comes with a portable charger, similar to true wireless earbuds‘ charging cases. The hearing aid’s rechargeable lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery lasts for up to 28 hours. A 30-minute quick charge adds around six hours of battery life, and a full charge takes four hours. These battery life estimates include five hours of streaming. You can stream to Android and iOS using Bluetooth Low Energy (LE). If you opt for the slightly larger Telecoil version, the Signia Pure Charge&Go T AX, you’ll get up to 36 hours of battery life.
Read more: What is Telecoil?
Tinnitus masking is a feature of Signia’s mobile app. Once your hearing care professional enables this, the in-app Tinnitus Therapy hearing program lets you choose from a range of masking sounds. While you can control the volume of the tinnitus noiser function, you can’t adjust the sounds themselves, which can be an issue if your tinnitus changes throughout the day. That said, your hearing care professional can customize the static signals for you. If your tinnitus is tonal and steady, look into Signia’s Notch Therapy. This tinnitus therapy is customized to the sound you hear and can reduce or even eliminate your tinnitus over time.
You can learn more about the Signia Pure Charge&Go AX here.
What you should know about tinnitus, masking, and hearing aids
Tinnitus can take many forms. For some people, it’s a steady tone. For others it’s a constantly changing noise. Tinnitus sounds can range from a high-pitched hiss to clicking, humming, or whooshing noises. Chronic tinnitus is often associated with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) or noise-induced (sensorineural) hearing loss (NIHL). According to the Hearing Loss Association of America, 9 in 10 people who present with tinnitus also suffer from NIHL.
Find out: Can headphones cause tinnitus?
What is tinnitus masking?
Close up of faders on a mixing console.
Alexey Ruban Tinnitus masking is static noise that drowns out your tinnitus.
Tinnitus maskers, also known as noisers, present a form of sound therapy that floods your brain with low-level static noise. By covering the entire audible frequency range with a random collection of equally intense sounds, the noise drowns out most forms of tinnitus. Over time, as your brain is distracted by the static noise, your tinnitus might even lose its intensity.
How can hearing aids help with tinnitus?
Hearing aids can slow down further hearing loss, which in turn can stop your tinnitus from getting worse. Chronic tinnitus is most likely a product of the brain, resulting from reduced stimulation of the auditory pathway due to hearing loss. By giving your brain more quality sounds to process, your hearing gets a workout, you’ll feel more relaxed in social settings, and your tinnitus might recede to the background.
Related: Do hearing aids help tinnitus
Hearing aids can also address tinnitus with masking sounds or specialized training programs. Any Bluetooth hearing aid that supports audio streaming (ASHA for Android or MFi for iOS) can access free white noise apps that serve as tinnitus noisers. Most of these hearing aids also offer manufacturer-specific programs that your audiologist can customize. In addition to playing general masking sounds, tinnitus training programs, such as Signia’s Notch Therapy, can treat tonal tinnitus and calm it down or make it disappear entirely.
What are ASHA and MFi?
A OnePlus 7 Pro, iPhone 7 Plus, Macbook Pro, and Surface Book Pro all stacked on top of each other to demonstrate how to use Bluetooth across a range of devices.
Modern Android and iOS devices can stream audio directly to hearing aids that support ASHA or MFi.
Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids (ASHA) is a Bluetooth protocol that allows hearing aids to stream audio via Bluetooth Low Energy (LE). While Bluetooth LE has been available since Android 4.3, ASHA is only available with Android 10 and up.
Made for iPhone/iPod/iPad (MFi) is Apple’s licensing program for its equivalent Bluetooth streaming protocol. If a hearing aid is licensed under MFi, it can stream audio to iOS via Bluetooth LE. Unfortunately, MFi hearing aids don’t work with macOS, even though it supports Bluetooth LE.
Both standards will become obsolete once Bluetooth LE Audio sees wide implementation.
Related: What is Bluetooth LE Audio?
The Oticon More adapts to different sounds using AI
The Oticon More uses a deep neural network (DNN) to process sounds. Trained with over 12 million real-life sounds, the DNN can recognize and automatically adapt to different auditory environments. Like all hearing aids, the Oticon More focuses on extracting spoken words from background noise. It also offers a program, Oticon MyMusic, that enhances your music listening experience.
Oticon More
8.7
Oticon More
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On a single charge, Oticon More’s rechargeable Li-ion battery will last you up to 24 hours. With five hours of streaming, the battery life drops to 18 hours. With your Oticon More, you can stream audio from Android (via ASHA) or iPhone (via MFi). A 30-minute quick recharge adds six hours of power. Per default, the Oticon More comes with a USB-powered charging station, though you can also opt for the portable SmartCharger, which holds three full charges and a moisture-removing drying function for your hearing aids.
The Oticon More supports Oticon’s Tinnitus SoundSupport program. Similar to Signia’s offering, it includes white noise and ocean-like sounds. The free Oticon ON App for Android and iPhone lets you control the tinnitus programs, though it needs to be unlocked by your hearing care professional. In contrast to Signia’s app, you can adjust the sounds used to mask your tinnitus, which gives you more control.
You can learn more about the Oticon More here.
The Widex MOMENT has fast and detailed processing options
The Widex MOMENT is an AI-powered Bluetooth hearing aid with dual digital processing, and with it, you can choose from two different processing pathways. The ultra-fast ZeroDelay pathway powers the PureSound program with processing below 0.5 milliseconds. The Classic pathway, which has a processing time of as much as 2.5 milliseconds, serves up to five programs your audiologist can load on your hearing aid, as well as any custom programs you create with the Widex MOMENT mobile app. In addition to amplifying sounds, the Classic pathway eliminates feedback, dampens loud sounds, and manages noise. More severe hearing loss requires more elaborate processing, which takes more time.
Widex MOMENT
8.5
Widex MOMENT
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At up to 40 hours per charge, the battery life of the Widex MOMENT is among the best in its class. A 30-minute charge will give you four hours of battery life, and a full charge takes up to four hours. Unfortunately, this hearing aid doesn’t offer a handy charging case. Instead, it comes with a carrying case and a separate microUSB charging station with no internal battery.
The Widex MOMENT supports the Widex Zen Therapy program, delivered through the separate Widex Zen, Tinnitus Management app, available for Android and iOS. In addition, your hearing care provider can enable custom Zen programs in the Widex MOMENT app and make them one of five programs they can load onto your hearing aid.
You can learn more about the Widex MOMENT here.
The Starkey Livio Edge AI brings lots of ear shape options
Starkey’s Livio Edge AI hearing aids are available in four different form factors: behind-the-ear, receiver-in-canal, custom-molded in-the-ear, and in-the-canal. All of them are available as rechargeable models.
Starkey Livio Edge AI
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Starkey Livio Edge AI
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In addition to auto-adapting AI technology, Livio Edge AI hearing aids pack sensors that can track your activity and engagement levels, detect falls and issue alerts, find your hearing aids, and find your phone. Other unique features include transcription of captured speech and instant in-ear translation to one of many different languages. To access the Livio Edge AI sensor settings and advanced features, you’ll need the Thrive Hearing Control app.
Thanks to its sensors, your Livio Edge AI hearing aid can turn on or off automatically when you put it in or take it out of your ear. It’s a great way to preserve the 24-hour battery life. This is a notable feature because most other hearing aids turn on automatically when removed from the charger and don’t turn off until manually switched off or returned to the charger.
The Edge AI can detect when you fall and send out alerts, notifying up to three designated people via text.
For tinnitus relief, Starkey has integrated Multiflex Tinnitus Technology into all its hearing aids. Together with your hearing care professional, you can fine-tune a custom sound that masks your tinnitus. This option is most suitable for people with steady tonal tinnitus as you can’t adjust the sound yourself.
You can learn more about the Livio Edge AI here.
The ReSound ONE fixes a common behind-the-ear problem
The ReSound ONE is a RIC hearing aid with an additional microphone attached to the receiver (aka speaker) itself.
This microphone and receiver-in-ear (M&RIE) solution addresses a major downside of hearing aids that sit behind the ear; they place the sound-capturing microphone on top of the ear. In natural hearing, the ear conch plays a key role in shaping the sound that enters the ear canal. Your brain has learned to interpret this naturally shaped sound, for example, to gather directional information. By putting a microphone into the receiver that sits in the ear canal, ReSound can amplify more natural sound.
ReSound ONE
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ReSound ONE
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The ReSound ONE holds up to 30 hours of battery life. The optional Premium Charger provides three days of quick charging and doubles as a carrying case. The ONE supports audio streaming from Android (via ASHA) and iOS (via MFi) devices.
The ReSound Relief app pairs with the ReSound ONE to help you cope with tinnitus. It’s one of the more versatile apps, as you can combine up to five different sounds to create a custom soundscape and balance the audio between your left and right ears. The premium version of the app unlocks a fully customizable tinnitus sound therapy. Unfortunately, you can’t load the soundscapes, or the sound therapy directly onto your hearing aid.
You can learn more about the ReSound ONE here.
The best hearing aids for tinnitus masking: Notable mentions
A person wears the Signia Active Pro hearing aid earbuds.
Signia At a glance, the Active Pro closely resembles a standard set of true wireless earbuds.
Signia Active Pro: If you’re not ready to wear a traditional hearing aid, the earbud-style Signia Active Pro might be more appealing.
With up to 26 hours of battery life, a charging case, and MFi support for streaming audio to iOS devices, it can double as earbuds, while still treating your hearing loss. Android users have to use Signia’s StreamLine Mic for audio streaming. The Active Pro optionally comes with Signia’s tinnitus hearing program, just like the Pure Charge&Go AX.
Phonak Virto M-312: Phonak’s custom-fit in-the-canal hearing aid features Bluetooth and can connect directly to Android or iOS. Since Phonak uses a universal Bluetooth connectivity solution, it doesn’t require ASHA or MFi to work. Consequently, streaming works with a wider selection of devices.
The Bluetooth streaming feature also gives you access to the full range of Phonak’s Tinnitus Balance Portfolio, which includes tinnitus masking and retraining therapy, available through the myPhonak app.
Phonak Lyric: The Phonak Lyric is an invisible hearing aid. Since it contains a non-rechargeable battery, you can wear this type of hearing aid 24/7 for months at a time, even while working out or showering. It doesn’t contain a tinnitus masker, but since you can wear it day and night, your world never goes quiet, always providing a distraction from your tinnitus.
Conclusion
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