Timer with rain sounds
Choose 10, 20, 30 or 60 minutes, press Start, and soft rain plays until the timer ends, then fades away.
Timer
How the rain timer works
- Choose a length: 10, 20, 30 or 60 minutes, any whole number up to 180 in the Minutes box, or “No limit”.
- Press Start. The rain fades in and the countdown begins. The line under the clock tells you what time it will end.
- When time is up, a soft two-note chime plays, a message appears on screen and the rain fades out.
Rain is preselected but silent until you press Start, so the page is safe to open in a quiet room.
What each duration is good for
| Duration | Ideas |
|---|---|
| 10 minutes | A breathing break, a short meditation, a reset between meetings |
| 20 minutes | A power nap, a short reading session, winding down a child at bedtime |
| 30 minutes | One focused study block, journaling, a calm commute on headphones |
| 60 minutes | A long reading or writing stretch, background for a quiet evening |
For study, rain works nicely with the Pomodoro timer: start the “Rainy study” preset there and it keeps raining through all your sessions and breaks.
Why rain?
Steady rain covers sudden noises like voices or traffic without asking for attention, which is why many people use it while reading or studying. There is little research on rain sounds specifically; studies on background noise mostly use white or pink noise, and they find that it helps some people and distracts others. Rain sits between the two in tone: brighter than brown noise, softer than white noise.
Our rain is made by code rather than recorded, so it plays instantly and you can leave it on for hours without hearing the loop. Details are on the sound credits page.
Keep the volume comfortable
Background sound should be quiet enough to talk over. The World Health Organization’s safe listening advice is to keep the volume down and take listening breaks, especially with earbuds. If rain at a low volume still feels intrusive, try fewer layers or pause it for a while.
More fixed timers: 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Is the rain a real recording?
No. Our rain is synthesized in your browser: a bed of filtered noise plus many tiny generated drops. That means it never repeats in an obvious way, needs no download and has no licence restrictions. Café and forest are real CC0 recordings.
Does the rain stop when the timer ends?
Yes. When the countdown reaches zero, the chime plays and all sounds fade out over about two seconds. Choose “No limit” if you want rain without a timer.
Can I mix rain with other sounds?
Yes. Switch on café, forest, fireplace or brown noise in the mixer and set each volume separately. The “Rainy study” preset mixes rain with a little brown noise.
Will it start playing by itself?
No. Rain is preselected, but nothing plays until you press Start or the Rain button. Browsers block sound that starts without a click, and we wouldn’t want to surprise you anyway.
Can I use it to fall asleep?
You can set 20, 30 or 60 minutes and let the rain fade out. It is a simple sound player, not a sleep treatment. Keep the volume low, particularly with headphones or for children.
Does it keep playing in another tab?
Yes, sound keeps playing in a background tab, and a tab that is playing sound is not slowed down by the browser, so the timer stays on time. Phones may stop audio when the screen locks, depending on the browser.
Is it safe to listen to noise all day?
At a moderate volume, generally yes; loudness and time are what harm hearing. The World Health Organization’s safe-listening guidance treats 80 decibels for up to 40 hours a week as the limit for adults, and suggests keeping the volume down and taking listening breaks. This is general information, not medical advice. Speak to a clinician about ADHD or hearing concerns.
Does it work offline?
Partly. Once the page has loaded, the timer, tasks, stats and the generated sounds (brown, pink and white noise, rain and fireplace) keep working without a connection. The café and forest recordings download the first time you play them, and reloading the page needs a connection. An installable offline version is planned but not available yet.
Updated · Written by the FocusLoop team