For those insomniacs who have tried everything from counting sheep to listening to Gregorian chants to lure restful sleep, familiar background sounds, such as a washer cycle, vacuum cleaner or hair dryer, might work or soothing sounds such as cats purring, heavy rain or the ocean.
These sounds and many more are available on TM Soft's White Noise, which can be downloaded onto your iPhone or Android phone. Just hook your mobile phone up to your speakers and relax, it is said to work like a dream. Alternatively, the Deep Sleep app, with self-help expert Andrew Johnson, will guide you into a relaxed state with his soothing voice and deep breathing to bring on a restful night's sleep.
The pzizz sleep is more costly than other sleep apps (less than US$10) because of its range built-in scientific techniques and programmes that help insomniacs rest, and it boasts more than 1 billion soundtrack combinations.
Among numerous sleep apps available online, iRelax Melodies app for the iPhone is a collection of music and sounds such as the flute, piano, orchestral, bird and waterfall, which you can customise by mixing different sounds into one track.