Noisli is a focus and relaxation app that makes it easy to make your sound environment and helps in maintaining focus or to relax. It does this by playing various background sounds based on the chosen ambiance. It also comes with a timer and a minimal text editor that can be used with the background sounds and help in staying focused and productive while working.
To use Noisli, first create a free account from here.
Once the account is created, sign in to Noisli.
Using Noisli:
There will be a colorful dashboard with a timer at the top and a list of various background sounds below. The interface colors will keep toggling by default but that can be changed.
These sounds all belong to different preset playlists. The free version of Noisli offers 3 playlists and 16 background sounds to select from while the premium version has all the playlists and sounds unlocked.
Background sounds and playlists:
To choose a particular playlist like say Productivity, click on it.
This will automatically play the different background sounds for it. You can also play individual sounds by clicking on them. Also, if more than one sound is playing, you can turn them on or off as needed.
Besides the preset playlists, you can also make your combination of background sounds and save it as a playlist. To do that, click on the Favorites button and add the sounds for the custom playlist.
Name the playlist and save it . It can then be edited or deleted as needed.
These playlists can also be shared if required by clicking the share icon.
Other features like Shuffle, Oscillation, and unlimited streaming are unlocked in premium plans but the free version is also useful if you’d like to use from the available background sounds and save them as a custom playlist.
Timer:
Noisli has a countdown timer that by default is set for a session of 25 minutes. This timer works in conjunction with the background sounds and displays the session countdown. Using it can be helpful when working with time management techniques like Pomodoro.
When the timer is started, the last chosen playlist will be played till the countdown is complete. Without the timer too, you can play the background sounds anytime if needed. You can pause or reset the timer anytime, it will also pause or stop the playlist and the background sounds being played with it.
The timer can be reset by clicking on the icon if needed. You can also change the length of the default session from 25 minutes to some other interval from the Settings.
Text editor:
Along with the session timer and background sounds, Noisli also has a distraction-free text editor. Click on the edit icon from the top right to open it.
You can then write using this minimal text editor as per the timer count and be productive.
To download the text, click on the download icon that will be visible from the right.
Settings:
To change Noisli settings, click on the account icon and select Settings.
From there, you can change different settings like Timer preferences.
Other settings like displaying the timer in browser tabs, working in sessions, and breaks notifications are premium features. The basic countdown though is still useful though as you can change the session duration.
Also, by default, the Noisli background colors keep changing frequently. So, this also can be changed to a single color if needed from the Background Color settings.
Noisli apps:
Besides the web version, Noisli is also available as an iOS and Android app and as a Chrome add-on
Download and install the Chrome extension from the Web Store here.
Once installed, pin it next to the Chrome address bar by clicking on the Extensions icon.
Then sign-in to your Noisli account from the add-on.
The background sounds can then be directly changed through this add-on.
However, to select sounds or make playlists, you would need to use the web version of Noisli.
This is a useful tool to maintain focus and also to relax.
Do try it out.