Fireplace
Crackling embers, warm room glow, a hearth that never goes out.
What this scene is
The Fireplace scene runs a generative wood-fire simulation: each flicker, each ember lift, each crackle is independent. There's no 4-minute loop hiding beneath the visual — what you see is what's being computed in that moment.
The audio layers (crackle, low bed, draft hum) blend continuously. The brightness slider lets you keep the warm room glow while dimming visual brightness for late-night use.
Why fire sounds help sleep
Fireplace sounds work along similar mechanisms to rain — masking, predictability, deep conditioning — with a couple of distinctive features:
- Warm-color visual cue. Warm-spectrum light in the evening doesn't suppress melatonin onset the way blue-spectrum light does. A dim, warm fire on an Apple TV screen behaves more like a candle than a phone display.
- Variable masking. Crackles are random, brief, and uncorrelated — closer to "violet noise" than pink. This profile masks both low-frequency (a hum from the AC) and high-frequency (clinking dishes from the kitchen) intrusions.
- Hominid-deep conditioning. Fire-as-safety predates language. The evolutionary case for fire being a calming stimulus is hard to test rigorously, but it's a common intuition with strong cross-cultural support.
Who Fireplace works best for
- Apple TV households wanting an ambient room presence during the evening — the visual warmth carries the room atmosphere.
- Cold-bedroom sleepers — the visual heat suggests warmth even if your thermostat is at 62°F.
- People who don't sleep well to rain — fire's crackle profile is quite different from rain's wash and works better for some listeners.
- December evenings. Genuinely. The Christmas Fire preset below is a year-round preset that lands particularly well in late November and December.
What each slider does
- Intensity
- Heat level of the fire. Higher = bigger flames, more visual energy.
- Flicker
- How fast the flames move. Low = meditative slow flicker; high = active blaze.
- Embers
- Density of glowing particles rising from the fire.
- Ember Lift
- How high the embers rise before fading.
- Room Warmth
- Color palette of the surrounding room — how amber the glow on the walls reads.
- Room Glow
- Radius of light spilling out from the fire. Higher = brighter room.
- Brightness
- Overall display brightness multiplier. Dial down for late-night use.
- Crackle
- Audio mix: the snap and pop of dry wood.
- Bed
- Audio mix: the sustained low-mid wash of a continuous fire.
- Hum
- Audio mix: low-frequency draft and combustion bed. Subwoofer-friendly.
Fireplace sine gallery
Each "sine" below is a saved configuration of the Fireplace scene. Scan the QR with your phone, or tap the code — Sleep Sine opens and loads the exact scene the gallery describes.
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Evening Fire
A fresh log going. Bright flicker, active embers, full crackle.
Best for: The first hour after dinner. Cozy, present, not yet quiet.
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Smoldering Coals
Late-night fire dying down. Low crackle, prominent bed and hum. Warm but quiet.
Best for: Last 30 minutes before sleep. Sound stays, intensity fades.
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Hearth Crackle
Crackle-forward mix. Every tiny pop of resin and dry wood is audible.
Best for: ASMR-leaning listeners. Texture-rich rather than wash-of-noise.
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Steady Burn
Long, even flame. Gentle flicker. Consistent crackle bed.
Best for: All-night play. Designed to never spike or attention-grab.
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Wood Stove
Hot box of a wood stove — high warmth, low embers, prominent hum from a tight draft.
Best for: Cabin-in-winter aesthetic. Pairs with very cold bedroom (open window in January).
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Roaring Hearth
Maximum visual intensity. Big flicker, fast embers lifting, bright room glow.
Best for: For people who use Sleep Sine as ambient room presence, not bedtime.
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Soft Glow
Dimmed brightness with full crackle. The fire is there but isn't lighting the room.
Best for: Sleeping with a partner who finds bright displays disruptive.
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Dying Fire
Just the bed and hum. The fire visually is almost out, sound is sustained background.
Best for: Deep-sleep continuation. Minimal visual draw, sustained audio.
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Library Fire
Mid-warmth, mid-everything. Reading-by-the-fire ambiance.
Best for: Focus work, evening reading. Background that doesn't pull attention.
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Slow Flicker
Lower flicker frequency than default. The flame moves like it's thinking.
Best for: People who find fast flicker stressful or seizure-adjacent. Gentle motion only.
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Christmas Fire
High warmth, high glow, bright. Holiday-evening fire glow at peak.
Best for: December evenings. Pairs beautifully on a tvOS Apple TV through the holidays.
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Quiet Coals
Inverted mix: minimal flame, prominent low-end bed and hum.
Best for: Falling asleep to fire without the visual stimulation.
Other scenes
Sleep better tonight
Free on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. Fireplace included in the preview; a single one-time unlock opens every scene forever.
Download on the App Store