I refused to pay $60/yr for white noise, so I built my own.

Hey Product Hunt 👋

April 7 is a massive day for me: I am launching my very first iOS app here!

The whole journey started from a personal frustration. Like millions of people, I need the sound of a box fan to sleep. But when I looked at the App Store in 2026, I realized that the "simple utility app" is dead. Every white noise or sleep app I downloaded required a mandatory account creation and pushed a $10/month or $60/year subscription.

For fan sounds.

I decided I didn't want to rent my sleep. So, I spent the last few months learning to code with AVFoundation and built Box Fan Sleep.

I focused entirely on the user experience instead of maximizing recurring revenue:

• Zero Subscriptions: It’s completely free to download and use the core fan sounds, with a simple $2.99 one-time unlock for Pro features (Dark mode, nature overlays).

• No Abrupt Waking: I engineered a "Fade-Out Timer" that slowly lowers the volume to zero over the last 30 seconds, so you aren't startled awake by sudden silence at 3 AM.

• Gapless Engine: A custom dual-player crossfade system so the audio never "clicks" or repeats.

I'm launching April 7 here, and honestly, the pre-launch nerves are real!

I’d love to start a discussion with the makers here:

1) Do you think the pendulum is finally swinging back away from subscriptions and toward one-time payments for simple utilities?

2) This is my first launch and I'd love your product feedback as well: what sounds would you want added next? What would make this your nightly sleep companion?