Earth Garden takes users on a virtual exploration of different parts of the world with environmental sound recordings sourced from Freesound. According to a review dated 5 September 2026, the project resembles Radio Garden in its idea of exploring nature and city sounds instead of radio stations. Users can listen to waves breaking on the shores of remote islands in the Atlantic Ocean, crickets in Tanzania, or rain on the streets of Manhattan. The use of recordings from Freesound can lead to variations in sound quality and levels between clips. The content is denser particularly in the United States and Europe, especially the United Kingdom. The globe can be rotated automatically; the sound changes as the marker approaches different locations. Users can also add general ambient sounds to the background. The article finds the app relaxing and entertaining, while noting that the field recordings can also be used as background sound while working or sleeping.
Why it matters
Earth Garden moves location-based sound exploration beyond radio broadcasts and into the diversity of environmental recordings; in this respect, it offers the opportunity to experience different places through their sounds without seeing them. However, the concentration of content in the United States and Europe shows that it does not represent all regions of the world equally. While Freesound-sourced recordings broaden the platform’s scope, they also make differences in sound quality and recording levels part of the user experience. For this reason, the app can be considered less a tool for exploring a complete acoustic portrait of a particular place than a way to navigate a random and personal sound archive; the open question is to what extent this archive will expand over time.