About Lofi Cities
Lofi Cities is a free web app that pairs animated pixel-art city nights with endless lofi music generated live in your browser. Pick a city and let it run: every scene is a 480×270 pixel animation that loops seamlessly every four minutes, with its own weather, landmarks and city sounds, while new lofi tracks are composed on the fly.
There is nothing to install, no account and no pop-ups. It works on computers, phones and tablets, and makes a calm background for studying, working or winding down.
Every city has a billboard for rent, with a made-up local ad on it until a business takes it. Put your business on one
What's new
- 27 Sep Lighter on phones and laptops: 120 Hz screens draw the scene 60 times a second like every other screen, snow and leaves cost less to draw, and switching cities quickly no longer piles up city sounds.
- 27 Sep The "today" count under the city name now starts at midnight where you are and only goes up through your day, instead of counting the last 24 hours.
- 27 Sep More reliable updates: changing cities keeps working while a new version is deployed, and interrupted offline updates keep the last complete copy.
All updates
Cities
Paris Rain on the attic window
A painter's attic under the zinc roofs, rain on the window and the Eiffel Tower sparkling far off.
Tokyo Neon rain by Tokyo Tower
Neon signs, cherry blossoms and wet asphalt, with Tokyo Tower glowing and a train crossing the viaduct.
New York Snow over Brooklyn Bridge
A snowy winter night by the Brooklyn Bridge, with the Manhattan skyline across the East River.
London Fog on the Thames
Fog and drizzle on the Thames, with Parliament, the London Eye and a Victorian pub on the South Bank.
Rio de Janeiro Copacabana summer night
A balcony above Copacabana, with Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf and fireworks over the bay.
Istanbul Bosphorus by night
A rooftop tea garden facing the historic peninsula, with ferries and gulls on the Bosphorus.
Hong Kong Victoria Harbour after dark
A crowded Kowloon rooftop facing the Hong Kong Island skyline, with ferries, a red-sailed junk and a light show on the harbour.
Sydney Jacaranda night on the harbour
A harbourside park under a blooming jacaranda, looking across to the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.
San Francisco Fog over the Golden Gate
Fog pouring through the Golden Gate, seen from a steep Russian Hill street with a cable car and painted Victorians.
Hamburg Harbour lights on the Elbe
Wind-driven rain over HafenCity, with the Elbphilharmonie, the Speicherstadt and container cranes across the Elbe.
Amsterdam Bridge lights on the canal
A mild spring night on a canal quay, with the Westerkerk tower, gabled houses, a houseboat and a bulb-lit bridge.
How the music works
Every track is composed on the spot with the Web Audio API: a chord progression, a drum groove, a bass line and often a melody, finished with tape wobble and vinyl crackle. Everything is synthesized in real time, with no samples or recordings, so the stream never runs out.
The Vibe panel picks the style: jazzhop (the default: a Rhodes, jazzy chords and a swung boom-bap beat at 68 to 88 BPM), piano (a sleepy felt piano with soft drums), ambient (slow warm pads with barely a beat, for sleep and deep focus), bossa (nylon guitar over a bossa nova groove), synth (80s city-pop synths), house (lofi deep house on a soft four-on-the-floor kick), guitar (a clean electric guitar, fingerpicked over a lazy beat), sad (slow minor chords and a lonely muted trumpet) or medieval (a lute and a recorder over hand drums). A new style starts with the next track.
It also sets the mood, chill (slower and darker) or upbeat (faster and brighter), and plays the full band, no drums, or the chords only.
Track titles are inspired by the city on screen, and a separate ambience layer mixes that city's sounds under the music. The Up next list shows the coming tracks so you can pick one to play right away, and music and city sounds each have their own volume slider. The city sounds mixer goes further, with a slider for each sound of the city: turn the rain up, the traffic off or the bells down, and the setting carries over to every city with that sound.
The Weather chip (W) brings rain, snow, autumn leaves or a clear night to any city, and the city sounds and track titles follow it: rain brings the sound of rain in, snow a hush of wind.
How the music on Lofi Cities is made
Keyboard shortcuts
← → 1–9 0
Switch city
/
All cities: a preview of each with its local time, and a search
C
City tour on or off: a new city every few minutes, or follow the night
W
Weather: the city's own, rain, snow, autumn leaves or clear, on every city
Space
Play or pause the music
N
Next track
Q
Up next: see the coming tracks and pick one
A
City sounds mixer: a slider for each sound of the city
V
Vibe: the style, chill to upbeat, full band, no drums or chords only
T
Timers: focus (25/5 or 50/10, on repeat) and sleep (fade out and pause)
G
Together: reactions and lanterns
L
Release a lantern over the city
M
Mute
F
Fullscreen (or double-click the scene)
P
Mini player: the scene floats in a small window over your other apps
H
Hide or show the interface
S
Save the current frame as a 1080p PNG
?
Open or close this panel
Questions
What is Lofi Cities?
A free website at loficities.com that shows animated pixel-art city nights (Paris, Tokyo, New York, London, Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul, Hong Kong, Sydney, San Francisco, Hamburg and Amsterdam) with endless lofi music composed live in your browser, plus each city's ambient sounds.
Is Lofi Cities free?
Yes. It runs entirely in your browser, with no download, no account and no pop-ups.
Where does the music come from?
It is generated in your browser while you listen. Chords, drums, bass and melody are synthesized with the Web Audio API, without samples or recordings, so every track is new and the music never runs out. The Vibe button (or V) picks the style (jazzhop, lofi piano, ambient, bossa nova, synth city pop, lofi house, chill guitar, sad lofi or medieval lofi), makes it chill or upbeat, and plays the full band, no drums, or the chords only.
Why doesn't the music start right away?
Browsers block sound until you interact with a page. Click, tap or press any key and the music starts; the play button pauses and resumes it.
Can I use it as a background for studying or working?
That is what it is made for. Press F for fullscreen and H to hide the interface, or P for the mini player: a picture-in-picture window that keeps the scene floating over your other apps (on a computer, in browsers that support it). The controls also fade out on their own when you stop moving the mouse.
Can it switch cities by itself?
Yes. The Tour chip next to the city picker (or the C key) moves on to the next city every 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes, or follows the night: it shows whichever city is closest to 1 am local time, moving west from Sydney to San Francisco as the hours pass. Cities on the same clock, like Paris, Hamburg and Amsterdam, take turns.
Can I change the weather or the season?
Yes. The Weather chip next to the Tour chip (or the W key) brings rain, snow, falling autumn leaves or a clear night to any city, or goes back to the weather the city was drawn with: winter snow in New York, autumn in London and Hamburg, spring blossom in Tokyo and Sydney. The city sounds follow it, so rain brings the sound of rain in, and your pick stays for the next visit.
How many people are listening right now?
The glowing pill under the city name shows it, for example "23 here now · 5 in Tokyo · 480 today": people with Lofi Cities open right now, how many of them are on your city, and browsers that came by today, since midnight where you are. When nobody else is on, it shows the day alone ("480 here today"), and it stays hidden if nobody else came by today. You can say hello to the people on your city too: pick a heart, note, star or moon with the Together button in the player (or G), then tap the scene to float it up from that spot on everyone's screen there, or release a paper lantern (L) that rises over the city for about a minute, in the same place for everyone, including people who arrive while it is in the air. It is all anonymous, with no chat, names or accounts: a random id in your browser's local storage (not a cookie) makes your tabs count as one person and the server forgets it about 25 hours after your last visit. Your page also tells it when your day began, so "today" starts at your midnight, and that is forgotten when you leave. The only other thing it keeps is the lanterns still in the air.
Is there a Pomodoro or sleep timer?
Yes. Press T or the clock button. The focus timer runs 25 minutes of focus and 5 of break (or 50 and 10) on repeat, with a soft chime at each break and a bell to call you back. The sleep timer fades the music and city sounds out after 15 to 90 minutes, then pauses.
Can I use Lofi Cities as a stream background in OBS?
Yes. Add a Browser source set to 1920×1080 with a city page's address followed by ?obs, for example https://loficities.com/tokyo/?obs. The interface stays hidden and the music starts on its own; tick Control audio via OBS to bring it into your mix. Interact with the source to switch city with the arrow keys, skip a track with N or change the weather with W, or add &weather=snow (rain, leaves or clear) to the address.
Does it work on phones and tablets?
Yes. In portrait orientation every city's landmark and billboard stay in view, you can drag the scene sideways to look around it, and swiping past its end switches city. All controls work with touch.
Does it work offline?
Yes. Open it once while online and it keeps working without a connection, every city and the music included, since both are generated in your browser. You can also install it as an app with your browser's Install or Add to Home Screen option (on iPhone and iPad: Share, then Add to Home Screen).
Can I save a scene as a wallpaper?
Yes. The save button in the player (the down arrow) saves the current frame as a 1080p PNG, and S does the same with a keyboard.
Can my business appear in Lofi Cities?
Yes. Every city has a billboard for rent, where your café, shop, studio or brand can be drawn in pixel art. Fill in the short form at tally.so/r/rj7bY5 to get in touch.
Who made Lofi Cities?
Lofi Cities is made by Safa Elmali. You can support it on Buy Me a Coffee using the coffee link at the top right.
Can I request a new city?
Yes. Send your idea to Safa Elmali on X at https://x.com/SafaElmali (Request a city, at the end of the city picker, or the X link at the top right of the site). New cities are added over time: Hong Kong, Sydney, San Francisco, Hamburg and Amsterdam joined the first six.
Can I buy the city videos?
Yes. Get the 11-city collection on Gumroad through the Get video loops link or the save menu. Each AI-assisted video is a four-minute 1920×1080 MP4 loop at 60 fps, without audio. Personal use and video or livestream backgrounds, including monetized content, are allowed with the Lofi Cities credit specified on the product page. The music and city sounds you hear on this site are not included in the downloads. The website stays free.
Does Lofi Cities use cookies?
No. There is no sign-in and no cookies. Anonymous usage statistics, such as which cities are viewed, are collected without cookies, and browsers that send Do Not Track are left out of them (the live count still counts the tab, anonymously). Your settings (such as the last city, volumes and vibe) and anonymous random ids for the statistics and the live count are kept in your browser's local storage instead.
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