Fun
Virtual candle
A flickering candle with a warm, realistic glow — blow into your microphone to put it out, light a birthday cake full of candles, or keep a quiet memorial candle burning.
Blow out the candles
Privacy: the microphone sound is only measured for loudness and pitch, many times a second, right here in your browser. Nothing is recorded, saved or uploaded, and the microphone is released when you turn it off, hide this tab or leave the page. You can also tap a flame to put it out, and tap an unlit candle to relight it.
Mode
One steady candle on a dark background, to rest your eyes on.
F full screen · B blow · R relight · tap a flame to put it out · the animation pauses while the tab is hidden
Also try the virtual fireplace or rain on a window.
Play and explore in your browser. No account needed.
Frequently asked questions
How does blowing into the microphone put the candle out?
Breath across a microphone makes loud, rumbling air noise, most of it below about 500 Hz and spread evenly across those frequencies. Many times a second the page measures how loud the sound is, how much of it is low-pitched and how even that low part is. When it is well above your room’s background level, low, noise-like and lasts at least a tenth of a second, it counts as a blow; the harder you blow, the more the flames bend and the faster they go out. A voice or a hum is a row of separate harmonic peaks, and a clap is too short, so they are ignored.
Is my microphone recording me?
No. The sound is only measured for loudness and pitch, in your browser, and then thrown away — nothing is recorded, stored or sent anywhere, and there is no server involved. The browser shows its own microphone indicator while it is in use. The page releases the microphone when you turn it off, switch to another tab or leave the page, and it never turns on unless you press the button.
Blowing does nothing — what should I try?
Check that the browser was given microphone permission (look for the microphone icon in the address bar) and that no other app is using it. Blow directly at the microphone from close up — on phones it is at the bottom edge, on laptops usually near the camera or keyboard. Raise the Sensitivity slider if the bar stays blue. If talking or music keeps putting candles out, lower it. Some Bluetooth headsets muffle breath noise, so the built-in microphone works better.
Can I use it as a virtual birthday cake on a video call?
Yes. Choose Birthday cake, set the number of candles (up to 40) and type the name. Share your screen or this browser tab on the call, and let the birthday person blow at their own device while you hold yours up, or send them the link so they can blow out their own. When the last candle goes out, the page wishes them a happy birthday with a shower of confetti (left out if the device asks for reduced motion).
Can I light a candle in memory of someone?
The Memorial mode shows a single white candle with an optional dedication beneath it, such as “In loving memory of Anna”. Many people light one for an anniversary, a funeral they cannot attend or a moment of silence. The dedication is kept only in your browser; nothing is published or shared. Leave “Keep the screen awake” ticked so the candle keeps burning on screen.
Is a virtual candle safer than a real one?
It cannot start a fire, which makes it a sensible choice in hospitals, care homes, offices, dorms and children’s rooms where real candles are banned. Unattended real candles are a common cause of house fires, so if you do light real ones, keep them away from curtains and pets and put them out before you leave the room or go to sleep.
About this tool
Each flame is drawn live in your browser from layered shapes and light. A candle flame has a blue base where the wax vapour first meets air, a dark inner cone of unburnt vapour around the wick, and a bright yellow body where glowing soot particles give off light; all three are here, with a soft halo that lights the wall behind and the table below. The flicker is built from slow breathing, a gentle sway and the occasional quick flutter of a draught, from smooth noise so it never repeats. The top of a pillar candle glows where light passes through the wax, just as real wax is slightly translucent.
The blow detector listens only for the signature of breath. It keeps a running estimate of the background noise in your room, adapting whenever you are not blowing, and counts a sound as a breath only when it is several times louder than that background, mostly below 500 Hz, noise-like rather than tonal, and at least a tenth of a second long. Your blow strength decides how far the flames bend and how quickly they go out, and a cake with many candles needs a longer breath, so a weak puff may leave a stubborn candle or two. When a flame goes out, a thin trail of smoke curls up from the wick.
There are four modes. Meditation shows one candle on a dark background, a simple point of focus for candle-gazing (trataka) or winding down; if your device asks for reduced motion the flame barely moves. Memorial places a white candle above an optional dedication. Candles arranges two to nine pillars of different heights. Birthday cake draws an iced cake with sprinkles and up to 40 striped candles arranged in rings, invites the guest to make a wish, and celebrates when they are all out.
With “Melt over time” on, lit candles shorten and wax drips down their sides over the time you choose, and each goes out when it has burnt down; once they all have, “New candles” starts again with fresh ones. Full screen, a screen wake lock and a quiet dark background make it suitable for a TV or tablet. The animation stops when the tab is hidden, the microphone is released at the same time, and your settings stay in this browser.
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