Oh, thanks, I might try that. I do remember a period years ago when I had the habit of falling asleep in front of the TV. I would put the TV on a timer and at 2-3am the sudden silence when the TV turned off would wake me up.
Yeah, I also have found the abrupt jolt of silence (from podcast or audiobook) can jolt me awake, and also that all-night droning on also disturbs me and wakes me up.
Apps that can slowly fade out the sound are great. The Audible app fades out very quickly, but even that quick fade is enough not to wake me if I am already asleep.
(If I am awake, though, I find that it disturbs my "almost asleep" vib, so I wish they had an option to fade out over x minutes.)