How do I get my phone to ring Android?

Understanding Android ringtones and notifications

On Android phones, there are a few different types of sounds you’ll hear:

Ringtones – These are the sounds that play when you receive an incoming call. Ringtones are typically songs or other musical sounds.
Notifications – Notification sounds play when you receive a new text, email, app alert, etc. These are usually brief dings, chimes, or other simple sounds.

Alerts – Alerts include alarm sounds, calendar reminders, and other app alerts. They serve to get your attention for important events.

Ringtones are specifically for incoming calls. You can set a default ringtone for all calls, or customize ringtones for individual contacts. Notification sounds are more varied, since each app can have its own notification sound setting. Both ringtones and notifications can use .mp3 or other audio files stored on your device. Alerts mostly use preset system sounds built into Android.

The key difference is that ringtones indicate incoming calls, while notification sounds are for new messages, emails, and app alerts. Both serve to grab your attention, but ringtones are reserved exclusively for phone calls.

Checking if ringtones are enabled

To check that ringtones are enabled on your Android device, you first need to open the Sound settings. To do this, go to your Settings app and tap on “Sound & vibration” or “Sounds and vibration” depending on your Android version (Source).

Once you are in the Sound settings, scroll down and look for the “Phone ringtone” option. Tap on this and make sure it is not set to “None”. You want to have an actual ringtone like “Default ringtone” selected here.

Additionally, scroll down further and look for the “Also vibrate for calls” option. Make sure this toggle is enabled, so your phone will vibrate in addition to playing the ringtone when you get an incoming call. If ringtones and vibration are both enabled here, then your Android is setup properly to play ringtones.

Setting a default ringtone

To change your default ringtone on Android:

Open the Settings app.
Tap Sound & vibration or Sound.

Tap Phone ringtone.
You will see a list of ringtones. Tap on the one you want to set as default.
Alternatively, tap Add ringtone to select a custom audio file from your device storage as the default ringtone (Source).

Setting a custom ringtone as the default means that incoming calls from all contacts will use that ringtone. You can still assign custom ringtones to individual contacts which will override the default for those contacts.

Creating custom ringtones

One of the best features of Android is the ability to set any song or audio file as your custom ringtone. Here are the steps to convert an MP3 song into a ringtone using common Android apps:

1. Download an app like Zedge or Audiotrimmer that allows trimming and converting audio files. These are available for free on the Google Play Store.

2. Use the file manager on your Android device to locate the MP3 song you want to use. Copy the file so the ringtone app can access it.

3. Open the app and select the option to trim or cut the audio file. Set the start and end points to cut out just the part of the song you want.

4. Export or save the trimmed audio file. Make sure to save it as an M4R or MP3 ringtone file type.

5. Lastly, go to the Settings menu of your Android device and select Sounds > Phone ringtone. Locate the custom ringtone file you exported and set it as the default.

Now you will hear your favorite song or audio clip play each time you get an incoming call. You can create custom text tones and alarm sounds using similar steps.

Setting custom ringtones for contacts

You can set a unique ringtone for individual contacts on your Android phone. This allows you to identify who is calling without even looking at your phone.

Here are the steps to set a custom ringtone for a specific contact:

Open the Contacts app and select the contact you want to customize.
Tap the Details or “i” icon next to the contact name.

Tap Edit in the top right corner.
Scroll down and tap Ringtone.
Select a ringtone from the available options. You can choose an existing ringtone or pick a music file from your device storage.

Tap OK to confirm the selection.

The ringtone you picked will now play when that particular contact calls you. Keep in mind this will override any default ringtone you have set.

You also have the option to reset the contact’s ringtone back to your phone’s default. Just repeat the steps above and on the Ringtone screen, tap Default ringtone.

Customizing ringtones for individual contacts helps you identify callers without looking at your phone. Just make sure to pick distinct ringtones for each frequent contact. Refer to the WikiHow guide on setting an Android contact ringtone for more details: https://www.wikihow.com/Set-a-Ringtone-for-an-Android-Contact

Troubleshooting Tips

If you are having issues getting your Android phone to ring for incoming calls or notifications, here are some troubleshooting tips to try:

Check your ringtone volume settings – Make sure the ringer volume is turned up loud enough by using the volume buttons on the side of the phone or adjusting the volume in Settings > Sound.

Try the ringtone on a different device – To rule out any issues specific to your phone’s speaker, try setting the ringtone on another phone and test calling it.

Restart your phone – Sometimes a simple reboot can resolve minor software glitches preventing your ringtone from working properly. Power your phone off completely and then back on.

Check for dirt or debris – Make sure the phone speaker is not blocked by any dirt or debris which could muffle the ringtone.

Update your Android version – Installing the latest Android software update may include bug fixes affecting ringtones.

Reset app preferences – Go to Settings > Apps and reset app preferences which will restore all apps to their default settings.

Factory reset – As a last resort, a full factory reset will wipe your device and restore to original settings which should enable sounds.

Using Do Not Disturb mode

Do Not Disturb mode is an Android feature that silences notifications, alerts, and calls on your phone. Enabling Do Not Disturb allows you to avoid distractions when you need to focus or sleep without completely muting your phone.

To enable Do Not Disturb on Android:https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/do-not-disturb-android/ Go to Settings > Sound (or Notifications), and tap Do Not Disturb. Toggle the switch on. You’ll see a moon icon in your status bar indicating Do Not Disturb is active.

You can allow exceptions for important contacts in Do Not Disturb settings. Go to Settings > Sound > Do Not Disturb > Exceptions. Tap Calls or Messages and select which contacts can still reach you.

To schedule Do Not Disturb for certain times or events, go to Settings > Sound > Do Not Disturb > Schedule. You can set start and end times, as well as days of the week to automatically enable Do Not Disturb.

Silencing with mute or airplane mode

If you want to quickly silence your Android phone, you have a couple options without having to change your ringtone or notification settings. The easiest is to use your device’s mute switch, if it has one. Just toggle the mute switch so it’s in the muted position to turn off all sounds.

Another option is to enable Airplane mode on your device. Swipe down from the top of your screen and open the Quick Settings panel. Tap on the Airplane mode tile to enable it. This will turn off all radios on your device, including cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS. It will disable all ringtones, notification sounds, and other audio. Just remember to turn Airplane mode off again when you want to re-enable sounds and wireless connections.

The mute switch and Airplane mode are handy ways to quickly silence your phone if you don’t want to be disturbed. They allow you to mute everything without having to change your default ringtone or notification settings.

Checking app notification settings

You can control notification sounds and vibrations for each individual app on your Android device. Here’s how:

Open the Settings app and go to Apps & notifications > Notifications.

Tap the app you want to customize. You’ll see options for enabling/disabling notifications, importance level, customizing the notification sound and vibration, allowing peeking, and more.
To disable an app’s notifications entirely, turn off “Show notifications.” You can also block notifications from the app when your phone is in Do Not Disturb mode.
To change an app’s notification sound, tap Sound and select a new sound. You can use one of the default options or pick a music file stored on your device.

Toggle “Vibrate” on or off to control whether notifications vibrate.

Adjusting these notification settings for each app allows you to customize which apps make sounds/vibrations and when. For example, you may want to disable notification sounds from social media apps during the workday while keeping notifications enabled for messaging apps.

Customizing notification sounds

You can customize the notification sounds on your Android device to help distinguish between notifications from different apps. Here’s how to change the default notification sound or set custom sounds:

To change the default notification sound for all apps:

Go to Settings > Sounds & vibration > Default notification sound.
Tap on the current default sound to preview it.

To change it, tap on any of the other available sounds to preview them.
Once you’ve chosen a new default sound, tap OK to set it.

To set a custom sound for notifications from a specific app:

Go to Settings > Apps & notifications > Notifications.
Tap on the app you want to customize.
Tap Sound and select a sound or tap Add ringtone to use any audio file saved on your device as a custom notification sound.

Creating custom notification sounds allows you to assign unique audio clips to different apps so you can identify notifications just by the sound. You can record custom sounds directly on your Android device or download audio files online in formats like MP3 and assign them to app notifications through the steps above.

Custom sounds can help you distinguish critical alerts from less important ones. Just be sure to pick sounds that aren’t too abrasive for frequent notifications.