How do I get rid of the sound notification icon on my Samsung?
What is the sound notification icon?
The sound notification icon is a small speaker icon that appears in the status bar at the top of Samsung Galaxy devices such as the S22, S23, and others. This icon signifies that an app has produced a notification sound even though the device is currently muted or in vibrate mode.
Specifically, the speaker icon appears when the following conditions are met:
- The device’s sound mode is set to vibrate or mute
- An app sends a notification with a designated sound
In this case, even though the overall device volume is muted, the app’s notification sound will still play. The speaker icon serves as an indicator that an audible notification alert has occurred while in a silent mode. Users can check which app sent the notification by pulling down the notification shade.
So in summary, the appearance of the separate sound notification icon on Samsung Galaxy phones simply denotes that an app has used a notification sound despite the silent or vibrate mode activated on the device. It allows users to distinguish audible app alerts even when the device is muted.
Why do some users want to remove the icon?
Some users want to remove or hide the sound notification icon for a few reasons:
The icon can be distracting or annoying for some users, especially if they have already silenced their device. As one Reddit user said, “I don’t need an icon constantly reminding me that my phone is silenced when I deliberately put it on silent in the first place” (source).
Others find the icon unnecessary if they already know their device is silenced. Having a persistent icon on the status bar for this can feel redundant.
The notification icon can also interfere with full-screen apps and videos. Some users want to hide the icon to enable a more immersive, uninterrupted experience.
Turning off the icon in Settings
The most straightforward way to disable the sound notification icon on Samsung devices is directly through the Settings app. Here’s how to do it:
Open the Settings app and tap on “Sounds and vibration.” Then choose “Sound mode.”
In Sound mode settings, find the “Show icon pop-ups” option and toggle it off. This will prevent the sound notification icon from appearing at the top of your screen whenever your phone’s sound mode changes.
By disabling “Show icon pop-ups” in Settings, you’ve permanently removed the sound mode notification icon from your Samsung device. It will no longer pop up when you switch between sound modes like silent, vibrate, and sound.
Using Do Not Disturb to hide the icon
One way to prevent the sound notification icon from appearing is to enable Do Not Disturb (DND) mode on your Samsung device. Enabling DND prevents sound icons from being displayed when notifications come in.
You can set a schedule for DND mode to have it automatically enable during certain times, like at night when you don’t want to be disturbed. To do this, go to Settings > Sounds and vibration > Do not disturb and select the option to set a schedule.
It’s important to note that enabling DND mode will silence all notifications during the scheduled times, not just hide the icons. Calls, alerts, and badges will all be muted. You can customize what types of notifications are allowed in DND settings. For example, you may want to allow calls from certain contacts to ring through.
Overall, DND mode is an easy way to automatically hide the sound notification icon during set times. Just keep in mind it prevents all notifications, so you may miss important alerts. See this Android Central thread for more tips on customizing DND settings.
Using Third-Party Apps
Third-party apps like Notification Manager provide more control over notification icons than the default Settings options on Samsung devices. These apps can selectively hide specific notification icons from the status bar, including the sound profile icon.
Notification Manager and similar apps require accessibility permissions in order to customize the notification icons. After granting permission, you can use the app to disable the sound profile icon without affecting your other notifications.
The main benefit of using a third-party notification manager is the ability to hide individual notification icons, rather than completely disabling all icons. This allows you to keep seeing essential notifications, while removing only the icons you find distracting or unnecessary.
Customizing with Good Lock
The Good Lock app from Samsung offers advanced customization modules that let you fully control which notification icons appear in your status bar. As noted in this Reddit post, Good Lock provides customization options that previously required root access or custom ROMs on Android devices.
With Good Lock modules like NotiStar, you can customize notifications far beyond what the standard Settings app allows. You can change notification icons, colors, and layouts. This makes Good Lock a great option for power users who want granular control over the look and feel of their notification area.
While Good Lock does not come pre-installed on Samsung devices, you can easily download it from the Galaxy Store or as an APK. With a few taps, you’ll unlock powerful notification customization tools to remove notification icons, arrange them, and much more.
Using IconChanger to modify icon
IconChanger is a third party app that allows for customization of Android icons including notification icons. It provides advanced control of app icons, shortcuts, and folders and can replace existing icons with a customized image, photo, or even transparent icon.
With IconChanger, you can specifically target and change notification icons like the sound, alarm, battery, and more. This gives you the ability to remove the sound notification icon by replacing it with a transparent icon, effectively making it invisible on your home screen without disabling the sound notifications.
According to an Android Authority review, IconChanger is easy to use and provides an advanced icon editor and theme engine to customize your device’s look and feel. While not a Samsung-specific app, it is compatible with Samsung devices running Android 9.0 and above (https://www.androidauthority.com/icon-changer-review-1174827/).
So if you want to hide or modify the sound notification icon on your Samsung, IconChanger provides that granular customization and control over your icons without needing to disable important notification functions.
Additional notification customization tips
There are a few other settings you can adjust to further customize how notification icons behave on your Samsung Galaxy device:
Disable icon pop-ups in individual apps: Go to Settings > Notifications > Recently sent and tap on an app. Toggle off “Allow notifications” and “Show icon” to disable the pop-up icon for that app. You can do this for any app.
Use Edge Lighting for visual alerts instead of icons: Edge Lighting creates a pulsing light effect on the edges of your screen when you get notifications. Enable it in Settings > Display > Edge screen > Edge lighting. Then you can disable the notification icons and use Edge Lighting instead for a cleaner look.
Set notification icons to lower priority: In Settings > Notifications, tap on the Advanced settings icon. Here you can change some apps to Gentle notifications, which makes their icons smaller and less intrusive. You can also disable icon badges for less important apps.
For more details, see this helpful guide: No custom notification sound in One UI 4?
Automating with Bixby Routines
Using Bixby Routines is an excellent way to automatically enable Do Not Disturb and hide notification icons based on triggers like time of day or app usage. This allows you to set it and forget it, rather than having to constantly toggle DND manually.
To create a routine to enable DND and hide icons:
- Open the Bixby Routines app
- Tap “Add routine” and give it a name like “Bedtime DND”
- Tap “Add condition” and select a trigger like “At night” or when you open certain apps
- Tap “Add action” and select “Do not disturb”
- You can also add other actions like turning on Blue light filter
- Tap Done to save the routine
Now Bixby will automatically enable DND and hide notification icons based on your set conditions. You can create multiple routines for different situations when you want to enable DND and clean up your notification bar.
According to this Reddit post, Bixby Routines may conflict with the built-in Scheduled DND feature. So it’s best to rely on Bixby Routines alone for automated DND.
Summary
In summary, we covered the main options users have to hide or remove the sound notification icon on their Samsung phones. The easiest options involve going into Settings to disable notification icons and using Do Not Disturb mode to temporarily hide icons. For more customization, third party apps like Good Lock and IconChanger allow you to change the notification icons themselves.
The best method depends on your needs – Settings and Do Not Disturb are quick and simple, while Good Lock and IconChanger provide more personalization. Power users may want to try automating with Bixby Routines as well. Regardless of approach, removing the sound notification icon can help declutter and customize your Samsung experience.
In conclusion, while the sound notification icon is a default Samsung feature, you have multiple options to hide, modify or remove it. Finding the right solution can help streamline your notification experience.