How do I make my notifications sound different for different apps?

One of the great features of Android is the ability to customize notification sounds for individual apps. Rather than having every app use the same default notification sound, you can assign unique sounds to important apps like messaging, email, calendar, and more. This allows you to identify which app is notifying you without having to look at your phone. With custom notification sounds enabled, you’ll never have to wonder whether that ding came from a text, an alarm, or something else.

Access Notification Settings

To customize notification sounds for different apps on your Android device, you’ll first need to access the notification settings. Here are the steps:

Open the Settings app on your Android device. On most Android phones, you can find this by swiping down from the top of the screen and tapping the gear icon. Alternatively, you can search Settings in the app drawer.

In Settings, tap “Apps & notifications.” On some devices, this may be labeled “Apps.”

Next, select “Notifications.” This will open up notification controls for your Android device.

From here, you can select default notification sounds and customize notifications for individual apps. The notification settings may look slightly different depending on your Android version and device manufacturer.

Now that you’ve accessed the main notification settings, you can begin customizing sounds for individual apps.

Locate App

The first step is to locate the app you want to customize the notification sound for in the Settings. To do this:

Open the Settings app on your Android phone.

Scroll down and tap on “Apps.” This will show you a list of all the apps installed on your device.
Scroll through the list of apps and find the specific app you want to customize the notification sound for. Tap on the app to open its settings page.

For example, if you wanted to set a custom notification sound for WhatsApp, you would scroll through the Apps list in Settings until you find WhatsApp. Tap on it to open the app’s dedicated settings page.

Open App Settings

Once in the Settings menu, you need to locate and open the settings for the specific app you want to customize notifications for. Here are the steps:

Tap on the “Apps & notifications” option in Settings. This will show you a list of all the apps installed on your device.

Scroll and find the app you want to customize notifications for. Tap on the app name to open its App Settings or App Info screen.

For example, if you wanted to customize notification sounds for WhatsApp, you would tap on “WhatsApp” in the apps list to open its settings.

The App Info or App Settings screen allows you to customize various options for that particular app, including notifications.

Now that you have opened the target app’s settings, you can proceed to locating the sound option and customizing the notification sound.

Locate Sound Option

Once you have opened the notification settings for the specific app, you need to locate the option that allows you to customize notification sounds. This is usually labeled “Sound” or something similar. The exact steps to find this setting may vary by app, but it is generally found in the notifications section of the app’s settings.

For example, in the Gmail app’s settings, you would go to Settings > Notifications > Gmail > Sound. Here you can select a custom notification sound for new Gmail notifications.

Some apps may bury the sound customization option deep in their settings menus, so you may need to poke around to find it. The key is looking for words like “Sound”, “Ringtone”, “Notification tone”, etc. in the notifications area of the app’s settings. With most major apps, the option is there if you dig around.

If you’re having trouble locating the notification sound setting in a particular app, searching the app’s help documentation or forums can provide guidance. But with some persistence, you can customize notification sounds in most apps.

Select Custom Sound

Once you have opened the app’s notification settings and located the sound option, you can select a custom sound for that app’s notifications. Tap on the Sound option, which will open up a menu showing default system sounds. At the bottom of this menu is an option to select a custom sound file from your device’s storage.

Tap on the “Select custom sound file” or similar option at the bottom. This will open up your file explorer, where you can browse and select a sound file stored locally on your device. Make sure to pick a short audio file, preferably an MP3 or other compressed format, for use as your custom notification tone. Select the desired sound file and confirm to set it as the new notification sound for the chosen app.

The app’s notifications will now play your custom sound when received. Follow these same steps to set different custom sounds for other apps as well. Just make sure to open each app’s individual notification settings to choose its custom tone. This allows granular control to assign unique sounds to different apps according to your preferences.

Enable Custom Sound

To ensure the custom sound is enabled and selected for the notification:

Open the settings for the app you want to customize the notification sound for. This is usually done by long pressing on the app icon and selecting App Info or App Settings.

In the app’s settings screen, look for notifications options. This may be under a section called “Notifications” or “App notifications.”
Once in the notifications settings, locate the sound option. Look for a setting called “Notification sound”, “Notification ringtone”, or something similar.
Tap on that sound setting and you should see a list of available alert tones to select.

Find your custom sound in the list and tap to select it. The custom sound’s name in the list should match what you named it when you downloaded it to your device previously.
Double check that the toggle or switch next to the custom sound is in the ON position so that notifications from this app will play your custom sound.

Repeat this process for any other apps you want to have use your custom notification sound. Most apps with notification abilities have a sound setting that can be customized this way. Refer to this guide for more details on selecting custom sounds.

Repeat for Other Apps

You can customize notification sounds for all other apps following the same steps.

To recap, here’s how to set a custom notification sound for any app:

Open Settings on your Android device.

Tap “Apps and notifications”.
Tap “See all # apps” to see a list of all of your apps.
Select the app you want to customize.

Tap “Notifications”.
Tap “Advanced” (or “Sound” in newer versions of Android).
Tap “Sound”.

Select the sound file you want to use.
Enable the custom notification sound and save your changes.

You can repeat these steps for as many apps as you’d like to assign a unique notification sound.

Setting custom sounds helps you easily differentiate notifications based on the app sending them. This allows you to identify important alerts without even having to check your phone.

Custom Sound Tips

When choosing custom sounds for your app notifications, it’s helpful to keep a few tips in mind:

Use distinct sounds for your most important apps like messaging, email, and calendar. This allows you to identify which app is notifying you without having to look at your phone.

Pick sounds that fit the personality of the app. For example, choose fun sounds for social media apps and more professional sounds for work apps.

Avoid overly long or disruptive sounds if you get a lot of notifications. Shorter sounds are less jarring.

Consider using your favorite songs or instrumental versions of songs for apps you use frequently.

Change up your custom sounds periodically to keep things fresh. You can set seasonal sounds or rotate through a few options.

Use the free app Zedge to browse and download custom notification sounds created by other users.

Preview sounds before selecting to ensure they sound right on your phone’s speakers.

Adjust the notification volume in Settings if some custom sounds are too loud or quiet.

Know that you can silent app notifications at any time or revert back to the default sound.

Conclusion

In summary, setting custom notification sounds for different apps on Android involves going into the Sound & vibration or Sound settings for each individual app and selecting a custom sound file or tone. The key steps are:

Open the Settings app and go to Apps & notifications > See all ### apps
Tap on the app you want to customize
Look for Sound & vibration, Notifications sound, or a similar setting

Tap on the option for sound and select a custom sound file you have saved or enabled
Make sure the toggle is enabled to use a custom notification sound
Repeat this process for any other apps you want to set custom sounds for

Following these steps allows you to assign a unique sound for notifications from specific apps. This lets you easily identify which app is sending you alerts without having to look at your phone. Custom sounds can be brief music clips, alert tones, or any other audio file saved on your device.