Where are sound settings on Android?

This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to find and customize the various sound settings on Android devices. Knowing how to adjust system sounds, ringtones, media volumes, and notification tones can greatly enhance one’s overall user experience. With the ability to set custom sounds for texts, emails, alarms and more, users can stay organized and productive. Additionally, controlling media and call volumes prevents disruptions. Customizing Android sound settings to suit one’s needs and preferences is an important way to optimize enjoyment and productivity on any device.

Accessing Sound Settings

Most Android devices allow you to adjust sound and volume settings directly from the Settings app. Here are the basic steps to access the Sound settings menu on an Android phone or tablet:

1. Open the Settings app. This is usually done by swiping down from the top of the screen and tapping the gear icon, but may vary slightly between devices.

2. Scroll down and tap “Sound & vibration” or “Sound.” On some devices this may be labelled “Sounds and vibration,” “Sound settings,” or something similar.

3. You will now see the Sound settings menu. This lets you change and adjust various audio options like media volume, call volume, ring volume, notification sounds, and more.

So in summary, open Settings, tap Sound & vibration (or Sound), and you’ll find all the configurable sound options for your Android device in one convenient place.

Media Volume

The media volume slider controls the volume for playing media and content on your Android device such as music, videos, games, and other media apps. This allows you to adjust the volume level for media playback without affecting your ringtone or alarm volumes.[1]

The media volume slider can be accessed in the main Settings app under Sound & vibration > Volume. There is a separate slider labeled “Media” that you can drag left or right to lower or raise the media volume. Typically, media volume is set to full volume by default.

Lowering the media volume affects any media that plays from apps on your device. This includes streaming music apps, video apps, games with sound effects or background music, YouTube, and other similar media apps. It allows you to turn the volume down if media is too loud without muting your ringer.

Some devices may also have separate sliders for music, videos, games, and other media. Adjusting any of these specific sliders will affect the overall media volume. The media volume control is independent from ringtone and alarm volumes, which have their own separate controls in Sound settings.

Call Volume

The call volume slider controls the volume level for voice calls on your Android device. This adjusts the in-call volume, which determines how loud the other person’s voice sounds during a phone call.[https://docs.agora.io/en/help/integration-issues/system_volume] When you adjust the call volume slider in the Sound settings, it changes the volume level only for phone calls and does not affect the volume for media playback or alarms.

To find the call volume slider, open the Settings app and go to Sound. Under Volume, you will see sliders for Media, Call, Ring, and Alarm volumes. Drag the Call volume slider left or right to lower or raise the call volume. An easy way to change call volume during a call is to use the Volume up/down buttons on the side of your phone.

The call volume slider allows granular control over how loud voice calls play through your phone’s earpiece or connected headphones. Setting the call volume high enough ensures you can clearly hear the other person on the call. You may need to adjust call volume for different environments, raising it in noisy areas or lowering it for quiet spaces.

Ring Volume

The ring volume slider allows you to control the volume level for your ringtones and notifications. It is located in your Sound settings. Dragging the slider to the left lowers the volume, while dragging it to the right increases the volume.

When you receive a call or notification, the ring volume will play at the level set with this slider. For example, if you place the slider at max volume, your ringtone and notifications will play loudly. If you lower the slider to halfway, the volume will be reduced significantly.

Setting this slider to vibrate mode will mute the ringtone and notification sounds, causing your phone to vibrate instead. This allows you to silence audible rings and alerts in situations where you don’t want to disturb others around you.

The ring volume slider gives you granular control over the loudness of your audio alerts. Adjust it based on your needs and environment.

Also Vibrate for Calls

The “Also vibrate for calls” option allows you to enable vibration in addition to your selected ringtone when you receive an incoming call. This can be useful in situations where you may not hear your ringtone well, like in a noisy environment. When enabled, your phone will vibrate and play the ringtone simultaneously when you get a phone call.

To enable this setting:

1. Open the Sound settings menu
2. Scroll down and tap on “Also vibrate for calls”
3. Toggle the switch ON

Now whenever you receive a call, your phone will vibrate along with your ringtone alert. This is helpful if you often miss calls because you don’t hear your ringtone. The vibration makes it harder to miss an incoming call.

You can turn this setting off at any time to disable vibration during calls. Some people prefer having just a ringtone without vibration. Adjust this setting to your personal preferences.

Default Notification Sound

The default notification sound is the sound that plays whenever you receive a new notification on your Android device. If you want to change the default sound, here are the steps:

On Android 9 Pie devices, go to Settings > Sound > Advanced > Default notification sound. Tap on the existing sound to change it to a new one. You can choose from the built-in notification sounds or pick a music file stored on your device (Source).

On Android 6.0 Marshmallow Samsung devices, open the Apps folder and tap on Settings. Go to Sounds and notifications > Sounds > Default notification sound. Tap on a sound to preview it and select the one you want to set as the default (Source).

For other Android versions, go to Settings > Sound & vibration > Default notification sound and select a new notification sound. You can browse the built-in sounds or pick an audio file stored on your device.

Changing the default notification sound allows you to customize your notification alerts to your liking. Pick a tone that stands out so you never miss an important notification.

Default Alarm Sound

To change the default sound for alarms on your Android device:

1. Open the Settings app and tap Sound.

2. Scroll down and tap Advanced.

3. Tap Default alarm sound.

4. This will open up your ringtones/notification sounds. Tap on the one you want to set as the default.

5. A popup will appear asking you to confirm. Tap OK.

The selected sound will now be set as the default for all alarms. Whenever an alarm goes off, it will use this sound.

You can set unique sounds for individual alarms by editing the alarm and selecting a different sound. But the default will be used for any new alarms you create.

Some popular alarm sounds on Android include Radar, Climb, Chord, and Explore.

For more customization options, you can download alarm sound apps from the Play Store. Some apps provide nature sounds, music, and other audio to use for your morning wakeup call.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASELShk9lak)

Other Advanced Settings

Android also provides some other advanced sound settings you can customize. These include:

• Do Not Disturb – Lets you block sounds and notifications during set times or events. You can tailor which apps and contacts can bypass Do Not Disturb.
• Vibrate patterns – Allows you to customize vibration patterns for notifications from different apps.
• Phone ringtone – Sets the default ringtone for incoming calls.
• Default notification sound – Sets the notification sound for new alerts.
• Dial pad tones – Controls whether you hear tones when dialing numbers on the phone dialpad.
• Screen locking sounds – Toggles sounds when locking or unlocking your phone’s screen.
• Charging sounds and vibration – Sets whether to play sounds or vibrate when connecting or disconnecting the phone charger.

These extended sound options give you granular control over your Android device’s auditory experience.

Conclusion

In summary, Android makes it easy to customize your sound settings precisely to your preferences. The sound settings menu lets you control the volume for media, calls, ringtones, and alarms. You can set your phone to vibrate in addition to ringing for calls. The default notification and alarm sounds can be changed to any audio file on your device. There are also advanced settings to control volume behavior and emergency broadcasts.

Taking the time to personalize your sound settings helps ensure you don’t miss important calls and notifications. Setting volumes appropriately for your environment prevents disruptions. Choosing custom ringtones and notifications allows you to add your personality. Optimizing your sound settings means your Android device will work for you the way you want it to.