How would you feel if your phone started randomly applauding you for no reason? Well, that's what's been happening to many Android users lately. Apparently, there's a strange and scary bug making Android phones blast out ghostly applause from their speakers.
Applause sound coming from Android phones
It's not Halloween yet, but some Android phones have apparently started playing scary jokes. There are at least two Reddit threads where people report an applause sound effect that's been playing randomly.
My Samsung A30s was kept on a desk where I was sitting playing my guitar. Phone was on but not lit up. I finished playing a long music piece and suddenly I heard 2 seconds of applause play from the phone. Like a theatre applause. Bewildered, I checked the phone thoroughly for any background apps etc, nothing. Seriously, what just happened?
- user SeaProposal8755 on Reddit
The original poster of the first thread reported hearing the applause effect for the first time after they played their guitar for a while. In the Reddit post, the "victim" describes what happened to them as a "scary incident."
Not the first spooky applause incident
At least two other Android users reported the same applause effect. | Image by Reddit
Even though most comments don't seem to take this seriously (some even joke about Google appreciating the guitar performance of the original poster), it's not an isolated problem (or a hidden feature). The original poster dug up a similar report from earlier this month.
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It's an applause sound effect that's been happening randomly . I've checked the notification history whenever that sound happens and it shows nothing. I have never installed 3rd party apks on phone , I don't have ali express or apps like that either . This started about 3 days ago and I haven't installed any new app for over a week . Please help
- user Amazing_Wolf_1987 on Reddit
In both cases, the users reporting the strange sound effect say they haven't installed 3rd-party apps or had any smart assistants running in the background. The thread from 21 days ago has a couple of comments confirming the issue on different Android phones, including Vivo models, as well as the Samsung Galaxy A30s of the original poster.
Is your Android phone applauding you randomly for no reason?
2 Votes
No explanation or fix
At the time of writing this, there's no explanation, no Google official has chimed in on the problem on Reddit, and there's no solution.
Both threads remain open with just a handful of comments and no developments. This applause sound leaves no traces—nothing in the notifications or Android logs.
Have you experienced anything similar to this on your Android phone? I tried to replicate the bug by playing my electric guitar next to my phone and even singing a little, but to no avail.
What's happening?
The strange applause sound has been reported on the Webnovel subreddit forum. | Image by Reddit
Now, this moves into the speculation zone, but I suspect it's a hidden feature Google is secretly testing around Halloween. It's a wild suggestion, but hearing the applause after a guitar performance points toward a practical joke.
I dug up a third instance of this strange issue, this time around reported on the Webnovel subreddit. It's the same applause sound played after the user finished a chapter. The thread is 18 days old, so the timeline matches. There's something going on.
Either that, or Gemini is starting to become sentient and appreciate human music, or trying to spook us for no apparent reason.
Read more about strange bugs and smartphone issues here:
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Mariyan, a tech enthusiast with a background in Nuclear Physics and Journalism, brings a unique perspective to PhoneArena. His childhood curiosity for gadgets evolved into a professional passion for technology, leading him to the role of Editor-in-Chief at PCWorld Bulgaria before joining PhoneArena. Mariyan's interests range from mainstream Android and iPhone debates to fringe technologies like graphene batteries and nanotechnology. Off-duty, he enjoys playing his electric guitar, practicing Japanese, and revisiting his love for video games and Haruki Murakami's works.
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