Google is quietly fixing my biggest Pixel 10 Pro sound complaint
A Pixel 11 leak reveals the easy win, but there's a second feature I'm still not counting on.
Pixel 10 Pro XL and Pixel 8 Pro pictured. | Image by PhoneArena
Google's Sounds app might be getting a genuinely useful upgrade. A new APK teardown found volume sliders built right into the ringtone, alarm and notification pickers in an unreleased Pixel 11 firmware build. Leftover code also hints at a long-teased Vibrations tab that still hasn't reached the Pixel 10 Pro or any other phone in Google's current Pixel lineup.
A new report found volume sliders built into an unreleased Pixel 11 firmware build of the Sounds app, sourced from a tipster who has flagged early Pixel features before. The sliders were reportedly already working, appearing directly on the same ringtone, alarm and notification screens where you preview a sound.
It's a small fix, but a genuinely useful one, since adjusting the volume for one of these sounds currently means backing out to a separate settings screen just to check if it sounds right.
The same report also found leftover strings for a "Vibrations" tab, describing a collection of familiar and new personal vibrations. It reportedly didn't work yet on a Pixel 9, so there's no telling if or when Google will actually ship it.
This matters more in practice than it sounds on paper. Anyone who has picked a ringtone only to find it too quiet, or embarrassingly loud, knows the annoyance of hopping between two menus to fix it.
If you're on a Galaxy phone, none of this changes anything for you. Samsung's ringtone screen already shows a volume slider right where you preview tones, so Google is just catching up here.
If you're on an iPhone, Apple went even further last month. iOS 27 lets you split ringtone, alarm and alert volumes into fully separate sliders, a bigger structural change than this, so neither rival's users have much reason to pay attention here.
None of this is live yet, and it's tied to an unreleased Pixel 11 build that hasn't reached the Play Store. Google has historically rolled Sounds app updates out to older Pixels too, so there's a reasonable chance this reaches phones like the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 9 series, not just whatever ships with Pixel 11.
The bigger winners are anyone who fusses over notification and alarm sounds, since adjusting volume without leaving the picker screen removes one of the more annoying parts of customizing a Pixel.
The volume sliders are the kind of change that should have existed years ago. It's a small, obvious fix, and if it reaches stable Pixels, it's an easy win with no real downside.
The Vibrations tab is where I stay skeptical. We've been tracking pieces of this feature since Google's Sounds app first teased custom vibration patterns, and it still hasn't shipped. Leftover strings are a good sign Google hasn't abandoned it, but until it survives a stable release, I'd call it a maybe, not a promise.
What the Pixel 11 teardown actually found
A new report found volume sliders built into an unreleased Pixel 11 firmware build of the Sounds app, sourced from a tipster who has flagged early Pixel features before. The sliders were reportedly already working, appearing directly on the same ringtone, alarm and notification screens where you preview a sound.
It's a small fix, but a genuinely useful one, since adjusting the volume for one of these sounds currently means backing out to a separate settings screen just to check if it sounds right.
New volume sliders on the ringtone, alarm and notification screens in the Sounds app. | Images by Android Authority
The same report also found leftover strings for a "Vibrations" tab, describing a collection of familiar and new personal vibrations. It reportedly didn't work yet on a Pixel 9, so there's no telling if or when Google will actually ship it.
Which of these Pixel Sounds tweaks would you use?
Where this fits next to Samsung and Apple's phones
This matters more in practice than it sounds on paper. Anyone who has picked a ringtone only to find it too quiet, or embarrassingly loud, knows the annoyance of hopping between two menus to fix it.
If you're on a Galaxy phone, none of this changes anything for you. Samsung's ringtone screen already shows a volume slider right where you preview tones, so Google is just catching up here.
If you're on an iPhone, Apple went even further last month. iOS 27 lets you split ringtone, alarm and alert volumes into fully separate sliders, a bigger structural change than this, so neither rival's users have much reason to pay attention here.
Who actually benefits from this and when
None of this is live yet, and it's tied to an unreleased Pixel 11 build that hasn't reached the Play Store. Google has historically rolled Sounds app updates out to older Pixels too, so there's a reasonable chance this reaches phones like the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 9 series, not just whatever ships with Pixel 11.
The bigger winners are anyone who fusses over notification and alarm sounds, since adjusting volume without leaving the picker screen removes one of the more annoying parts of customizing a Pixel.
A nice fix, but I'm not holding my breath on the rest
The volume sliders are the kind of change that should have existed years ago. It's a small, obvious fix, and if it reaches stable Pixels, it's an easy win with no real downside.
The Vibrations tab is where I stay skeptical. We've been tracking pieces of this feature since Google's Sounds app first teased custom vibration patterns, and it still hasn't shipped. Leftover strings are a good sign Google hasn't abandoned it, but until it survives a stable release, I'd call it a maybe, not a promise.
Popular stories
Latest News
Things that are NOT allowed:
To help keep our community safe and free from spam, we apply temporary limits to newly created accounts: