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Googler confirms upcoming Android change that will improve the user experience

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By Alan Friedman

Published: Apr 30, 2023, 1:33 PM

Googler confirms upcoming Android change that will improve the user experience

Google will soon give Android users the ability to independently control ringtone and notification volume on their handsets. This could show up in the June Quarterly Platform Release (QPR) or Android 14, according to 9to5Google. The current setup, found by going to Settings > Sound & vibration, shows four sliders including Media volume, Call volume, Alarm volume, and Ring & notification volume.

9to5Google spotted an ADB command in QPR2 Beta 1 that created two separate sliders titled Ring volume and Notification volume. When Google adds this to Android, it will expand the number of sliders on the page from four to five and allow Android users to have notifications set at a lower volume than ringtones, a higher volume, or an equal volume. That level of customization obviously isn't offered at present.

A Feature Request page, part of the Android Issue Tracker site, shows a comment written by a Googler who, talking about the creation of separate sliders, wrote, "The requested feature will be available in a future build." This comment was posted yesterday and elicited this response from an Android user that was posted today: "Only took you around 2 years to recognize your flawed logic here... Thank you for finally understanding the importance of this feature. It will make Pixel's Android much more user friendly!"

Google is committed to separating the ringtone and notification volume slider. Image credit 9to5Google

The $64 million question then is, when will Google make the separate notification and ringtone sliders available? It could show up in the stable QPR3 release which is tentatively penciled in for June 5th. And when we say 'penciled in,' we mean it. After all, Google's update release schedule has been as punctual as the New York City subway system. The individual sliders do not appear in the QPR3 Beta 3 release.

Another possibility is that the change to the Sound & vibration page will take place with the release of Android 14 which could take place in August. However, similar to the QPR3 Beta, the individual sliders do not show up in the latest Android 14 Beta release which is version 1.1.

Yes, this is a minor change for Android but it is one that can improve the user experience.

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Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.

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