[Andrew Brehm]

I have recently replaced my Samsung A3 with a BlackBerry Key 2 LE. This new phone now rings for calls and sms using the speaker even when connected to headphones. That is obviously not very useful as I cannot hear the speaker when I have the headphones plugged into my ears and the phone is in my pocket.

How can I tell the phone to use the active speaker (rather than the built-in speaker) for ALL sounds (not just for music/media)?

I am now afraid that alarms will also be played using the main speaker even when I have headphones. My Samsung did that too for a while. It was an interesting experience when everyone on the train woke up except me when I had set an alarm to wake me just before my station!

[Rukbat]

Probably not without modifying Android. (Although rooting, then editing /system/etc/mixer_paths.xml might let you change some things.)

[Andrew Brehm]

Probably not without modifying Android. (Although rooting, then editing /system/etc/mixer_paths.xml might let you change some things.)

My Samsung phone somehow managed to do it. I think I did it with SoundAbout, but SoundAbout appears not to work on my new BlackBerry phone.

How is this supposed to work? When I am listening to music I now don't really notice calls or incoming sms and when I try to wake myself up, I wake up everybody else instead.

[Rukbat]

That's up to BlackBerry - the manufacturer can set things up any way they like. Some people prefer not hearing a jarring ring right in their ears, others turn the headphones up so loud that they'll be wearing hearing aids in a few years and couldn't hear a bomb going off in the room when they have the headphones on. If mixer_paths.xml doesn't do it, you need a Samsung. (Try the phone out before you buy it. This is Android, not iPhone. Every model, every manufacturer can be different.)

[Andrew Brehm]

That's up to BlackBerry - the manufacturer can set things up any way they like. Some people prefer not hearing a jarring ring right in their ears, others turn the headphones up so loud that they'll be wearing hearing aids in a few years and couldn't hear a bomb going off in the room when they have the headphones on. If mixer_paths.xml doesn't do it, you need a Samsung. (Try the phone out before you buy it. This is Android, not iPhone. Every model, every manufacturer can be different.)

Trying out every single detail before I buy is difficult. In this case it didn't even occur to me that a phone vendor might decide that I should not hear the phone ring while I listen to music. Thanks for the explanation.