Galaxy S7 random media volumes

[HOWARD ROSENBLOOM]

In the past 2 or 3 months my media sound level jumps up and down at random intervals and levels. I've tried troubleshooting but with no luck so far. This just started out of the blue and so far I can't associate it with a particular app. Booting into safe mode is no help since I then can't enable an app that may be causing it. Whoever thought safe mode without the capability to enable apps to isolate issues wasn't very smart. Also, resetting the phone is not an option. That's like saying, "well an app closed prematurely so let's rebuild the hard drive and OS." That's not troubleshooting, that's a non-technical person's concept of "I have no idea so go waste time rebuilding your system".

 

[mustang7757]

Well safe mode helps determine any 3rd party apps causing this . It won't be able test everything.

Restarting itself.

Freezing.

Crashing.

Running slow



Factory reset is definitely another handy tool that can't be ruled out , possible corrupt files and what not.

You have to monitor which app this happening, and report back . Is it you tube ? Is when you have Bluetooth headphones on ?

 

[HOWARD ROSENBLOOM]

mustang7757,

Thanks for responding. First, I'm not saying that safe mode can't help. Just that to help isolate the possible problem app it should be such that in safe mode you can re-enable apps one-by-one to see if it's one of the disabled apps causing the issue.

It happens whether or not I'm connected to Bluetooth or just listening to the phone's speaker. So far it has happened with Pandora, Rocket Player, and the built in music player. None of these ever exhibited this issue prior to when this started. I haven't tried yuot long enough to know if it exhibits the same problem.

One thing I haven't tried is turning Bluetooth off and seeing what happens. But whether it does or not, how would that help identify the problem any further?

It would seem it has to be an app that has access to sound control since it's not a button being pushed. I've yet to find any apps with that access that are likely suspects.

I've planned on the next step being deleting apps one-by-one and see if I can figure it out that way. But it's something I'm not looking forward to.

I appreciate any all suggestions or comments.

 

[mustang7757]

Ok there's a couple places to check , I don't know if you will have these settings as I'm using a newer Samsung device and dont remember all the settings when I use to have the s7 .

Check bluetooth history
Check in settings apps>3 dots upper right corner tap permissions manager see anything can change bluetooth or volume , then go into special access see if any those apps can control and turn off .

 

[mustang7757]

Then also long press each app you mentioned and tap info scroll to permission see what's enabled .

 

[HOWARD ROSENBLOOM]

None of the apps I mentioned had permissions that were questionable. Mainly storage permissions. However, Google Music (which I don't use) had system permissions, which I disabled. Also, there were no unusual permissions for Bluetooth.

I played an hour long music YouTube via my browser and noticed no random volume changes (this is prior to the Google Music find).

I'm going to restart my phone and try one of the apps (Pandora, Rocket Player) and see if there's any improvement.

I'll update and thanks.

 

[HOWARD ROSENBLOOM]

I've gone a couple of days now without the random volume changes (hoping I don't jinx myself). I found that Google Music (which I don't use) had system permissions. I disabled it and so far, so good. If it continues to function properly I'll post a solution found in case it helps someone else.