New to Pixel, notification questions

[fwellers]

Hi,
I thought I knew something about Google since all my stuff is Google based, and since I've had android phones for a few years. But today bought the pixel xl and am kind of stumped about a few things
Most important to me for now is notifications
1. How to make the led blink for things like new mail etc..
2. How to get a decent variety of ring tones and notification sounds. Do I really have to download and work it through one of those cheesy ring tone apps?
3. Voicemail I used to have a voicemail icon from Verizon I think, and I can glance at it to see if I had a voicemail waiting. Now I don't know how to find an app to do that.

I guess I took a lot for granted, that came from Samsung, HTC etc.. .

Maybe I'm just not understanding the way the economy system works
Any help with these items is appreciated.
I can't even find the supposed free Google chat support on the phone.

Thanks
Floyd

 

[SteelGator]

1. How to make the led blink for things like new mail etc..

Settings > notifications then click on the cog. Turn on Pulse notification light .

2. How to get a decent variety of ring tones and notification sounds. Do I really have to download and work it through one of those cheesy ring tone apps?

Do you have .mp3 already that you want to use? Just use a file viewer to upload them into the notification folder. I will link to another post here shortly.

http://forums.androidcentral.com/google-pixel-pixel-xl/737412-custom-ringtones.html#post5510398

3. Voicemail I used to have a voicemail icon from Verizon I think, and I can glance at it to see if I had a voicemail waiting. Now I don't know how to find an app to do that.

The best way is to open the dialer app -- click on the phone. Up top you will see 4 icons -- favorites (star), recent (clock), Contacts (2 people), and Voicemail (record icon). Swipe over to the last one and all of your VM is right there.

 

[fwellers]

Thanks a ton Steel Gator.
I finally had just figured out that the voicemail will show up in notifications and then I followed it to the dialer and saw the voicemail Icon, so I am good there now. Thanks for confirming it.

I didn't know about the pulse light, so thanks for that too.

Yea about the mp3's no, I have none to use. I always relied on the large amount of choices that came with other phones. Right now I can't even get gmail to make a sound when it recieves a new email. I am feeling better already though, as I know it is just a matter of time before the phone is just how I need it to be again. )

 

[SteelGator]

Yea about the mp3's no, I have none to use. I always relied on the large amount of choices that came with other phones.

The nice thing is the carrier ring tones are not on here, but it can be bad thing if you want a lot of choice.

Given your situation, I would check out zedge first, then other ringtone apps. You should be able to find what you need out there for free.

 

[milehigherik]

The nice thing is the carrier ring tones are not on here, but it can be bad thing if you want a lot of choice.

Given your situation, I would check out zedge first, then other ringtone apps. You should be able to find what you need out there for free.

Zedge is awesome!

 

[fwellers]

Thanks for the tip guys. I'll check out zedge right away.

 

[erasat]

Thanks a ton Steel Gator.
I finally had just figured out that the voicemail will show up in notifications and then I followed it to the dialer and saw the voicemail Icon, so I am good there now. Thanks for confirming it.

I didn't know about the pulse light, so thanks for that too.

Yea about the mp3's no, I have none to use. I always relied on the large amount of choices that came with other phones. Right now I can't even get gmail to make a sound when it recieves a new email. I am feeling better already though, as I know it is just a matter of time before the phone is just how I need it to be again. )

I don't know if this means that you finally figured it out how to activate Visual voicemail or you just received a voice mail and follow the notification and hear it but just in case or for others that may be missing this, to activate the oem visual voice without having to install a third party or carrier's app, do this:

Open phone app
Settings (3 dots on the top right)
Call Settings
Voicemail
Turn on Visual Voice Mail

You will now see the Visual Voice mail tab in your phone app.

 

[strikeIII]

Do the Visual Voicemails get stored in the phone app to you google account like Google Voice?
I use Google voice now and would be nice to just get them all in one app. If not, no biggie.