Ringtone volume drops to 10% or 20% or 30%....incoming calls missed.

[AC Question]

I have never touched the Do Not Disturb icon. I have never set the ringtone volume to anything other than 100%. But I have to check the ringtone volume several times a day to make sure it hasn't dropped to zero or near zero causing missed calls.

What could cause this? I have very few non-Google apps installed, and none that should affect ringtone volume as far as I know. Hardware? OS? (6.01).

Otherwise love the 6P...but will I have to buy a burner, too, just for calls?

Thanks for any ideas.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Does it happen in Safe Mode? https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/2852139?hl=en

 

[Nuevo]

Hi B Diddy & thanks for the reply.

1) I've had it in safe mode for about a week with no problem.

2) When I said I have to check the ringtone volume several times a day, I meant that this is necessary to insure that the volume hasn't dropped to zero or near zero. The actual incidence of lowered volume is about once per week or two.

3) I think I may have discovered the problem: if the volume down button is pressed while the screen is active, the ringtone volume decreases. I had a friend check his LG phone. It works the same, so I suppose this may be an OS "feature," and not the result of misadventure by a 3rd party app.

To me this seems insane. Doesn't Google realize how easy it is to inadvertently press the volume rocker when putting the phone away? Ask yourself this: if you were designing an OS, would you include a feature which turned the phone off if one of the three buttons on the phone were accidentally pressed? This is essentially what Google has done because a phone that doesn't ring is a phone that has been turned off for incoming calls.

I have the Settings icon on my home screen for quick availability to check ringtone volume. Anyone who does the same can quickly lower the ringtone volume there.

Am I alone on this? Just seems absurd to me. I have lost lots of $$ by missing calls...all probably through this programming folly.

Of course, the problem could actually be that a 3rd party app is changing the volume, but why would any app need to do this? I have very few 3rd party apps installed, and none that weren't installed through the Play Store.

 

[B. Diddy]

I think I may have discovered the problem: if the volume down button is pressed while the screen is active, the ringtone volume decreases. I had a friend check his LG phone. It works the same, so I suppose this may be an OS "feature," and not the result of misadventure by a 3rd party app.

Yes, the volume buttons will control ringtone volume if you're not in an app that is generating sounds or playing media, or if you're not in a call. I can see how this would be easy on the 6P, because I also find the buttons to be very easy to press by accident, when the phone is out of its case. It's hard to press by accident with a case (the kind that covers the buttons, not the kind with cutouts at the buttons), so that might be a workaround to consider.

 

[Nuevo]

"that might be a workaround"
Thanks for the response! But, why should we need a "workaround?" Don't mean to put you in the position of defending Google, but why work around the problem rather than tackling it head on? The OS should treat ringtone volume as sacrosanct. You can't power off your phone by accident. But accidentally lowering the ringtone volume to or near zero leads to the same result. I can't now live without having a computer in my pocket, but do I also have to carry a cheap flip phone for making and receiving calls?

 

[terminator y2k]

Not positive if same with 6p (which I am considering), but on my HTC One M7 the solution is to hit the power button to turn off screen before pocketing the phone, (setting power settings so screen shuts off fairly swiftly should do much of same thing) - if screen is off the volume button does nothing.

^^ This. You're correct. It's what I do. Turn screen off and then put in my pocket. Takes a whole whopping 0.05 second to turn off screen :^)

*6P 64gb Graphite (AT&T)*
*iPad Air 2 64gb Space Gray (AT&T)*

 

[Nuevo]

Takes a whole whopping 0.05 second to turn off screen

Yes, of course I quick press the power button in the one swift motion of putting the phone in my pocket. But, in that 0.05 second, do I miss one in a hundred times? My whole point is that a function as critical as turning the phone off - and that's what lowering the ringtone volume to zero amounts to - should be a more deliberate process than simply pressing the volume down rocker whether the screen is active or not.

 

[terminator y2k]

Yes, of course I quick press the power button in the one swift motion of putting the phone in my pocket. But, in that 0.05 second, do I miss one in a hundred times? My whole point is that a function as critical as turning the phone off - and that's what lowering the ringtone volume to zero amounts to - should be a more deliberate process than simply pressing the volume down rocker whether the screen is active or not.

Hmm.... Idk then.

*6P 64gb Graphite (AT&T)*
*iPad Air 2 64gb Space Gray (AT&T)*

 

[ansextra]

In general I don't miss any calls since I see them either on my OG Moto 360 or my Pebble Time as they come in...