Notifications volume turning itself down

[Nebs84]

I recently updated the software on my Samsung Galaxy S3 to the latest Android version (4.3). Ever since then, whenever I switch my phone to vibrate or mute, and then switch back to normal sound, the Notifications Volume stays muted and doesn't go back to its original setting.

Obviously this is quite frustrating as I often don't hear when I get a message. I've tried restarting the phone, and also installing Volume Control + app but to no avail. I'll leave factory reset as the last resort for now. Any other suggestions?

 

[mobilecrackers]

I recently updated the software on my Samsung Galaxy S3 to the latest Android version (4.3). Ever since then, whenever I switch my phone to vibrate or mute, and then switch back to normal sound, the Notifications Volume stays muted and doesn't go back to its original setting.

Obviously this is quite frustrating as I often don't hear when I get a message. I've tried restarting the phone, and also installing Volume Control + app but to no avail. I'll leave factory reset as the last resort for now. Any other suggestions?

Have you tried a factory reset? a factory reset can fix a lot of issues.
I would suggest booting into Safe Mode and see if the problem stops

 

[Nebs84]

I'll leave factory reset as the last resort for now. Any other suggestions?

 

[Nebs84]

OK so I did a Factory Reset, and other than wasting 3-4 hours of my life to get my phone back to the same shape as it was before the reset, it did nothing to solve my problem with notifications being muted after the phone has been on silent for a while. Can somebody help me please?

 

[GSDer]

How long does the phone have to be in Vibrate or Mute before this issue occurs? I just cycled my Sound toggle through the various settings, then checked the Volume settings and everything was where it belonged.

Have you tried wiping the system cache in Recovery mode?

You could waste a couple more hours of your life and reload the firmware from scratch...

Sent from my rooted, debloated, deodexed Sinclair ZX-80 running CM -0.001 using Tapatalk

 

[Nebs84]

Thanks for your answer. Actually your first question is a good one (not that I'm implying the rest aren't) because the phone needs to be silenced for the duration of my shift at work (which is 10 hours) before I get this problem. Otherwise if I just switch the phone from sound to silent or mute to sound again, I don't get this issue.

I haven't tried wiping the system cache in Recovery mode 'cos I don't know what that means or how to do it. Ditto for reloading the firmware from scratch.

 

[GSDer]

You can take a look at this http://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=283020
for instructions on how to boot into Recovery mode and wipe the cache - it won't touch any of your data and it runs so quickly that you may not think it did anything.

We'll leave performing a Factory Reset (another thing you can do in Recovery mode) and reloading the firmware as more drastic measures.

I don't suppose that you could narrow down the time frame for the problem manifestation a bit? I'm not really ready to have my phone muted for ten hours to try to reproduce your issue.

You could try booting into Safe mode http://support.verizonwireless.com/support/devices/knowledge_base.html/59242 before putting the phone into silent mode to see if it behaves any differently - if the problem goes away then some 3rd party app is causing your problem.

Sent from my rooted, debloated, deodexed Sinclair ZX-80 running CM -0.001 using Tapatalk

 

[Nebs84]

OK I'll try wiping the cache in Recovery mode and let you know how I go. With respect to the time the phone needs to be muted, this morning the same issue happened after I've had the phone muted for 7 hours. From experience, I think that's the minimum it needs to be muted (not silenced) before this issue creeps up.

Back soon...

 

[GSDer]

I noticed that in your OP the 'System' volume was also turned down - is that a side effect of this problem or do you just leave it turned off by choice? If the latter, you might try turning it up just a little and see if that has any effect on the problem.

Did you try Safe mode yet?

Sent from my rooted, debloated, deodexed Sinclair ZX-80 running CM -0.001 using Tapatalk

 

[Nebs84]

No it's not a side effect, I turned it all the way down so I don't have to hear system sounds. I don't want to have to turn it up to get rid of the current issue because that defeats the purpose of seeking a solution (i.e., it creates another problem, because in past I was able to have the system volume muted and not experience the current issue).

I've cleared the cache in Recovery mode and muted the phone. It's been a few hours now, I'll give it a few more before I test it out and see if it worked.

 

[Nebs84]

Nope, didn't help.

 

[Nebs84]

OK so now I suspect the problem has gotten worse, and the notifications sounds are turning off even when the phone is in "Sound" mode. This is really pissing me off. Does anyone have any solutions?

 

[Nebs84]

OK well, I Factory Reset the phone again (from Recovery mode), tried to reinstall the firmware but it didn't let me, so I started using the phone after just a simple Factory Reset and it works fine. I haven't installed any apps yet which makes me think it was an app that caused the problem. Thanks everyone who posted on this thread!

 

[GSDer]

I haven't installed any apps yet which makes me think it was an app that caused the problem.

You said the problem still occurred in Safe mode, so it's certainly not a 3rd party app. It might be an update to a system app (any of the preloaded bloatware, or various Google apps/services) so keep an eye out for what you update.

Sent from my rooted, debloated, deodexed Sinclair ZX-80 running CM -0.001 using Tapatalk

 

[Nebs84]

You said the problem still occurred in Safe mode

Nope I didn't say that and I didn't even try testing it in Safe Mode. But thanks for all your suggestions

 

[GSDer]

Nope, didn't help.

I interpreted this as your response to my question about whether you tried Safe mode - sorry for my error.

Perhaps you SHOULD try Safe mode and see what happens...

Sent from my rooted, debloated, deodexed Sinclair ZX-80 running CM -0.001 using Tapatalk

 

[Foster Winans]

FIXED: Notifications volume turning itself down

G3 Mini:
1. Made sure ATT Drive Mode was off
2. App. Mgr: INTELLIRING app: deleted cache and data
3. App. Mgr. Turned ON "Show notifications" for DISABLE INCREASNG RING app

I believe it was the third item that did the trick.

Hope this helps. There may be other sound-related apps that cause this same problem.

 

[JFred78]

I recently updated my Moto Droid Turbo to lollipop 5.1 and had the same issue. When I set my volume to "priority" it mutes the notification volume and doesn't restore it when I set my volume back to "all".

When I open the phone in Safe Mode this doesn't happen. So I thought it might be the Locale app because this is what I was using to mute my phone at night and allow priority calls before lollipop 5.1 but it looks like this wasn't the issue. Is there any way to isolate the app that is causing the issue without removing them one at a time or factory resetting the phone?

 

[Nebs84]

Update: I fixed this problem by Factory Resetting my phone and thus uninstalling a whole bunch of apps. I've reinstalled the ones I really need (as opposed to the ones that sounded like a good idea but I never used them), one by one, and haven't had the same issue.

If you want, you can try disabling each app one by one and seeing whether that fixes the problem. It might be a bit time consuming, but if you don't want to uninstall a whole bunch of apps all at once, it might be the best solution. Go to Settings > More > Application manager > All and then tap on each app you want to disable and then Force stop.

 

[whiteroserachel]

I'm having exactly the same problem, although it's not consistently related to how long my phone is on mute (sometimes it can have the issue after a few minutes on mute, and sometimes it doesn't have the issue after hours on mute).

Do you have any idea which third-party app was causing the issue? Alternatively, is there a way to find out which apps have special permissions to change the notifications volume so I can at least narrow it down?

Thank you!