random high-pitch tone (I can't hear it, but my kids can)

[Inspector_Gadget]

My wife has a Galaxy S7 running Nougat that began making a random high-pitched tone. The tone is continuous, and lasts for roughly 5-10 seconds, and then stops. By high-pitched, I mean near ultrasonic. The kids (all 20-30 years old) can all hear it, and it is loud enough that it makes them hold their ears. I cannot hear it (51 years old) - not because I have hearing trouble, but because it's that high a pitch. The kids describe it as the same sound as ringing in your ears.

At any rate, I need to make this stop. It's becoming a real problem.

We have tried factory rebooting the phone, and loading apps in a few at a time, trying to determine if it was an app causing it. The problem is that we cannot hear it. So the only time we can test for it is when the kids are over.

I'm hoping someone out there has seen this issue before and can direct us where to go.

Any help?

Thanks for your time!
--Glenn

 

[B. Diddy]

Interesting issue. I read how Google purged a bunch of apps from the Play Store last year for being able to track you by listening to ultrasonic beacons, but the phone is listening for those sounds, not generating them. I wonder if there are apps that are actually generating ultrasonic tones, and these beacons can also listen for them. https://www.extremetech.com/mobile/...34-android-apps-track-poorly-ultrasonic-waves

The next time you're around your kids, boot your phone into Safe Mode: https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-28008. This will temporarily disable all 3rd party apps. If the tones go away, then you know it's something you installed (but unfortunately, there's no easy way to narrow it down further, except for uninstalling apps one by one). If the tones persist, then something in the system is causing it.

Or maybe someone installed this as a joke (or not!): Teenager Repellent: Ultrasound