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I'd like to have phone calls ring at full volume, and all other notifications be silent. Notifications should still vibrate and/or use the LED; whatever their default behavior is.

I can't figure out how to do this in Lollipop. Ring volume and notification volume seems to be the same slider, so I can't turn this down to zero without muting calls. I can use priority interruptions and say that only phone calls have priority, but this seems to turn off the LED and vibration for notifications.

In KitKat, I think notifications and the ringer used a different volume slider. The only workaround I can find in Lollipop is to configure the default notification sound to be silence, and turn off sounds for individual notifications where I can. Is there a cleaner solution for this?

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8 Answers 8

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It can't be done. https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=79445

This is currently a very hot topic with many people extremely frustrated that this functionality has been removed. Hopefully google will bring it back.

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  • Android 6 and I fixed it with Flyto's answer (silent mode, configure priorities) Nov 2, 2018 at 9:40
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Here's how to do it:

  1. Press a volume button to get a menu with three items, "none", "priority" and "all".
  2. Select "priority"
  3. In the dropdown that appears, tap the cog for Interruptions settings (you can also access this through Settings)
  4. Under "priority interruptions", turn on "Calls" and turn off the other two options.

That should work, but I haven't tested it.

EDIT: Apologies, I missed the part about your still wanting vibrations and LED notifications from things other than calls. I suspect there isn't a way to do that built in. It may be possible using something like the Light Flow app.

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  • 1
    Thanks, but as I mentioned in my question, the problem with this is that it also prevents notifications from vibrating and/or activating the LED. I just want to mute them.
    – Drew Sears
    Nov 23, 2014 at 18:15
  • Oh, sorry, I missed that. I fear that you probably can't do it in a built-in way, but maybe an app can help. I just updated my answer.
    – Flyto
    Nov 23, 2014 at 21:16
  • This answer prevents apps other than actual calls/messages from sounding the notification ringtone, which is incredibly useful for me, as it differentiates "someone is trying to contact me" from e.g. "Google is asking me for the Nth time to verify my phone number." However, it still allows these apps to produce notifications for the notification area, so I can still be informed of trivial notifications without my phone crying wolf all the time. Jun 16, 2016 at 0:30
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This is now possible using stock Android using do not disturb mode. You can set do not disturb on, but still allow calls and alarms. Works on a Pixel 2 at least.

enter image description here

You won't get vibrations from messages, but the status led will still light up.

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I have Android 5.1 - and after googling/browsing this question, found there is a 'None' setting for default notification sound.

Settings, Sound & notification, Settings icon (Cog symbol right of General Ring), Default notification sound, scroll up to the first, select 'None', OK - job done.

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  • The questioner already mentioned this technique in the question, and is looking for a "cleaner solution".
    – Dan Hulme
    Jun 14, 2017 at 8:24
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Try the app called SoundProfile by Corcanoe: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=Orion.Soft

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  • Hi, are you affiliated with the app?
    – Andrew T.
    Oct 6, 2023 at 15:50
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Found this while looking to do the same thing. My solution was to create a 0.1 seconds silent wav file - using sox, the command line audio utility it's as simple as:

sox -n silence.wav trim 0 0.1

But you use audacity or whatever you want. The advantage is not having to install any extra apps. The disadvantage is that turning notification sound back on is awkward, but I personally don't see any benefit in having notification sounds ever.

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I appreciate that this question is old, but so is my version of Android, and I was recently looking for the answer. I don't know if every build has this functionality, but here's what works for me:

On my Android 5.0.2 system, which Wikipedia tells me is Lollipop, I press one of the physical volume buttons, up or down, and the ringtone volume indicator comes up on the screen, with a gear on the right. I tap the gear, and it gives three volume indicators, ringtone, music & videos, and alarms, and under that it says "use ringtone volume for notifications", with a checkbox beside it. I uncheck the box, and a fourth volume indicator appears, for "notifications". I slide that to zero. Problem solved.

Vibration and LED settings are typically set using the internal settings of each app. I don't use vibration notifications but the LED settings are unaffected by the volume slider, and I assume the vibration settings are too.

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I found that on my phone, I went to the sounds and vibrations section and clicked on vibration intensity. It gave me the choice to completely lower the vibrations for notifications but I could keep the phone vibration intensity up

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