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My phone (Samsung A3, Android 5) is nearly always in silent mode (for many reasons: work, or kids who should not be awakened by a ringing tone).

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But sometimes I don't find my phone at home, and lose 10 minutes finding it!

A solution would be to call my phone from another phone (home phone)... but obviously this doesn't work since the phone is in silent mode!

  • Is there a way to make one specific number always ringing loud? (even if the phone is in silent mode)

  • Or is there an app such that my (lost-in-my-house) phone there could be called from another phone, or from a computer, with a loud ringing tone, even if the phone is in silent mode?

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  • the ringtone/notification manager app i had on my old phone let you do this for specific contacts, if you called 3 times within 5 minutes for example
    – Richie Frame
    Commented Oct 26, 2019 at 1:01
  • Possibly helpful: How can I distinguish important calls?
    – Simon Richter
    Commented Oct 26, 2019 at 5:19
  • Owners of some smart watch types can trigger "find my phone" on their watch. It is exactly for this purpose.
    – miroxlav
    Commented Oct 28, 2019 at 10:25

12 Answers 12

Reset to default
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You can automate the process. Install Macrodroid on the old phone, open it and add a macro. Then follow the steps below:

  1. In the Triggers tab, in the Call/SMS section, select "Call Incoming', then "Select Contact(s)". Choose your phone number.

  2. In the Actions tab, in the Volume section, select "Volume Change". Give the appropriate permission to Macrodroid. Select "Volume Change", enable Ringer and set the volume percentage.

  3. In the Constraints tab, in the Screen and Speaker section, select "Ringer Volume", then Silent.

  4. Save the macro, give it a name.

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63

You may consider using Google's Find My Device (web version, app). I would not suggest a third-party app from unreliable sources (although you can't trust Google as well :p).

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  • 7
    Whenever I can't find my phone, I google "where is my phone" and from there it's easy. Easy to remember.
    – Alex Hall
    Commented Oct 26, 2019 at 10:23
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    Came here to write this answer. Didnt even know the feature existed and googled "how to find android phone" on my ios device. It answered my query with a map showing exactly where my phone had last been seen.
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Oct 26, 2019 at 23:24
  • Another nice feature of this is that from the "find my device"-page you can write a message on the phone "Please deliver to 1234 X-street" and enter your (landline?) phone number as the only number the phone can call to, by pressing a button on the screen. If the phone is lost, you can also wipe it, but that means you will not be able to locate it this way anymore.
    – Lenne
    Commented Oct 27, 2019 at 0:59
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    Most folks don't live in a large enough house for the GPS resolution to tell you whether you left it in the living room, kitchen or office. This will do nicely, though, to discover whether you left it at the library or McDonald's.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Oct 28, 2019 at 16:33
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    @FreeMan, it gives you an option to ring your phone as well, just like the user has asked for.
    – Danish Shakeel
    Commented Oct 28, 2019 at 16:40
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Is there a way to make one specific number always ringing loud? (even if the phone is in silent mode)

Another solution could be that instead of putting the phone in silent mode, you can set the default ringtone to a silent audio file. Then, you can set a normal ringtone for the contact of the number you want to call from.

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    Good idea too! I'll try, but it seems that putting in silent mode is a quick shortcut for a few other benefits such as putting SMS notifications to silent (which I often toggle with silent mode on / off), maybe muting media as well, etc. So still using Silent mode on / off has benefits.
    – Basj
    Commented Oct 26, 2019 at 6:32
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    Another example: you want to enable loud ringing tone for a few hours: now I just toggle Silent mode off (it takes one click). With your solution, how would you do it? Go in Settings, Ringing tone, change the default ringing tone etc. It seems much longer on every day use
    – Basj
    Commented Oct 26, 2019 at 6:35
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It is possible with Samsung Find My Mobile feature. Register here, and you'll be able to make loud sound even If your phone is in silent mode.

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  • Working indeed, I just tried! (I just hope it's secure because it gives lots of access to the phone)
    – Basj
    Commented Oct 25, 2019 at 17:28
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Another solution would be using Termux (my favourite app). In silimar cases, I can SSH to my phone from my computer, adjust volume with termux-volume, play some sound file with mpv, or activate the motor with termux-vibrate.

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3

If your phone is connected to the Google account, you can use a computer to find your phone. It won't matter if the ringer is off.

You could also use Do Not Disturb mode at home instead and allow only calls from specific contacts (home phone, spouse's phone, kid's phone, etc.). It might be useful since you can still allow calls from only a couple of contacts that might only call in an emergency.

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  • Good to know, thanks! What are the main differences between Do not disturb and Silent modes? Does it affect apps, connectivity, etc. ?
    – Basj
    Commented Oct 27, 2019 at 8:34
  • "Do Not Disturb mode at home instead and allow only calls from specific contacts": in which menu can we configure these settings?
    – Basj
    Commented Oct 27, 2019 at 8:35
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    @Basj "Do Not Disturb" is more like a customizable "Silent mode" since it is configurable and allows some exceptions. Though, the configuration might be limited/extended by the manufacturer. (On Nexus/Google/AOSP/Lineage OS, it's possible to allow some callers to ring normally on "Priority only" mode)
    – Andrew T. ♦
    Commented Oct 27, 2019 at 18:03
  • Ok! Where do you configure these priority numbers?
    – Basj
    Commented Oct 27, 2019 at 18:08
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In addition to the app mentioned in Reddy Lutonadio's Answer, similar apps like Tasker or the popular IFTTT can also be used to achieve this.

IFTTT is probably the easiest to configure: Just activate the 'Turn up volume if a specific number calls' task and input your home phone number.

You could also use 'Send a text to unmute phone'. It's an extra step but the advantage here is that it works from any device, in case you also can't find your home phone.

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    That's also a good idea, yes.. although I don't think you'll even need IFTTT on Samsungs. I'm not sure whether Android 5 already had that, but there might be an option in the DnD settings to "allow repeated callers" to ring anyways.
    – WooShell
    Commented Oct 28, 2019 at 14:43
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Just in case you don't want to use the "where's my phone" functionality, as suggested by the other answers, you could create a contacts entry for the phone you plan to call it from, and assign it a special ringtone and flag it as emergency/VIP/starred contact (whatever your phone model uses). If you enable VIP contacts to ignore DnD/silent mode, this could achieve the same functionality without relying on external services.

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  • I tried (add a contact to Emergency group) but it did not work, where is the setting to enable VIP contacts to ignore Silent? Could you add a screenshot?
    – Basj
    Commented Oct 28, 2019 at 14:21
  • @Basj This depends strongly on the manufacturer of the phone. I don't have a Samsung phone with your software version at hand, so I can just try to explain from memory. In Contacts (or "People" on Samsung, I think) you can favourite ("star") contacts. In the Sounds->DnD settings you can then enable to allow calls from starred contacts.
    – WooShell
    Commented Oct 28, 2019 at 14:41
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If you have a Google Home device (normal, mini, etc.), you can use "hey Google, where's my phone?" and it will ring your phone. (I don't remember what setup you have to do in advance, but I use this all the time.)

If you have a Tile device paired with your phone, you can push and hold the button on the Tile and it will make your phone ring if it is within range. (Tile is a tracker that you attach onto something like your keys and install an app on your phone--then when you have lost your keys, you go into the phone app and ask the Tile to ring. But in this example it also works backwards, when you can find your Tile but can't find your phone.)

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There's an app I've been using for years called "Where's My Droid". You text it a specific code (using the default or a optionally pre-configured code) from any number or a white-listed set of number(s) and it will ring loudly, vibrate and blink the flash.

It can also send you the phone's current GPS location. Send you a picture from both the front & rear facing cameras (so you can see who's absconded with your phone), and a whole host of features that I've never used.

*Not associated with the company in any way, just a pleased user of the free version of the app.

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I use the Lookout app. It's a security app that scans for viruses, provides location, wiping, locking and scream (the feature that the OP is looking for) functions as well.

http://www.lookout.com

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I use an app (similar to Lookout mentioned above, but no Anti-virus) called Prey. The main goal of the app is to recover lost/stolen phones, but one of its features is to make noise when a certain phrase (e.g. "Wake up phone!") is received by SMS.

https://preyproject.com/

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