How to make stock Camera app silent when shot is taken without preventing phone call ringtone sounds?

Question

This question is basically the same as this one but the canonical answer for that post is not compatible with my particular device for which a discussion and a solution can be found below.

I would often like to use the Samsung Galaxy SIII Neo stock Camera app but would like to keep the sound it makes while pictures are shot on silent (so that when I take a shot people are not distracted by the sound so that the resulting pictures taken look more natural). However, I've figured out that to turn such sound off, out of the volume settings Ringtone, Notifications, Media, and System, it is the Ringtone volume setting which must be turned off for this to take place (click on any of the volume hardware buttons and then on the volume settings cogwheel to see these). Unfortunately, setting the Ringtone to silent means no sound will be made when a phone call is received.

So, I would like to know whether newer phones have a Camera setting menu list entry for enabling or disabling the sound specifically for the Camera application. And, if not, then I would like to know where to place a feature request width Samsung for this to be implemented in future releases of the stock Camera software.

Anyways, I think, as a hack, if one knew where the mp3 sound file for the camera app is stored, one could just deleted (or perhaps replaced it with an mp3 file producing no sound to resolve the problem). Anyone know where I could find such a file?

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UPDATE: I've tried rooting my device and then following this solution but I still get an error message saying the filesystem is read-only. Not sure if Samsung KNOX is causing this. Thank you for your replies.

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UPDATE: Remounting the system with the following command as root:

mount -o remount,rw /system

Allowed me to rename the file, but it seems it's the wrong file as the stock Camera app still produces a snap sound when taking a picture after the rename. Candidate files related to the stock Camera app under /system/media/audio/ui could be the following:

• Cam_Start.ogg
• Cam_Stop.ogg
• Camera_click_short.ogg
• Camera_click.ogg
• Camera_empty.ogg
• camera_focus.ogg
• Camera_Timer_2sec.ogg
• Camera_Timer.ogg

I've tried renaming both Camera_click.ogg and Camera_click_short.ogg to Camera_click.ogg.bak and Camera_click_short.ogg.bak but no luck! Even after rebooting the phone, the stock Camera application still produces a sound when a picture is taken with the Ringtone Volume enabled. The Camera_empty.ogg sound file produces no sound; ideally I would like this one to play when the camera takes a picture.

Anyone know where the problem may be and how to fix it?

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UPDATE: After installing the BusyBox app in order to have the Unix find tool and then running:

find / -name '*.ogg' > out.txt

the contents of out.txt were the following:

/storage/emulated/legacy/Ringtones/hangouts_message.ogg
/storage/emulated/legacy/Ringtones/hangouts_incoming_call.ogg
/storage/emulated/legacy/Notifications/Calendar Notification.ogg
/storage/emulated/0/Ringtones/hangouts_message.ogg
/storage/emulated/0/Ringtones/hangouts_incoming_call.ogg
/storage/emulated/0/Notifications/Calendar Notification.ogg
/mnt/shell/emulated/0/Ringtones/hangouts_message.ogg
/mnt/shell/emulated/0/Ringtones/hangouts_incoming_call.ogg
/mnt/shell/emulated/0/Notifications/Calendar Notification.ogg
/system/media/audio/alarms/Alarm_Day_by_day.ogg
/system/media/audio/alarms/Alarm_Morning_flower.ogg
/system/media/audio/alarms/Dawn_chorus.ogg
/system/media/audio/alarms/Daybreak.ogg
/system/media/audio/alarms/Sea_breeze.ogg
/system/media/audio/alarms/Serene_morning.ogg
/system/media/audio/alarms/Springtime_memories.ogg
/system/media/audio/alarms/Ticktac.ogg
/system/media/audio/alarms/Walk_in_the_forest.ogg
/system/media/audio/notifications/Beep_once.ogg
/system/media/audio/notifications/Hang_drum.ogg
/system/media/audio/notifications/Harp_glissando.ogg
/system/media/audio/notifications/S_Bubbles.ogg
/system/media/audio/notifications/S_Charming_bell.ogg
/system/media/audio/notifications/S_Chirps.ogg
/system/media/audio/notifications/S_Dew_drops.ogg
/system/media/audio/notifications/S_Flowers.ogg
/system/media/audio/notifications/S_Good_News.ogg
/system/media/audio/notifications/S_Harmonics.ogg
/system/media/audio/notifications/S_Knock.ogg
/system/media/audio/notifications/S_On_time.ogg
/system/media/audio/notifications/S_Opener.ogg
/system/media/audio/notifications/S_Postman.ogg
/system/media/audio/notifications/S_Pure_Bell.ogg
/system/media/audio/notifications/S_Temple_bell.ogg
/system/media/audio/notifications/S_Tickety_tock.ogg
/system/media/audio/notifications/S_Whistle.ogg
/system/media/audio/notifications/Sweet_favour.ogg
/system/media/audio/notifications/Whisper.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/A_rustling_in_the_trees.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Basic_bell.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Basic_tone.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Beep-beep.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Beep_once.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Blowing_dandelion_seeds.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Break_of_day.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Breeze.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Bugs_story.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Chime.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Drifting_downstream.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Ecliptic.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Flying_in_the_sky.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Fog_on_the_water.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Glissando_tone.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Ice_blue_tone.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/In_your_mind.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Journey.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Leisure_time.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Over_the_horizon.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Popcorn_tone.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Quantum_bell.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Rainbow.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Rainy_day.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Rays_of_the_sun.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Rolling_tone.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Scampering_tone.ogg
/system/media/audio/ringtones/Writing_adventure.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Alert_on_call.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Auto_focus.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Auto_focus_error.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Birdsong_by_the_lake.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Call_Connect.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Cam_Start.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Cam_Stop.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Camera_Timer.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Camera_Timer_2sec.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Camera_empty.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Charger_Connection.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Dialer_new.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Dock.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Effect_Tick.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Fairy_fountain.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Highlight.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/HoverPointer.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/KeypressDelete.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/KeypressInvalid.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/KeypressReturn.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/KeypressSpacebar.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/KeypressStandard.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Lock.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Lock_none_effect.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/LowBattery.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/New_chat.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Pen_att_noti.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Pen_att_noti1.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Pen_att_noti2.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Pen_att_noti3.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Pen_det_alert.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Pen_det_beep1.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Pen_det_beep2.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Pen_det_beep3.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Pen_det_beep4.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Pen_det_beep5.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Pen_det_noti.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Pen_det_noti1.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Pen_det_noti2.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Pen_det_noti3.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/PowerOn.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/S_Beam_end.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/S_Beam_error.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/S_Beam_start.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/S_HW_Touch.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/S_SIP_Backspace.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Sent_chat.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Serenity.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Shutter.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Shutter_multiple.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Sparkling_mist.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/TW_Battery_caution.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/TW_Battery_swelling_warning.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/TW_Call_Disconnect.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/TW_SIP.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/TW_Silent_mode_off.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/TW_Touch.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/TW_Volume_control.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/The_secret_forest.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Undock.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Unlock.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Unlock_none_effect.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/VideoRecord.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Voice_processing.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Voice_start.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Voice_stop.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/WirelessChargingStarted.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/Zero_Clickr_Ready.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/airbutton_close.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/airbutton_open.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/camera_focus.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/lens_flare_lock.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/lens_flare_unlock_silence.ogg
/data/media/0/Ringtones/hangouts_message.ogg
/data/media/0/Ringtones/hangouts_incoming_call.ogg
/data/media/0/Notifications/Calendar Notification.ogg

At this stage I'm not sure whether the stock Camera app is really taking the shutter sound from one of these .ogg files or whether the actual .ogg file is hardcoded into the stock Camera app's binary file.

Answer 1

On my Samsung Galaxy SIII Neo (Android 4.4.2) I was able to solve my problem as follows:

C:\> adb shell

and then

# su
# mount -o remount,rw /
# cd /system/media/audio/ui/
# mv Shutter.ogg Shutter.ogg.bak

This solved the problem.

Answer 2

Not sure, but I think the camera shutter sound is hard coded and have a feature to disable it based on your location for legal issues (in some countries, taking a picture without making a sound is considered a crime and can lead to 6 months of jail).

But there is a simple way to disable this:

• install Xposed installer on your phone. Grab the apk file from here.

• download and install this module.

• after enabling this module, you're asked to reboot your phone, do so.

• after the reboot, enter to the module's app and navigate in the app to find the right option to disable the camera shutter sound.

Answer 3

After typing su, remount system as read-write with

mount -o remount,rw /system

Then make the steps in the solution. This should work.

Answer 4

Since Android P renaming the files in the UI folder does not work anymore. With Samsung devices for example, the sounds are hardcoded into the Camera App, for countries where taking silent photos is forbidden (EU countries regarding privacy laws), the switch in the settings to disable the shutter sound is also not available.

Unless we do a little magic (no xposed needed, only root access to the filesystem):

add Call Recording en Shutter Sound options to your Exynos phone by adding 2 CSC options to cscfeature.xml

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1. check your csc code (about phone > software information > service provider sw > last 3 letters: [CSC])
2. in root explorer goto: /system/product/omc/[CSC]/conf/cscfeature.xml
3. download OmcTextDecoder (https://github.com/fei-ke/OmcTextDecoder)
4. put the downloaded "omc-decoder.jar" in a folder together with the encrypted "cscfeature.xml" file on a linux pc
5. open terminal and cd to the folder where you have put the files
6. run: java -jar omc-decoder.jar -i cscfeature.xml -o cscfeature_decoded.xml
7. open the "cscfeature_decoded.xml" file in a text editor
8. add the following lines to the file:

<CscFeature_VoiceCall_ConfigRecording>RecordingAllowed</CscFeature_VoiceCall_ConfigRecord>

<CscFeature_Camera_ShutterSoundMenu>TRUE</CscFeature_Camera_ShutterSoundMenu>

9. save the file and rename your old "cscfeature.xml" to "cscfeature_encoded.xml"
10. encode the edited file by running the following command in terminal: java -jar omc-decoder.jar -e -i cscfeature_decoded.xml -o cscfeature.xml
11. copy the changed and ecoded file back to your phone: "cscfeature.xml" and backup the old one to "cscfeature.bak"
12. reboot and you will find the shutter switch in the camera settings!

extra options: https://www.askvg.com/tip-enable-hidden-secret-features-in-samsung-galaxy-smartphones/