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I've a Samsung Galaxy i551 with Android 2.2, not rooted and with stock rom. I'm having two volume issues (don't know if they have anything to do with each other):

  • When using the external speacker, not headphones, sometimes I have "normal" volume, but some other times even max volume is unhearable. I really NEED to put the phone near my ear (like if it was the headphone) to be able to hear it. I think, not sure yet, after reboot it turns back to normally, but I don't know what makes it fail again.
  • When I'm listening music with the headphones some times the volume just changes. It is really crazy, I don't touch any key or the screen, don't even touch the phone and the volume cahnge. I have already checked and it's not because of the audio file if anyone was thinking so. It is like if the phone has two different volumes and change between them whenever it wants.

I've been reading a lot of issues with the volume, but haven't get any luck yet. Has anyone had any of this problems? Solutions?

Thanks! Diego

Update: Now I'm rooted (in case someone has anything to offer that needs root).

Update: Assuming the up-voters are having the same problem, are you using the same phone or even another Samsung?

Update: I've recently discovered that youtube app uses the speaker used on regular calls (the one on the same side of the screen). And its volume was actually very low. So when I'd that trouble again with some app (Navigation in this case) that should use the speaker (on the back of the phone) I realized that it was using the other speaker, and that's the problem. Who decides which speaker use each app or when is used each one? I e, my navigation app sometimes uses one and some other times uses the other.. Why?? Can we change it to force it?

Please if someone understands this last paragraph it would be very helpful to edit it using the right terms that are unknown by me because english is not my native language and my phone isn't in english. Thanks!

Extra info: I've a friend who have the same phone I had (the Samsung Galaxy i551) and is also having this same issues. Also the phone I had was stolen from me and now I bought a Samsung Galaxy Ace and again the same issues. So this is not an issue from my particularly phone or model, this is from Samsung or from Android. In the second case it is happening in FroYo and in Gingerbread!

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  • Are these the same apps and same sorts of sounds (like always playing music with a music app) that result in the different volumes? Some apps may be using ringer/system volume rather than media volume or as you said, may be attempting to use the "phone" speaker rather than the "speakerphone" speaker.
    – Ben Brocka
    Nov 1, 2011 at 20:54
  • I can't really tell because I'm not even able to reproduce this, it just "happens sometimes" (each time I discover anything new I update my answer). But I think the answer to your question would be yes.
    – Diego
    Nov 2, 2011 at 11:42

2 Answers 2

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looks like this is a bug with the front and back speaker routing, maybe you can try this app https://market.android.com/details?id=nl.powerbase.speakerswitcher and switch to speaker whenever you have problemm.

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  • That app seems to be what I need, however I can't test it because that phone was stolen from me and now I'm not having those problems. If the people up-voted the question starts up-voting the answer I'll assume it is correct and accept it.
    – Diego
    Dec 2, 2011 at 11:22
  • This seems to solve the issue. I've finish testing it yet. Sorry but I can't reproduce it whenever I want, I have to wait this to happen.
    – Diego
    Dec 16, 2011 at 12:24
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If you hadn't rooted your device i would tell you to take it to your carrier's tech support center. I have had problems with my volume almost like your current issues and the i=only fix was to order a replacement.

I do know what you are talking about with certain apps using different speakers [front internal speaker and external speaker]. This is based on the programming they have done and you should talk to the developers about the issue or look closely at the permissions of the app to see if they have access to both speakers or if your phone is indeed randomly selecting which to use.

I hope this helps!

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