Android Device Manager not Ringing

Question

The ring for 5 minutes function on Android Device Manager is a great tool that I have used multiple times to find my phone (which I happen to misplace quite often).

The thing is, it doesn't work. Or rather, my phone will not ring even when given the cue from Android Device Manager to ring. I have it set up on my phone, and am able to locate my phone just fine. However, when I click ring, my phone beeps once, and there is a notification that says "Android Device Manager" with the subheading "Ringing...", but my phone never actually rings.

Does anyone know why this happens, or better yet, how to fix this? Any help would be great.

I have a Samsung Galaxy S6, and yes, Android Device Manager is set as an administrator on my phone.

edit: Upon looking into the Phone Administrator settings in Security, I found that the permissions do not mention anything about ringing the phone (https://goo.gl/photos/gt1iE6piQTVfYvnHA). Is this because that permission isn't at the administrator level, or do you think it is unavailable for some odd reason?

Update: So I managed to figure out that the only way it will ring is if my notifications volume is on. However, I don't usually have that on, and it will not turn that volume on full or even on at all by itself.

I also disabled battery optimization for Device Manager, but unfortunately it does not seem to do anything.

Answer 1

This issue seems to be caused by Android Device Manager not being able to raise the ringer volume on your phone before ringing the alarm tone.

To solve this, you can create a MacroDroid macro that will automatically raise your ringer whenever an Android Device Manager notification appears on your phone, so that the alarm tone will actually ring. MacroDroid defines a set of trigger(s), action(s) and constraint(s) as a macro.

1. Download the MacroDroid app for free on your phone.

2. You will need to create the following macro:

   • Trigger: Notification → Notification Received:

   • From: (hit show non-launchable apps) and select Google Play Services and Android Device Manager

   • Text Content: choose contains and type in "ringing" (or just some/all of the text from the notification that appears when you attempt to ring your phone; this might vary by phone).

   • Action: Volume Change

   • Hit the checkbox next to "ringer" and slide the ringer slider up to something high, then press OK. Then hit the checkbox next to "Notification" and slide the notification slider up to something high as well.

   • Constraints: none

3. Test out your Macro by attempting to ring your phone from Android Device Manager on your computer. If it works, you're done. If it doesn't, try the following:

   • Add an action to your macro to Set Priority Mode, set it to all.
   • Add an action to your macro to play a sound of your choice, that might work.
   • Ensure the Device Manager notification text matches that which you specified in your trigger.
   • Try changing the action to a ringer volume increase, a one-second wait, then a notification volume increase.

Important Note: If you want your ringer to quiet down again after Android Manager rings, you can add a wait before next action to your actions, then do a ringer volume change back down.

Hope this helps! Comment below if this doesn't work for you or if you have a question, I'll help you out if you need it.