What happened to the sound profiles that were in Lollipop?

Question

I recently bought a new phone to replace my old one. The old phone is running 5.1 (Lollipop) and has "Predefined [sound and notification] profiles" (see screenshot). However, there seems to be no equivalent in 8.0.0 (Oreo), and as a result this new phone has been sitting on my desk all but unused for almost a month now.

Searching around it would seem I have to install some overly convoluted app with features I don't need (or want) to achieve the same result, but that can't be right, can it?

I don't think I need to explain what I want to accomplish, but in case I do and in case my twice-daily routine triggers someone to suggest an even better solution: I have one email account (of four set up in a third-party mail app) that I need to alert me 24/7. Nothing else needs my attention 24/7. So every time I go to bed I turn off notifications for the other three email accounts, turn off notifications for the phone, turn off notifications for text messages, turn off notifications for BBM, turn off notifications for a VoIP app and set my sound profile to "sleep". The sleep profile has all sounds and vibrations turned off so that, other than the very occasional sufficiently important incoming email, my using the phone won't disturb my wife. In the morning I reverse all of that.

I'd be happy with just having the sound profiles back -- the twice-daily routine is a bit tedious and ridiculous, it seems to me, but it's not that onerous -- so that's the main thrust of this question. Thanks.

Screenshot of "Sound & notification" profiles in Lollipop:

Answer 1

What happened to the sound profiles that were in Lollipop? Unless I am mistaken, they have been removed on Android 8.

The sleep profile has all sounds and vibrations turned off so that, other than the very occasional sufficiently important incoming email, my using the phone won't disturb my wife. In the morning I reverse all of that.

You can a rule (actually 2) to achieve what you describe:

Goto Settings -> Sounds -> Do Not Disturb preferences.

• The first rule will be a Time rule. Add a new Time rule or you can modify the existing Weeknight rule. You select the time, date when it should apply, set the preference to Total silence.

• The second rule will be an Event rule. Add a new Event rule or you modify the existing Event rule (you can change its name). In "During Event for", select the email address it should apply to. In "Where reply is", select "Yes, Maybe or Not replied" date when it should apply, set the preference to Total silence.

Searching around it would seem I have to install some overly convoluted app with features I don't need (or want) to achieve the same result, but that can't be right, can it?

It is right, to have the sound profiles or something that looks like it, you will have to install a 3rd party app. I can try Sound Profiles (+ volume scheduler). Give it the appropriate permissions and you can use it to manage sound profiles again.

Disclaimer: I am not related to the app developer(s).

Answer 2

OK, so after putting down Android for what seemed like a step backwards, perhaps the Android developers are smarter than me. All of the below applies to Oreo (8.0.0).

The solution to this is as I suggested in my comment above, and that is to allow whatever app (email in my case) from which you want to receive notifications while the phone is in "Do not disturb" mode to be able to "Override Do not disturb". You can access this as follows:

1. Long-press the app's icon.
2. Tap the circled "i" icon in the menu that pops up.
3. Tap "App notifications".
4. Tap "Message notifications" (the actual words, not just the on/off toggle).
5. Tap "Override Do not disturb" to turn it on.

Another way to get to step 1 above is:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap "Apps & notifications".
3. Tap "App info".
4. Tap the app in question.
5. Carry on as above from step 3.

Of course, you also need to configure how you want notifications -- the sound, vibration, notification dot, etc. -- and probably set up some options in the app itself.

You also need to ensure that your "Do not disturb" mode is set to "Priority only". On my phone the default settings for that mode are that "reminders" and "events" are both toggled on. I'm not sure if this is relevant, but I mention it in case it is.

I realised after I had decided to use two apps for email -- the one I have used for the last couple of years (K-9 Mail) for my "ordinary" accounts and the new one (Aqua Mail) for my priority email account -- that you may actually be able to configure Android to allow only one of your multiple email accounts in the same app to "override do not disturb". However, I didn't go that route.

Hope that helps someone.