Android Notification Sound

Want to change the android notification sound on your device? Learn how you can do this on your device in under 5 minutes. Check out how you can use any MP3 file as the notification sound. Learn what is global notification sound and why it is used. If you want to read more useful articles then check out our page. And to see more content check out our youtube channel.

We all are aware of the notifications on our phones and what it does. And over time this simple feature starts becoming boring and the least interesting thing. But in this article, we are going to see how you customize it along with many more interesting things.

No matter what you are looking to do with your notification sounds, we got you covered in the article. Detailed steps will help you set up custom notifications along with some more interesting settings. We will how simple things can make our phones stand out from the rest. Let’s dive into that the Android Notification Sound feature given by Google.

How to Turn ON or OFF Android Notification Sound

Here we are going to see the steps on how we can turn sound notifications on and off. But if you are already a failure with the process then you can skip this section.

Follow the steps mentioned below to turn the sound on & off on your Android device:

1. Start your device and open “Settings”, then look for “Accessibility”, open it.
2. Once you open it, tap on “Sound notification” and then tap on  “Open sound notification”.
3. Now if you want to start the Sound Notification then simply use the Sound notification shortcut (2-finger swipe up).
4. The sound notification must be on now, you can do the same to pause the sound notification.

NOTE: If your device is running the older version of Android, you can simply use the Google Assistant to turn sound notifications on. And you can use Google assistant to even pause the sound notification.

How to change default global notification sounds on Android?

The thing which Android is well known for is the ability of users to customize according to their needs. Global notification sounds are the ones which you hear on receiving any alerts or text messages. We can change this global sound notification with a few simple steps. And this feature was introduced in the Android Oreo (Android 8). Follow the steps mentioned below to change the notification sounds on your Android device:

1. Start your android phone and open Settings, look for “Apps & notifications” or “Notification sounds”.
2. Once you find it, tap on it and then look for “Notification”, open it.
3. Now scroll down and look for “Advanced” settings, open it and you should see “Default notification sounds” at the bottom of the list.
4. From here you can open a library of sounds and pick any sound you want. You can download any MP3 file from the net and then set it as your android notification sound. There will be set to set different sounds for different notifications.

Now you have successfully changed the default notification sound and know how you can change it anytime you want. If you want to change the call notification sound then check out another section.

How to change notification sounds for each App?

Unfortunately, most apps do not allow users to change the notification sounds from within their apps. But good thing is that Android provides us with the solution for this problem.

We can change the notification sound for every app from within the settings without much hassle. We can even set different sounds for each app. This will make you know which app the notification belongs to whenever you hear the sound. 

For example, you can set one notification sound for Instagram and the other for Facebook. And now you will not have to check your phone, again and again, to check which app the notification came from.

Follow the steps mentioned below to change the notification sounds for apps:

1. Start your phone and open “Settings”, look for “Apps & notifications” under it.
2. Open it and check for “Recently Opened Apps”, but if you are not able to see any message from the app you want then tap on “See all apps”.
3. Once you find the app, tap on “Notifications” and then “Advanced”. Under Advances look for “Sound”, the steps will be the same for all apps.
4. Now open the default sound library and from that list, you can assign any sound which you want. Here unfortunately you will not be able to use any MP3 file of your choosing.

NOTE: Since Instagram and many apps have different types of notifications. This allows us to set different sounds for each kind of notification, like for DMs, call, post activity, and more. So now you know how you can set the different sounds for each app and within the app. Different sounds for each kind of notification.

Android apps with built-in notification sound option

Here we will see about the apps which have this functionality of changing notification sound build-in. This means you can change the android notification sound from without that app and do not have to go to settings.

We are going to look at the example of Facebook since it is widely used and most readers have it on their phones. 

Follow the steps mentioned below to change notification sound from within the app:

1. Start your phone and open “Facebook”, the steps can vary since the app’s UI (User Interface) is updated many times.
2. Now tap on the menu icon located at the top right corner of the screen, and scroll down to find “Settings & Privacy”.
3. Now from the drop-down menu, scroll down to the notification section and tap on “Notification settings”.
4. Look for the “Where You Receive Notifications” section and tap on “Push -> Tone”. Now from here you can select the notification sound which you like and set it. But you will only be able to select the notification sound from the list given in the app.

NOTE: The settings will be different in every app, so you will have to check manually if the app has the option for it.

How to Add Custom Notification Sounds

Now we will be looking at the steps for settings custom notification sound. As we saw in the previous section, android and the apps do not allow the user to use their own sounds. The users are limited to the list provided to them, and can not use MP3 like for call ring tone.

To achieve this we are going ti use a third-party application, but you can also create a custom sound file from any MP3.

First, you need to download the app on your phone, click here to download Zedge. Zedge is a wallpaper and ringtone app that allows you notification customization for free. From here you can make customized sounds from any MP3 file with relative ease.

Changing notification sound with Zedge

Before we jump into the steps, remember that the app provides all features for only 3 days. After this period, you will need to buy the premium plan or keep using the free version. However, the free version does not have all the features and contains ads.

Follow the steps mentioned below to use the Zedge app:

1. Start your phone and open Zedge, tap on the menu at the top left corner of the screen.
2. From the menu tap on “Notification sounds”, now you can browse the library for all the different notification sounds available.
3. Tap on the notification sound which you like and then tap on the “Set notification” button.
4. After you tap on the button, that sound will become the global notification sound for your device. However, this means you will not be able to pick different sounds for each app.

NOTE: The app will ask you permission to change the system’s settings. This may be a concern for many people, you need to find an alternative to solve this. There are several apps available on the Play store which provide more features and customization options. Or move to the next section to avoid using third-party apps.

Setting custom android notification sound using media files

In this section, we will see how we can use any MP3 file to create a custom notification sound. Also, you should use this method if you want to avoid using third-party apps. The downsides of using third-party apps are mentioned in the previous section.

Follow the steps mentioned below to set MP3 as notification sound:

1. (Optional) Start your phone and connect it to your laptop or desktop via USB cable. Now open the phone’s storage and copy the MP3 file from laptop to phone. Or download the MP3 file directly from the net.
2. Now we will set the MP3 file as the global notification sound.
3. Open “Settings” and then look for “Apps & notifications”, open it.
4. From here you need to tap on “Notifications” and scroll down to find “Advanced”.
5. Now tap on “Default notification sound” and then tap on “Ringtone from internal storage”.
6. Select the file which we just downloaded or transferred, tap on “Set it”.

How do choose sounds which device can detect?

Since we already know that our devices are always listing to us and use that data to sell ads. But Google provides the option to specify what kind of sounds the device can detect. This is better than nothing and will provide some privacy to us.

Follow the steps mentioned below the change the sounds which the device can detect:

1. Start your phone and open “Settings”, look for “Accessibility”.
2. Open it and then look for “Sound notification”, now tap on “Open sound notification” and then “Settings”.
3. Now from here, we can choose the sounds which the device can detect, these sounds include: Smoke and fire alarms
   • Siren
   • Shouts
   • Baby sounds
   • Doorbell rings
   • Knocks
   • Dog barks
   • Appliance beeps
   • Running water
   • Landline phone rings
4. Now simply select the sounds and then save the settings.

How to choose how you get notified

Here we will see the steps on how we can change the ways we get the notifications. Follow the steps mentioned below to change the settings:

1. Start your phone and open “Settings”, look for “Accessibility”.
2. Open it and then look for “Sound notification”, now tap on “Open sound notification” and then “Settings”.
3. Now tap on “Notification preferences” and choose the way you like to get the notification.
   • Vibrate
   • Flashing light
   • Notify on connected watches.

Summary

In the article, we saw how to change the android notification sound and customize it according to our needs. Keep in mind that not all apps have the support for in-app notification settings. And to check if the app has support for it, you need to manually check the settings. We would always suggest using Android’s settings to make any much secure system change.