Monday, February 3, 2014

How to disable notification sounds and mute phone ringing on the Samsung Galaxy S4

Here’s how to get your Samsung Galaxy S4 to shut up.

When you get an incoming call from the Samsung Galaxy S4, a green and red circle show up on screen, and you have to swipe one or the other to either take or hang up on a call. In many cases, you might need a moment to figure out whether or not to take a call, but don’t want the ringtone still chirping away. Luckily, you can just tap the volume down button on the left side of the Samsung Galaxy S4 to mute a call without hanging up on it.

Other notification sounds can be turned down or muted by pressing down the volume key at any other time. Just make sure that it’s showing a phone icon when you do so; if it’s showing a speaker icon, then you’re adjusting the media volume, and not the ringtone volume. To get more granular control in notification volume, tap the gear next to the volume slider. From there you can adjust volume for ringtones, media, notifications, and other system sounds.

Sound profiles can also be toggled between on, off, and vibrate by swiping from the top of the screen to bring down the notification tray and tapping the Sound icon. If it’s not right at the top, tap the icon switch button in the top right to view every option, and it should be there. Tapping the gear settings icon, then the My Device tab, then Sounds will provide the full array of options. These include changing ringtones, vibration intensity, and enabling or disabling miscellaneous system sounds.

Be sure to turn your notifications back up when you’re able to take calls and beeps again, otherwise you may miss important calls while on the move. Apps like Tasker can ensure sound profiles kick in automatically depending on time and location.

That's about it on tweaking notification and ringtone volume on the Samsung Galaxy S4. Any questions?