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Help No text message sound SOLVED after all other options exhausted + bonus "cheat" workaround

NessNee

Lurker
Hello fellow frustrated Android users!

I would like to share a solution that I have not come across anywhere on the internet over the course of 5 months of not having notification sounds when receiving texts. If this doesn't work for you, try my workaround trick until you're able to fix the root of the problem.

Device: Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus with Android version 8.0.0 and Samsung Experience Version 9.0. It is not rooted.

Application: Messages and other text messaging apps from the Play Store.

Specific problem: Text messages through Messages and other text messaging apps were received without sound notifications BUT still had pop-up notifications and vibration upon receipt of text messages.

Solution: Messages app > open any conversation > three dots in top right corner > Notifications > Custom > Sound > Choose tone.

Explanation: Despite having reset to factory settings, when I opened the custom tone option for a conversation in messages, the default tone appeared to be "1999" which is not a ringtone on my phone.


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Results: I completed these steps in one conversation, tested it, then received a text message with sound, vibration, and pop-up notification. Shortly thereafter I received a text message from a different conversation which notified me with sound, vibration, and pop-up despite only having changed the settings in one conversation. I have not received any new texts since then, so I cannot say whether or not all current and new conversations have been fixed. I will leave all variables on my phone unchanged and report back my findings.

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THE WORKAROUND TRICK YOU NEED TO KNOW!

Frustrated and unable to fix your no sound with text messages problem? Try these steps to get a sound notification for text messages!

Settings > Accessibility > Notification Reminder > ON > (vibrate on or off) > Select Reminder Interval (1 minute) > "Show Notifications From" > Messages.

This is a temporary "hack" for you to use while you figure out how to resolve the real cause for receiving text messages without sound, but there are some things you should know for this to work:
  • You must open or mark as read all conversations in the Messages app
  • When you receive a new text, you must open it or mark as read when you are alerted
  • This loophole will give you an audio alert a minute after you receive the text message but won't stop alerting you every minute you until the text is marked as read
  • If you do not make sure all texts and the most recent text are marked as read, you will not know whether or not you've received a new one
  • If you are not in a situation in which you can immediately access your device you may want to disable the accessibility setting otherwise the phone will continue to sound every minute until you can access it
  • You will want to disable the setting when you are ready to sleep for obvious reasons

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I hope I have helped you fix an extremely frustrating problem. Please share your results and other solutions to the problem of no sound notifications for text messages.

-NessNess
 
Or just install Textra as your default messaging app and choose your notification sounds within the app.
As mentioned. I tried downloading text messaging apps to get around the issue and this did not solve the problem. Furthermore, some users may want to continuing using Messages rather than download extraneous applications everytime they hit a snag.
 
So did you even try using Textra?
Just because stock manufacturer apps are pre installed doesn't mean you're stuck with them.
From launchers to apps to icon packs, android users have options to choose from. Messages may be fine, but not necessarily for everyone.
But thanks for the info for the work around concerning the issue.
 
Textra was not one of the apps that I tried for sure, but I cannot tell you which ones I tried as it was 5 months ago and ever since then I'd had the factory reset and was trying not to mess with anything. I appreciate the advice to try other apps, and that users don't have to only use what's on the device when they buy it. I like to download apps from the Play Store for certain uses but was very disappointed with the fact that such a basic app was not functioning correctly and that the ones I did download also didn't work. It seems like a common problem for a lot of people, but the answer is that their notification sound setting is off. So I thought it was a good idea to present people with a rare solution to an extremely frustrating problem as well as the workaround until they do figure it out.
 
After doing an update to OS 9, I found that the sound notification didn't work. After considerable time, and following all suggestions given, it still didn't function. Again, more time as I had set up the settings within the app. This time I went within the app to: settings>apps and notifications>textra> permissions...make sure all permissions are granted. You do not need to grant permission to camera, location or phone. Sound notification comes back (if you set it up properly).
 
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