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Notifications sound OFF

W

WebMaximus

Newbie
Hey guys,

Does anyone know if there's a way to set the notification sounds (email, Whatsapp, SMS etc) to OFF/no volume but leave the ringtone volume at whatever it's set to on a Sony Xperia Z2?

I used to have a Samsung Galaxy S3 and there I had both a built in feature called Silent mode where I could tell the phone to be silent based on time intervals and I was also able to adjust the ringtone and notifications volume separately.

However with this Xperia Z2 that lacks the Silent mode feature I was hoping I could use Tasker to accomplish the same thing but since adjusting the ringtone and notification sounds is the same volume slider I don't know how to "trick" Tasker into only switching the notification sounds OFF but leave the ringtone volume as it is if it's even possible?

Thanks in advance for any input!
 
Do some tests (in a task) with these actions:

Audio > Notification volume
Audio > Ringer Volume
Audio > Silent Mode

You may be able to set these separately to achieve your goal.
 
Already did some testing but the problem is whenever Tasker set the notification sounds to OFF the ringtone volume also will be OFF. Like I said in my post above this is how the Sony Xperia Z2 looks when setting the different volume sliders...it's the same slider for notification and ringtone volume...extremely stupid if you ask me.

Guess when this is how the Sony Xperia Z2 looks there's not much Tasker can do about it - if it's used to set the ringtone volume the notification volume will also be set and vice versa.
 
We have a Z2 at work, I'll try to have a go over the next few days...
 
I somehow didn't realise that my Nexus 4 also behaved like that!

The 2 settings are linked together, and after a search on Google, it looks like you're not the only one trying to achieve the same thing.

Then the obvious hit me. All you have to do is use a silent notification ringtone. :)
Example: Blank MP3s


Maybe not the type of solution you expected, but it's got to tick all the boxes...
 
WarriusZero said:
Then the obvious hit me. All you have to do is use a silent notification ringtone. :)
Example: Blank MP3s


Maybe not the type of solution you expected, but it's got to tick all the boxes...
Click to expand...

Of course I could do that but then I will never be notified when I get new emails, SMSes etc. I only want these types of notifications set to OFF during night when I'm asleep but I do want to be notified of new emails and SMSes when I'm awake.

Someone else in another forum suggested to use Tasker by creating an action where I first set the ringer and notification volume to OFF and then create another action where Tasker will play a ringtone streamed as media during an incoming call.

That seems like a very clever solution to me but was quite some time since I last messed around with Tasker so will need to investigate exactly how to accomplish this in the best way.

I also sent a request to the Sony Xperia team to separate the ringer and notification volume sliders in a future update so let's keep our fingers crossed they listen because it does feel very cumbersome having to set up actions in a software such as Tasker to accomplish this very simple thing that should be built-in as a standard feature in every smartphone in 2014 IMO.
 
Good to know about your (night/day) requirements.
Now we have a bit of a challenge, it's more interesting! :)

I'm up for it.
 
I'd still use a silent mp3 but then play a sound during the day when a notification is received, it would be simpler than doing the suggested approach.

Example:

Profile "Daytime Gmail notification"
Condition 1: Event > UI > Notification > Owner Applicaton = Gmail
Condition 2: Time > From 7am To 23pm

Task
Media > Play Ringtone >Type = Notification (So the next list is relevant), Sound = your favourite one, Stream = Notification (other options should work as well)



EDIT: you can only choose one application per profile, sorry. So you'll need to create one profile for SMS, one for email, etc... but you can of course reuse the same task... unless you want different notification ringtones... :)
 
Thanks for all your input!

Yesterday evening I sat down started looking into how to accomplish what I wanted and this is how I eventually did it.

Now my mobile will be totally silent whenever it's facing down or is charging using AC except for when someone calls me. Then a MP3 song (the one I normally use as my ringtone) will be played and looped continuously until I lift my mobile up or remove it from the charger.

Profiles

Power AC - Source AC - run task 'Silent Mode ON' - exit task 'Stop Ringtone'
Orientation Face Down - Is 'Face Down' - run task 'Silent Mode ON' - exit task 'Stop Ringtone'
Phone Ringing - run task 'Play Ringtone'

Tasks

Silent Mode ON - (Mode 'On') - Media Volume (Level '10')
Play Ringtone - Music Play (File 'My MP3 song.mp3', Loop checked, Stream 'Media' If '%SILENT' ~ 'On')
Stop Ringtone - Music Stop (Clear Dir 'Off')
 
Good solution.
FYI, with default settings, "Orientation Face Down" will only kick in if the screen is on or when charging, unless you've changed the "Display Off Monitoring" settings in Preferences > Monitor.

So your description above probably becomes "Now my mobile will be totally silent whenever it's charging using AC except for when someone calls me."

Note that changing the "Accelerometer" setting to Yes under the "Display Off Monitoring" is quite hungry on battery.

If you knew about all of this, apologies!
 
WarriusZero said:
Good solution.
FYI, with default settings, "Orientation Face Down" will only kick in if the screen is on or when charging, unless you've changed the "Display Off Monitoring" settings in Preferences > Monitor.

So your description above probably becomes "Now my mobile will be totally silent whenever it's charging using AC except for when someone calls me."

Note that changing the "Accelerometer" setting to Yes under the "Display Off Monitoring" is quite hungry on battery.

If you knew about all of this, apologies!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the HU but I already found out about this the hard way so I've now the Accelerometer always on under "Display Off Monitoring" and so far the extra battery consumption doesn't appear to be too bad.

However since I will mainly benefit from my Tasker solution at night time would setting Tasker to 'Disabled' save me some battery?

Also another question on disabling Tasker. When I do that from the Tasker menu I was presented by a tip saying that pressing the Tasker icon in the top left corner is a shortcut to quickly disable/enable Tasker and that the icon will turn grey to indicate when Tasker is disabled. However when I try pressing the Tasker icon my phone interprets that as me wanting to access the menu you normally make appear by swiping your finger down from the top of the display. A bit hard to describe but I hope you understand what I'm trying to say here ;-)
 
The icon that acts as a switch is the Tasker icon on top left of the screen in Tasker itself, not in the notifications.

Check this screenshot: http://androidforums.com/tasker/852137-tasker-4.html#post6618836
Just above the Profiles tab...

If you want a profile to be ignored at a time of day, the best thing is to add a time condition to the profile. However, this will not change the hit on the battery in your case as the accelerometer monitor will be on all the time, as far as I know.
 
Thanks, was starting to wonder there for a while but now I understand why I had so much trouble pressing the icon... ;)

Adding a time condition for the profile is a good idea but if the battery hit still will be the same I guess there's no reason really.

A little bit surprised though why the battery hit would be the same if Tasker is disabled or is the accelerometer setting some kind of system setting that will be set as Tasker last set it regardless if Tasker is running/enabled or not?
 
If Tasker is completely disabled, then none of the monitors will be running, so there won't be any battery drain.

However, you don't want to disable Tasker overnight.
While you can do it programmatically, you then can only re-enable it manually and that's not the point of Tasker.

What you want to do is limit the battery drain by only using the hungry monitors and sensors when needed. That's why using time or locations based conditions is good.
 
I didn't think so but yes you can!

Task: Tasker > Set Tasker Pref > Set = Accelerometer
 
Boy do I love Tasker and especially after receiving a response from Sony indicating having separate volume sliders for the ringtone and notifications is nothing you should hold your breath waiting for...

I've now created another profile switching the Accelerometer ON at 2100 and then it will run an exit task switching it back OFF at 1200 ☺

Many thanks again for all great help and advice, much appreciated!
 
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