• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Volume control in Android OS

N

no1Ltan

Newbie
Hello,
I'm the new guy.
First off: Thank you for your operating system.
I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 cell phone with Android 2.3.4.
It's really nice.
However, there is one thing that really makes me sad:
It's Android's volume control.
(The green bar that appears after you press a volume button.)
And yes, I do know that there are some apps that add some fine volume control, allegedly, but they are either buggy, or require a rooted cell phone or are just shit.
I would like to have a better volume control implemented in Android OS!
When you use the current one it's either too silent or too loud.
Honestly, how is a 16 level-volume bar supposed to give users a perfect control?
Some players like PowerMP (formerly PowerAMP) have in integrated volume bar.
Okay, that might be good, but this doesn't affect the volume buttons.

Is it possible that new Android OS versions simply have an option like "Fine volume control"?
You could make 100 levels instead of 16 levels, which would result in much finer control.
Now someone might say, "uhyea so I gotta press teh volume button 100 times to get full volume or wat?"
No, you could simply implement that you could slide the volume bar with your finger.
So you would need less than 1 second to have full volume or zero volume.
And the fine steps would make sense if you listen to music and press a button on your headset (or you press the button of your cell phone that is in your trousers pocket.)
You would not need to do big steps there.
(Right now you make big steps by pressing the volume buttons.)

I hope it is okay that I posted my request in an extra thread because the official wishlist was last updated years ago (the main post).

Please, Android developers, think about the volume control again.
16 might be lossless theoretically, but it's simply not useful.
Compare it to any MP3 player.

Please don't see my thread as some kind of hater thread, as said, I really like the Android OS, except for this one issue.

Thank you!
 
Hi

I wrote Fine volume control V2 (AFAIK the only app that allows finer & lower volume control) and it does not require root, and from feedback seems to work for the vast majority of users.

It's a 24 hour free trial, but I would be happy to refund if you've ever unsatisfied with it's functionality.
 
no1Ltan said:
Hello,
No, you could simply implement that you could slide the volume bar with your finger.
So you would need less than 1 second to have full volume or zero volume.
And the fine steps would make sense if you listen to music and press a button
Click to expand...

That is how volume works in ICS (and I believe the S2 will be updated). When you press the volume rocker lets say while streaming music, the media volume pops up on the screen. You then have the option of holding the rocker, clicking up or down (I haven't counted the levels) or using your finger to slide the volume up or down to your desired level.

Oddly enough, I don't remember this being advertised, I just stumbled on the functionality.
 
pupkact said:
That is how volume works in ICS (and I believe the S2 will be updated). When you press the volume rocker lets say while streaming music, the media volume pops up on the screen. You then have the option of holding the rocker, clicking up or down (I haven't counted the levels) or using your finger to slide the volume up or down to your desired level.

Oddly enough, I don't remember this being advertised, I just stumbled on the functionality.
Click to expand...

I'll be adding that feature in the next version

fvcv2preview.png
 
Hello guys,

Thank you for your answers.

It's good to read that there is some change in ICS.
In another forum some guy told me it was the same, but it seems he did not check it properly.

richardop, I'm aware of your tool.
I tried it out and it seemed nice first, but then there was a very strange bug that scared the hell out of me.
When I wanted to reduce the volume (by holding the volume buttons), the volume suddenly jumped to a very high point and it became really really loud.
This happened several times.
Also, the display has to be on and the app has to be in the foreground (not sure about that but the display has to be on - definitely).
If that isn't the case the volume button will increase/decrease the volume normally.
(At least for the 1st press.)

Yeah I know it's not an easy thing...


Thanks again, guys!
 
no1Ltan said:
Hello guys,

Thank you for your answers.

It's good to read that there is some change in ICS.
In another forum some guy told me it was the same, but it seems he did not check it properly.

richardop, I'm aware of your tool.
I tried it out and it seemed nice first, but then there was a very strange bug that scared the hell out of me.
When I wanted to reduce the volume (by holding the volume buttons), the volume suddenly jumped to a very high point and it became really really loud.
This happened several times.
Also, the display has to be on and the app has to be in the foreground (not sure about that but the display has to be on - definitely).
If that isn't the case the volume button will increase/decrease the volume normally.
(At least for the 1st press.)

Yeah I know it's not an easy thing...


Thanks again, guys!
Click to expand...

I've had 2 other people report that same bug (when using headphones) on SGSII and 1 person on a Desire (or possibly a desire HD) and I've been unable to track it down unfortunately.

For full integration as you describe, it would need to be built into the ROM as you originally requested. I know there is a thread on the cyanogenmod tracker suggesting the feature, but it's been there a while and nothing has been made yet.

The best way to suggest it to Google is to see if it's been suggested on their tracker and click the star next to it.
 
Try "Volume Control +" by Coffeebreak Apps. It's fairly precise, 0-15 and it is done incrementally via +/- buttons (or other options). And it supports the various 'types' of volumes. It also has a widget. Works for me.
 
@richardop:
Yes, it happens when I use a headset.
However, I'm not sure if it doesn't happen with loudspeakers either.
I liked your idea...

@artaxerxes:
You call 0-15 fairly precise?
What's the main difference to the standard one then?

Sadly, there are a lot of volume control apps that simply have another look or some profiles etc.
I don't need such things, I just need something that gives me the possibility to decrease/increase the volume accurately.
Any (good) MP3 player has more than 16 volume levels.
I would have expected that from a 2011 cell phone. :(
 
no1Ltan said:
@artaxerxes:
You call 0-15 fairly precise?
What's the main difference to the standard one then?
Click to expand...

Notice the term 'fairly'.

It doesn't use a slider bar, it increments it by one via buttons. Accurate for only 16 levels? I say yes, or at least more so than a slider bar.
 
My friend,
the slider bar also has 16 levels.
You will see plenty of volume control apps that handle the volume control differently, but if you count, you'll see most of them have 16 levels, which is the default number of volume steps.
richardop's app had 100 levels as far as I remember.
This is what I call really accurate.
Too bad it did not work for me 100%, as mentioned.
 
richardop said:
Hi

I wrote Fine volume control V2 (AFAIK the only app that allows finer & lower volume control) and it does not require root, and from feedback seems to work for the vast majority of users.

It's a 24 hour free trial, but I would be happy to refund if you've ever unsatisfied with it's functionality.
Click to expand...

Hi Richard,

What concerns me is the question of why you need " Discover known accounts" permissions. Without that I would have bought your app ages ago.

Can you confirm or simply remove this requirement?
 
Nhumrod said:
Hi Richard,

What concerns me is the question of why you need " Discover known accounts" permissions. Without that I would have bought your app ages ago.

Can you confirm or simply remove this requirement?
Click to expand...

I use that permission to get a unique ID for the trial system. The permission reveals the name of your accounts on the device (for Gmail accounts the name is your email address).
That permission alone does not allow you to perform any actions on the accounts, because that would required credentials/authorisation.

I do not collect your gmail address, I just hash it with some other data to get a unique but anonymous ID.
 
Is there no way for you to achieve this without this permission. I suspect I'm not the only person put off by this, and you are probably losing sales...?
 
Nhumrod said:
Is there no way for you to achieve this without this permission. I suspect I'm not the only person put off by this, and you are probably losing sales...?
Click to expand...

The discover known accounts permission is shown as as lesser permission (similar to "View network state" and "start at boot") because it's not as critical as some of the other permissions. It doesn't really reveal anything major.

There are other ways, but this was my preferred method because it's a narrow and lower rated permission, albeit less well recognised than "read phone state". Also not all devices have telephony capabilities.

As I said, I don't transmit or collect your email address.

If you are concerned about privacy in general, I highly recommend droidwall (rooted only). Fine volume control will work if you've blocked internet access as long as you have the full version unlocker app. If you do go this route, I would be more than happy to refund if you later find the app doesn't function as you expected.
 
Hi Richard, I did buy your app and it works well. My only issue at this point is that every time my phone rings (I use a Samsung Galaxy S), the volume control pops up. Initially this was so large it actually blocked me answering the phone, but I told it to shrink a bit and now I can see the answer buttons. Any chance you can release a fix to stop this popping up!?
 
Nhumrod said:
Hi Richard, I did buy your app and it works well. My only issue at this point is that every time my phone rings (I use a Samsung Galaxy S), the volume control pops up. Initially this was so large it actually blocked me answering the phone, but I told it to shrink a bit and now I can see the answer buttons. Any chance you can release a fix to stop this popping up!?
Click to expand...

Thank you for purchasing the app!

It depends which volume pops up, but you can disable the overlay for any stream that you don't use (Preferences/Advanced Preferences/Overlay popup and uncheck those which you don't use).
Something on your phone must be modifying the volume when a call is received.

In a future version I'll make the dial optional so you can just use the slider and have a smaller overlay.
 
1 month after my 1st post I ask you politely for an implementation of a fine volume control.
Android developers, will you finally add more than 16 levels in order to give users the ability to adjust their volume accurately?

Please!
 
no1Ltan said:
1 month after my 1st post I ask you politely for an implementation of a fine volume control.
Android developers, will you finally add more than 16 levels in order to give users the ability to adjust their volume accurately?

Please!
Click to expand...

Please see the earlier instructions above about how to get your request into Google's tracker system.

We are the oldest and largest Android self-help site in existence, and even though it seems that nearly everyone comes by, we are not Google.

I think that your idea has a lot of merit, and I hope you recommend it to them directly and that they implement it as soon as possible.
 
Absolutely. Some features seem to get adopted quickly, others more slowly, we just can't ever tell how they do things.

So, you did get great responses from independent developers, though. Let me tell you, those guys usually get things done faster (and quite often better) than Google. So, stick tight with those cats, give Richard whatever debug information he needs and maybe that bug will clear in no time.

Meanwhile, anything used to hash out a unique identifier for you is going to require a scary sounding permission, either about you or your phone. The one selected here seems far more secure than others.
 
Hey Android experts :smokingsomb:

It's been a while, but the issue page has been rated with 26 stars and 12 people agreed completely ;)
(And no one disagreed.)

Anyway, I have rooted my cell phone and installed a new ROM (LiteNingROM).
Maybe I have more possibilities now to add a new volume app.
I had problems with richardop's Fine Volume Control V2, but probably it can work now - richardop, what is your comment on that?

Thank you guys, let's keep together and squish the apples :D
 
The volume jumping bug remains unsolved unfortunately. You may have more luck with a different rom, give it a try.
 
At the recently concluded Android Developer Conference held in San Francisco, we were showing a pair of new products one of which was paired with the Nexus 9 running Android Lollipop (aka "L").

We did observe that the behavior of "L" is defined by the host side for both internal audio and for an attached USB audio device such as our 'dSp' in regards to its volume control behavior. While I understand the desire to not to require the user to make an excessive number of presses of the volume increment and decrement buttons, the step count (and hence the precision) could be increased by adding more 'steps' and decreasing the delay between steps. This would allow for a compromise between the two extremes. When a wide dynamic range external audio device such as ours is paired with a host running "L" the steps really do behave as too large to get to the right listening volume. This is something that we noticed ourselves and more importantly, so did other users that participated in our demonstration at the AnDevCon. An ideal solution, at least in my opinion, would be a volume ramp that looks at the duration of the button hold. Initially it could be single steps (say 1 dB) and then if held for a period of time (perhaps 200 ms) could increase to larger steps (perhaps 3 dB). This would allow for a quick change but also for a more precise volume setting. The 'on glass' user interface for volume could always offer the 1 dB steps as one can 'slide' to any point; this aspect of the UI can have a separate behavior from the mechanical buttons.

Another point to consider would be the option to allow for the use of a device side volume control (if declared during enumeration by an appropriate attached device such as ours); this would allow access to our on board analog attenuation feature. Our device side hardware offers the advantage of no loss of resolution (audio resolution) which results from digital domain attenuation of the volume.

Kevin Halverson
CTO
High Resolution Technologies, LLC
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom