Separate call and volume sliders coming soon

(Image credit: Google)

Sometimes the best changes are the small ones. A quality-of-life update is coming to a future version of Pixel OS separating the volume controls for ringtones and notifications.

It’s a pretty basic change, sure, but considering the fact that you can already adjust the volume for media and alarms separately, it makes sense to have the tool cover everything. You can silence notifications in case your group chat is sending out tons of texts while still letting you hear phone calls, for example. Apparently, this one feature has been in the works for about a year and a half, according to the original Google IssueTracker post asking for this change (opens in new tab). Looking through the thread, it seems Google didn’t really see this request as important enough to implement quickly so the company took its time.

At the bottom of the post, you’ll see a comment by someone, who presumably works at Google, stating the “requested feature will be available in a future build”. Exactly which one is unknown although 9to5Google (opens in new tab) did find a clue in the files of Android 13 QPR3 (opens in new tab) (Quarterly Platform Release) Beta 3. They found an ADB (Android Debug Bridge) command hinting at the design change. 9to5Google suggests the update could arrive with the release of the stable version of “Android 13 QPR3 Beta 3”, but that might be wishful thinking. 

Android 14 changes

An Android 14 launch seems more likely, though, given the current “stage of the development cycle”. This is backed by another discovery by Android Police (opens in new tab) where the publication found the two sliders already enabled on an early Android 14 build (opens in new tab). And in said build, they discovered “setting the [Pixel] phone to vibrate” mutes both volumes.

The company’s next big event is Google IO 2023 (May 10) where we expect to get a good look at Android 14 before its official launch later this summer. Besides getting new features, “we’re also expecting [the operating system] to bring some quality-of-life upgrades” as well as a boost to device security. Perhaps the slider changes will be a part of that package or its reveal of the anticipated Pixel 7a phone.

It’s hard to say for sure, but we’ll know soon enough in about a week. Check out TechRadar’s recent roundup of the best deals for both the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro if you're looking to upgrade.

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