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2010-02-14
, 08:08
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Posts: n/a |
Thanked: 0 times |
Joined on
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#2
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Yeah, I'm surprised this isn't asked about a lot more. The volume settings are a bit unintuitive, although the granularity of the settings is quite nice if you do know how they work. Here's the deal:
There are three different cases when it comes to volume.
1) Alarms: Clock alarms will always ring (IIRC at full volume - someone correct me if that part is wrong). If the alarm is set, then it will ring. The assumption is that you don't want to worry about forgetting to un-mute your phone and sleeping in, and that that sort of alarm is only going to be set for important things.
2) Application Volume: Any sounds made by other applications which are user-initiated will be controlled by the volume slider in the status menu. "User-initiated" means your music, your games, your web, etc. This is the main volume, and can be easily adjusted to a comfortable level.
3) System Volume: Any system sounds or notifications are controlled by this. Individual volume controls for ringers, IM/e-mail, todo/event, or other notifications, are in the Settings app, under "Profiles". This is what you mute/un-mute with the General/Silent profile options, and any of these sounds which are accompanied by vibration will respect the vibration settings independently. (e.g. if you check the vibra box for "Silent", your meeting reminders, etc. will still buzz)
The point of this all is that there are three distinct classes of noises, and the user should have control over them. The first, you don't want to have to fiddle with; for the second, you know when it's going to make noise (because you cause it), so you can turn down the volume as appropriate; in the third case, you just don't want it to make noise unbidden, and so you can quickly hit a button a few times a day, and not have to worry about disruptions.
Hopefully this makes things clearer. I think it was a good idea, but I must admit that it threw me for a bit of a loop when I first got my phone, too. If you have ideas about how this feature could be made more obvious/discoverable/usable without reading a manual first, that would make an excellent Brainstorm item (read the wiki if you're not sure how Brainstorm works). If you do submit a Brainstorm, please link it to here.
EDIT: If there isn't already a wiki page on this, should I make one?
Cheers,
Last edited by jaem; 2010-02-14 at 08:28. Reason: Whitespace inconsistency
There are three different cases when it comes to volume.
1) Alarms: Clock alarms will always ring (IIRC at full volume - someone correct me if that part is wrong). If the alarm is set, then it will ring. The assumption is that you don't want to worry about forgetting to un-mute your phone and sleeping in, and that that sort of alarm is only going to be set for important things.
2) Application Volume: Any sounds made by other applications which are user-initiated will be controlled by the volume slider in the status menu. "User-initiated" means your music, your games, your web, etc. This is the main volume, and can be easily adjusted to a comfortable level.
3) System Volume: Any system sounds or notifications are controlled by this. Individual volume controls for ringers, IM/e-mail, todo/event, or other notifications, are in the Settings app, under "Profiles". This is what you mute/un-mute with the General/Silent profile options, and any of these sounds which are accompanied by vibration will respect the vibration settings independently. (e.g. if you check the vibra box for "Silent", your meeting reminders, etc. will still buzz)
The point of this all is that there are three distinct classes of noises, and the user should have control over them. The first, you don't want to have to fiddle with; for the second, you know when it's going to make noise (because you cause it), so you can turn down the volume as appropriate; in the third case, you just don't want it to make noise unbidden, and so you can quickly hit a button a few times a day, and not have to worry about disruptions.
Hopefully this makes things clearer. I think it was a good idea, but I must admit that it threw me for a bit of a loop when I first got my phone, too. If you have ideas about how this feature could be made more obvious/discoverable/usable without reading a manual first, that would make an excellent Brainstorm item (read the wiki if you're not sure how Brainstorm works). If you do submit a Brainstorm, please link it to here.
EDIT: If there isn't already a wiki page on this, should I make one?
Cheers,
Last edited by jaem; 2010-02-14 at 08:28. Reason: Whitespace inconsistency
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2010-02-14
, 15:08
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Posts: 393 |
Thanked: 67 times |
Joined on Feb 2010
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#3
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Thank you for the wonderful explanation, jaem!
Originally Posted by jaem
Yeah, I'm surprised this isn't asked about a lot more. The volume settings are a bit unintuitive, although the granularity of the settings is quite nice if you do know how they work. Here's the deal:
There are three different cases when it comes to volume.
1) Alarms: Clock alarms will always ring (IIRC at full volume - someone correct me if that part is wrong). If the alarm is set, then it will ring. The assumption is that you don't want to worry about forgetting to un-mute your phone and sleeping in, and that that sort of alarm is only going to be set for important things.
2) Application Volume: Any sounds made by other applications which are user-initiated will be controlled by the volume slider in the status menu. "User-initiated" means your music, your games, your web, etc. This is the main volume, and can be easily adjusted to a comfortable level.
3) System Volume: Any system sounds or notifications are controlled by this. Individual volume controls for ringers, IM/e-mail, todo/event, or other notifications, are in the Settings app, under "Profiles". This is what you mute/un-mute with the General/Silent profile options, and any of these sounds which are accompanied by vibration will respect the vibration settings independently. (e.g. if you check the vibra box for "Silent", your meeting reminders, etc. will still buzz)
The point of this all is that there are three distinct classes of noises, and the user should have control over them. The first, you don't want to have to fiddle with; for the second, you know when it's going to make noise (because you cause it), so you can turn down the volume as appropriate; in the third case, you just don't want it to make noise unbidden, and so you can quickly hit a button a few times a day, and not have to worry about disruptions.
Hopefully this makes things clearer. I think it was a good idea, but I must admit that it threw me for a bit of a loop when I first got my phone, too. If you have ideas about how this feature could be made more obvious/discoverable/usable without reading a manual first, that would make an excellent Brainstorm item (read the wiki if you're not sure how Brainstorm works). If you do submit a Brainstorm, please link it to here.
EDIT: If there isn't already a wiki page on this, should I make one?
Cheers,
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2010-03-31
, 03:44
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Posts: 1,743 |
Thanked: 1,231 times |
Joined on Jul 2006
@ Twickenham, UK
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#4
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Originally Posted by jaem
Definitely!
EDIT: If there isn't already a wiki page on this, should I make one?
Cheers,
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2010-05-10
, 05:55
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Guest |
Posts: n/a |
Thanked: 0 times |
Joined on
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#5
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Originally Posted by anidel
Hmm... I got that rather late. I'll see if I have time. There's probably another page I should add it to, rather than just making a new one.
Definitely!
Today I had my N900 set to the 'Silent' profile, yet when I browsed to a web site which had music on the homepage the music started playing. I was forced to turn the regular volume all the way down to mute it.
Did I do something wrong, or is the web volume independent of the Profile setting?