Notification sounds routing: How is the Android user community not furious after all this time?

[john_wayne]

Android Pie severed the ability to have notification sounds (sounds other than a call ringtone) play over the device's speaker when corded/bluetooth headphones/vehicle are connected. So if say you have headphones connected, any notification (other than a call) is inaudible if the headphones are not in/on ear. There is no support channel I can find to submit this OS fail to Android, and I have started this petition, but in my limited circle, it hasnt gotten very far yet. http://chng.it/4WV6Dsdr  I have likely oversimplified the explanation of the ramifications of the issue here. It is a major productivity killer. Does anyone here have suggestions? I have not been able to root my device, nor do i really want to go there and do that.

[kelvinhall05]

I actually like that they play through headphones, because if I have headphones connected they're in my ears and I can actually hear my notifications.

[flibberdipper]

1 minute ago, kelvinhall05 said:

I actually like that they play through headphones, because if I have headphones connected they're in my ears and I can actually hear my notifications.

Good to see I'm not the only rational human being in this regard.

[kelvinhall05]

2 minutes ago, flibberdipper said:

Good to see I'm not the only rational human being in this regard.

Plus, why would I want other people to hear my notification sounds? Lol

[john_wayne]

11 minutes ago, kelvinhall05 said:

I actually like that they play through headphones, because if I have headphones connected they're in my ears and I can actually hear my notifications.

I do not disagree with you there. The issue is not that the sounds play through the headphones. the issue is that with Pie the sounds can ONLY play through the headphones. In previous versions of android, the routing could be specified to: 1. headphones 2. device speaker 3. both . Everything is good when you have headphones in, or are sitting in your car, or are near your bluetooth speaker. But if you lay your phone and earbuds on the counter, or get out of your vehicle, or walk yourself/device away from the speaker - the notifications are inaudible. The problem is with the inability to set the user's routing of the notification sounds. that ability was stripped out of Pie.

[john_wayne]

15 minutes ago, kelvinhall05 said:

Plus, why would I want other people to hear my notification sounds? Lol

We're not asking for an either/or setting, youre correct some folks will want the sound in headphone only. we are not asking for feature add, but for a feature reinstatement that existed in past android versions.

Here are some use-case examples in response to your question:

When working, i do not constantly have my earbuds in, so that i can hear my child, but i leave the earbuds plugged in so that i can quickly take a call in-ear while being able to continue to work a keyboard. This in effect silences my device, and i miss timely messages.

I am loosing business because my alerts will not sound when a text/email come through. I am a HVAC service technician and am always in noisy environments. This is a big problem and needs to be solved quickly. I have used android since android 2.0 and this is by far the biggest problem to date. I also work for a local housing authority and receive my emergency on call via text. Some of our tenants have serious medical issues and this problem "COULD" possibly cost someone there life if I don't get notified in a timely manner.

I cannot hear notifications from my phone when my Bluetooth headphones are connected. My headphones are the LG Tones and rest around my neck when not in use but remain connected so that I can answer a call or listen to audio at a moment's notice.

[kelvinhall05]

1 minute ago, john_wayne said:

We're not asking for an either/or setting, youre correct some folks will want the sound in headphone only. we are not asking for feature add, but for a feature reinstatement that existed in past android versions.

Here are some use-case examples in response to your question:

When working, i do not constantly have my earbuds in, so that i can hear my child, but i leave the earbuds plugged in so that i can quickly take a call in-ear while being able to continue to work a keyboard. This in effect silences my device, and i miss timely messages.

I am loosing business because my alerts will not sound when a text/email come through. I am a HVAC service technician and am always in noisy environments. This is a big problem and needs to be solved quickly. I have used android since android 2.0 and this is by far the biggest problem to date. I also work for a local housing authority and receive my emergency on call via text. Some of our tenants have serious medical issues and this problem "COULD" possibly cost someone there life if I don't get notified in a timely manner.

I cannot hear notifications from my phone when my Bluetooth headphones are connected. My headphones are the LG Tones and rest around my neck when not in use but remain connected so that I can answer a call or listen to audio at a moment's notice.

I feel like this is one very small, specific issue that very few people have.

 

I also feel like it could be added in with a custom ROM.

[john_wayne]

9 minutes ago, kelvinhall05 said:

I feel like this is one very small, specific issue that very few people have.

 

I also feel like it could be added in with a custom ROM.

Understood, however not all devices can be rooted, some folks lack the capacity to root their device even if it is possible. The stance of "it's not important to me therefore it must be irrelevant" is exactly the challenge that users affected by this feature omit are up against. There are many forum posts at many different vendors' sites about this very issue, but with no support channel in place to actually reach the android development team, there is no way to quantify how many folks are actually affected. i.e.: people posting about this at samsung dont gain any traction: it's an android issue, not a samsung issue, samsung is not the place to post about it, and samsung isnt going to gather that feedback and give it to the android dev team. rinse and repeat for every vendor of android powered devices on the market.

[LinusTech]

Set to "always vibrate"? 

 

I almost never hear my phone but I always keep it someone I can feel it. 

 

Or maybe a smart watch? 

[john_wayne]

8 hours ago, LinusTech said:

Set to "always vibrate"? 

 

I almost never hear my phone but I always keep it someone I can feel it. 

 

Or maybe a smart watch? 

The always vibrate route may help some folks. I've tried it, but even with custom vibrations per notification type - for me it was difficult telling things apart and i couldnt hear it from any distance beyond being on my person - if I even noticed it then. But that's a ME issue.
The smart watch solution is a good idea. I've watched several LTT reviews of bad android watches, but dont recall any as being recommended. Is there a particular brand or model you would suggest looking at first?
I do plan that in time we will gather a voice large enough to get the android dev team's attention to re-add the feature, but until then, I may have to learn to wear a watch again  Thanks for the feedback.