Setting the ringer/notification volume on phones is a pain. A mid-level setting is too quiet to hear in a crowded area, but is obnoxiously loud in a quiet room. Why isn’t it a standard feature of phones to automatically adjust the volume based on the background noise? Most phones already adjust the display brightness based on ambient light. Phones already have a microphone. What’s the problem?
I’m putting this in GQ because it’s such an obvious feature, there must be a factual reason why it isn’t standard.
I keep my phone in my pocket. It must be real quiet in there. I already have a hard enough time hearing it ring. If the phone muted its ringer even more, I would never hear it.
I don’t recall ever working on such a feature. Then again, I only played audio engineer for one phone. I’m probably going to see one of my old testers tomorrow - I’ll try to remember to ask for an opinion.
So, I an old. You don’t want me to be able to set the volume where I need it?
Different types of noise affect my ability to hear certain frequencies, ( I am old ) My ears are getting tired.
Why make the phone use a computer program to figure this out every time your phone rings? And if that feature blue screens while the phone is on a very low setting???
Why can’t I have a computer that does what I want instead of these darn things that do what you tell them to do???
I use Tasker to set up different profiles and can adjust things like ringer volume based on different factors. I have the phone set to go silent when I am in the movie theatre I normally go to and to go vibrate at work. When I am at home I have it set to 1/3 volume and all other times it is at full volume for the ringer and notifications.
This is exactly what I thought. How is the phone supposed to tell the difference between “buried in a pocket or bag, with ambient sounds muffled” and “sitting on a table in a quiet room”? In one case you’d want the ringer to be quite loud, and in the second it’d need to be rather soft.
‘In pocket detection’ already exists - it uses a combination of sensors, including (I think):
Motion: If the phone is absolutely still, it might be on a table
Light: if it’s dark, the phone might be in a pocket
Proximity: If there’s something pressed against a lot of the screen, it might be in a pocket
By combining those factors, it’s possible to make a more accurate guess - of course, if it’s face down on top of a cloth bag in a moving vehicle, the phone may not be able to distinguish this from being in a pocket.