Can I change the touch Sound on Android?

What is the touch sound?

The touch sound, also known as haptic feedback, refers to the sound your Android phone makes when you interact with the screen by tapping, typing, or performing other gestures. It provides audio confirmation that you have touched the screen successfully.

The main purpose of the touch sound is to enhance the user experience by providing auditory feedback when interacting with the device. This is especially useful when you cannot physically see the screen, such as when your phone is in your pocket or bag. The sound confirms that your touch registered.

Touch sounds are one type of haptic feedback, alongside vibration and tactile sensations. While vibration and tactile feedback engage the sense of touch, touch sounds engage the sense of hearing to confirm actions. All types of haptic feedback aim to create a more intuitive and immersive experience with technology.

Default touch sounds on Android

Android devices come with a set of built-in system touch sounds that play for various user interactions. These default sounds help provide audio feedback when tapping, scrolling, typing, and more.

Some examples of default touch sounds on Android include:

The tap sound when touching buttons or selections

The swoosh sound when flicking to scroll
The click sound when pressing hardware buttons
The sent sound when sending a message

The “waterdrop” sound when tapping the keyboard

These system sounds are designed to be subtle yet noticeable audio cues. They help confirm your touch interactions without being too intrusive. The default touch sounds can be universally recognized by Android users.

Locating the Touch Sound Settings

The touch sound settings on Android devices are located within the Sounds & Vibration or Sound & Haptics settings menu, depending on your Android version and device manufacturer. Here’s how to find the touch sound controls:

On most Android devices running Android 9 or later:

Open the Settings app
Scroll down and tap Sounds & Vibration

Tap Advanced or Other sounds
Look for options like Touch sounds, Touch vibration, or Dial pad tones

On Android devices running Android 8 or earlier:

Open the Settings app
Tap Sound
Look for the Other sounds or Vibration intensity options

For Samsung devices:

Open Settings
Tap Sounds and vibration

Tap Sound quality and effects
Look for the Touch sound option

The sound settings menu allows you to control volumes, set notification tones, enable vibrate, and customize feedback sounds like the touch sound. The touch sound controls specifically are often nested under advanced sound options.

Disabling touch sounds

To disable touch sounds on Android:

1. Open the Settings app on your Android device. Some phones have an option to disable touch sounds in the Sound settings under Device tab.

2. Tap on the Sounds and vibration option. On Android 5.0 and higher, this is under the Sound section.

3. Look for the setting called Touch sounds or Other sounds and tones. Tap on it.

4. Toggle the switch off to disable touch sounds.

You can confirm that touch sounds are now disabled by tapping on icons or buttons. You should no longer hear any feedback sounds. If you still hear sounds, double check that the Touch sounds toggle is switched off.

To quickly access touch sound settings, you can also pull down the notification panel and tap on the sound icon. Toggle off Touch sounds here.

This will mute all tap and touch feedback sounds on your device. Certain critical sounds like alarms will still play.

Customizing touch sounds

The default touch sounds on Android can get repetitive after a while. Luckily, you can customize the touch sounds to make your device feel more personal.

Here are a few ways to customize the touch sounds on your Android device:

Changing the default touch sound

Most Android devices come with several built-in touch sound options to choose from. To change the default touch sound:

Go to Settings > Sound.

Tap on Advanced > Touch sounds.
You will see a list of built-in touch sounds like Tic, Tac, Pop, etc. Tap on the sound you want to set as the new default.

Adding custom audio files

If you want to set a custom audio file as your touch sound, you can do that too. Just make sure the audio file is in .ogg or .mp3 format.

Copy the custom audio file to your device’s internal storage or SD card.
Go to Settings > Sound > Advanced > Touch sounds.
Tap on Add touch sound.

Select your custom audio file.
Give the file a name and tap OK to add it.
You can now select this custom sound from the touch sounds list.

Get creative and set any short sound clip you want as your touch sound!

Choosing touch sound themes

Android provides several built-in sound themes that you can select to change the touch sounds system-wide on your device. To choose a sound theme:

Open the Settings app and go to Sounds & vibration > Sound quality and effects.

Tap on Sound theme.
You will see different built-in themes to choose from like Default, Remix, Pop, Hip hop, etc. Select the theme you want.
Tap Apply to set the chosen theme.

You can also download additional high quality touch sound themes from the Google Play Store. Some popular touch sound theme apps are:

Sound Themes – Offers modern touch sound themes.
Sound packages – Provides nature inspired sound themes.

S10 Sound Pack – Emulates the Samsung Galaxy S10 sound theme.

These apps provide high quality, customized audio packages to enhance your touch sounds and notifications.

Per app touch sound settings

In addition to system-wide touch sound settings, you can customize touch sounds on a per app basis. This allows you to set different touch sounds or mute sounds completely for specific apps.

To configure per app touch sounds:

Go to Settings > Sounds & vibration > Advanced
Tap App sounds and vibrations

Tap on the app you want to customize
Toggle on/off the Touch sounds and Vibrations options for that app
You can select from the available touch sound themes or choose None to mute

This will override the global touch sound settings only for the selected app. All other apps will continue to use the system-wide settings.

Per app customization is useful if you want to mute sounds from productivity apps to avoid distractions or set fun sounds for games. You can tailor the experience on an app-by-app basis.

Automating touch sounds

One way to automate when touch sounds play on your Android device is by using Do Not Disturb mode. You can schedule Do Not Disturb to automatically turn on and off during certain times. When Do Not Disturb is on, all touch sounds will be muted. To enable this:

Open Settings and go to Sound > Do Not Disturb.
Tap Schedules. Create a schedule for when you want Do Not Disturb enabled.
Under Behavior, choose whether to allow touch sounds and vibration during scheduled hours.

Another automation option is creating Routines in the Google Home app. Routines allow you to trigger custom actions when a certain phrase is spoken. For example:

Open the Google Home app and create a new Routine.
Add a starter phrase like “play sound.”

Under Add action, choose Play media and select a custom sound file.

Now when you say “Hey Google, play sound,” it will trigger your chosen audio file. You can create routines to play sounds on tap, reminders, alarms, and other triggers.

Cite: https://www.reddit.com/r/AutomateUser/comments/xl8lgp/how_to_make_interact_touch_work/

Accessibility Considerations

Users with visual impairments often rely on sound cues like touch sounds to interact with their Android device. The audible feedback from touch sounds helps visually impaired users locate items on the screen and confirm when they have tapped or activated something successfully. Disabling touch sounds can severely hinder device accessibility for blind and low vision users.

Likewise, users with hearing impairments may find audible touch sounds distracting, overwhelming, or useless. Those who are deaf or hard of hearing often prefer visual feedback like haptic vibration to confirm screen interactions. For these users, turning off touch sounds can improve focus while engaging with their Android device.

When considering whether to adjust touch sounds, it’s important to be mindful of accessibility. Android’s customization options aim to provide an optimal experience for diverse users. Those with visual impairments can leave sounds enabled, while users with hearing issues may prefer them disabled. Customizing per app allows utilizing sounds only for preferred screen interactions. Overall, Android’s flexibility supports individual users’ accessibility needs.

Troubleshooting touch sound issues

If you are having issues with your touch sounds not working properly on your Android device, here are some troubleshooting steps you can take:

Fixing missing touch sounds

If your touch sounds have disappeared or are no longer playing, try these solutions:

Check that your device volume is turned up and not muted.

Make sure that touch sounds are enabled in your Sound settings.
Try toggling the touch sounds option off and back on again.
Restart your device.

Check that you don’t have a app installed that is disabling touch sounds.
Try resetting your device to factory default settings.

Solutions for echoing/delaying sounds

If your touch sounds have an echo or delay, try these fixes:

Adjust audio latency settings if available on your device.
Try a different touch sound theme.
Check for any software/apps causing a conflict.

Update your device software and apps to eliminate bugs.
Reset app preferences or clear app cache/data.
Rule out any hardware issues by testing with headphones or external speakers.

If you still can’t resolve the issues, contact your device manufacturer for further support.