How do I get notifications to play through my headphones on Android?

Notifications provide alerts, reminders, and updates to users on their Android devices. They appear visually on the screen and many also provide an audio component. Users may enable notifications for a variety of apps and system functions to stay informed.

While notifications can be useful, the constant dings, beeps, and rings can be disruptive at times. Users may want to channel notifications directly to headphones at certain times for privacy or to avoid disturbing those around them. Headphones provide a more discreet way to receive audible alerts.

This guide will walk through the steps to reroute notifications to headphones instead of the external speaker on Android devices. We’ll cover choosing headphones as the audio output, adjusting sound and notification settings, testing that alerts play through headphones, troubleshooting issues, and alternative options.

Enable Notifications for Headphones

To enable notifications to play through your headphones on Android, you first need to enable notifications for your headphones in your device’s settings. Go to Settings > Sound & notification > Advanced > Media.

Under “Media,” make sure the option for “Media on Bluetooth headphones” is enabled. This allows media audio like music and podcasts as well as notifications to be routed to Bluetooth headphones when connected. If this option is disabled, your headphones will not receive notifications.

You can also configure additional options here, like whether to hear incoming call ringtones on headphones or rerouting media back to the phone speaker when headphones are disconnected. Adjust these as desired for your preferences.

According to Google Support, enabling media audio routing to headphones is required for spoken notifications to work properly.

Choose Headphones as Output

To set your headphones as the audio output for notifications on Android, you need to select your headphones from the available output options. Here are the steps:

Open the Settings app and go to Sounds and vibration > Audio output. This will show you a list of available audio devices paired to your phone, including headphones if connected via Bluetooth or USB-C.

Tap on the name of your headphones in the audio output list to set them as the active output. You may need to disconnect and reconnect your headphones if they don’t appear in the list at first.

Once selected, your headphones will now be used for notification sounds and audio playback until changed. You can switch back to phone speaker or other outputs any time from this menu.

On Android 11 and higher you can also quickly change audio output from the notification shade by pressing the headset icon next to the volume slider, without going into Settings each time (as noted in this Business Insider guide).

So in summary, going into Sound settings and manually selecting your headphones as the audio output is the main way to route notification sounds and playback to headphones on Android.

Adjust Additional Settings

In addition to choosing headphones as the notification output, there are some other settings you may want to adjust for notifications. These include the notification sound, vibration, and priorities.

To change the notification sound, go to Settings > Sound & vibration > Default notification sound. Here you can select from the available notification sounds or add your own custom sound. Be sure to select a sound that will be audible through your headphones.

You can also control vibration by going to Settings > Sound & vibration and toggling “Vibrate for notifications” on or off. Turning vibration on can help make notifications more noticeable through headphones.

Under Settings > Notifications, tap Notifications again. Here you can set notification priorities and determine which apps can override your Do Not Disturb settings. Give important apps high priority so their notifications always play through your headphones.

See this Google support article and this Android Basics guide for more details on customizing notification settings.

Test Notifications

Once you have enabled notifications for headphones and selected your preferred headphones as the audio output, it’s important to test that notifications are actually playing through the headphones.

The easiest way to test this is to simply send yourself a test notification. You can use any messaging or email app installed on your Android device to send a test notification.

For example, open the Messages app and send yourself a text message. Or open the Gmail app and send yourself a test email. When the notification comes through, confirm that you hear the sound playing through your connected headphones, not the phone speaker.

If you don’t hear the notification sound through the headphones, double check your headphone and notification settings. Make sure your headphones are connected properly via Bluetooth or cable. You may also want to try adjusting the notification volume under Sound settings.

Testing notifications is the best way to confirm that your desired headphones are set and working properly as the audio output for notifications on your Android device.

Troubleshooting

If you are unable to get notifications to play through your headphones on Android, there are a few troubleshooting steps you can take:

First, make sure your headphones are properly connected to your Android device. Unplug and re-plug the headphones to ensure a proper connection. Also check for any obstructions in the headphone jack.

Next, verify that the app has permission to access your notifications. Open Settings > Apps & notifications > Advanced > Special app access > Notification access. Make sure the app is enabled to access notifications.

Additionally, check if Do Not Disturb mode is enabled, which could mute all notifications and ringtones. Open Settings > Sound & vibration > Do Not Disturb and ensure it is turned off or allows exceptions.

You can also try adjusting the audio output settings. Go to Settings > Sound and see if your headphones are selected under Audio output. Try toggling between the options.

Finally, you may need to check individual app notification settings. Open the app, go to app settings, and look for options to enable sounds and check the audio output selected.

Third-Party Apps

There are several useful third-party apps that can help sync your Android device’s notifications and volume to headphones or earbuds:

Headset Notifier displays a status bar notification when headphones are connected. It can play a sound, vibrate, or enable a custom app-specific action when headphones are plugged in. The app offers notification sync and separate volume control for wired headsets.

Headset Indicator shows a notification when wired headphones are plugged in. The app can play a sound, vibrate, or flash LED lights. It also allows you to control volume for wired headsets separately from the main device volume.

These apps provide robust customization for syncing notifications and volume controls specifically to wired headphones and earbuds. They offer more granular options compared to the native Android settings.

Automation

You can use automation apps like Automate to automatically enable notifications to your headphones when they are plugged in. This allows you to set up a macro or shortcut that will enable notifications to headphones as soon as you plug them in.

Here are the steps to set up an Automate automation for this:

  1. Install the Automate app from the Play Store
  2. Open Automate and create a new flow
  3. Add a “Headset Plugged In” block as the trigger
  4. Add a “Notification Access” block and enable it
  5. Add a “Notification Listener” block and enable notifications
  6. Add an “End Flow” block to complete the automation

Now whenever you plug in headphones, this flow will automatically run enabling notifications to your headphones. You can disable it by toggling the “Notification Access” block off when headphones are unplugged if desired. Automate provides an easy way to automate this behavior without needing to manually enable it each time.

Alternative Options

If you are unable to get notifications to play through regular headphones, there are some alternative options to consider:

Screen mirroring allows you to mirror your Android display and audio onto another device like a TV or computer monitor. Apps like AirScreen and Wireless Display can facilitate screen mirroring so that you can see and hear notifications through another device.

Bone conduction headphones use technology that transmits sound waves through your cheekbones to your inner ear rather than covering your ears. This allows you to hear both your surroundings and your audio at the same time. Popular bone conduction headphone models like Aftershokz Aeropex and OpenRun Pro can let you hear notifications while still being aware of ambient noise.

While not as convenient as routing notifications directly through regular headphones, these alternatives provide other ways to get notifications through alternate audio sources.

Conclusion

In summary, there are a few key steps to get notifications routed through headphones on Android devices. It’s important to go into the device’s Settings to enable notifications for the specific apps you want alerts from, choose your headphones as the audio output, and customize additional notification preferences. Testing the notifications after setup ensures the routing is working properly. If issues arise, troubleshooting steps like checking app permissions, restarting Bluetooth, or using third-party apps can help get notifications functioning through headphones.

Properly managing notifications and routing them to headphones, rather than the device speaker, allows you to stay aware of alerts while minimizing distractions for those around you. With the right setup on your Android device, you can receive notifications discreetly and productively.

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