How do I get rid of play tone notifications?

What are play tone notifications?

Play tone notifications refer to the audio alert sounds or vibrations that play when you receive a new notification on your device. For example, when you get a new text message, email, or app alert, your device may play a brief tone or chime sound to notify you.

Some common examples of apps and services that utilize play tone notifications include:

Text messaging apps like Messages on iOS or Android Messages

Email clients like Gmail or Outlook
Social media apps like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Calendars for event reminders

News or weather alerts

The purpose of play tone notifications is to alert the user about some new activity or update that requires their attention. The sound catches your ear, while the visual notification popping up provides more details about what happened. Play tones allow users to be made aware of notifications even if they aren’t actively looking at their device screen.

Why play tone notifications can be annoying

Play tone notifications can be disruptive and annoying when they occur unexpectedly or frequently, especially if you don’t want them. The notification chime can be loud and abrupt, distracting you from whatever you are currently doing on your device. According to a Google Pixel user, play tone notifications “feel more like bug than setting” because they interrupt media playback with a chime.

Additionally, play tone notifications often happen outside of user preferences and notification settings. For example, embedded videos on websites may trigger a notification chime every few seconds even if you have all notifications silenced. This decreases the video volume and disrupts viewing. So play tone notifications can be seen as annoying when they occur frequently and unwanted.

How to disable play tone notifications on iPhone

To turn off play tone notifications on an iPhone, follow these steps:

Open the Settings app on your iPhone

Tap “Notifications” towards the top of the Settings menu
Scroll down and locate the app you want to stop receiving play tone notifications from
Tap that app’s settings

Toggle off “Sounds” under Alerts

This will block that app from playing alert tones for their notifications while still allowing that app to display banners or badges. You can also customize whether a given app vibrates your iPhone as well by toggling “Vibration” off. And if you want to disable notifications entirely, toggle both Sounds and Banners off (source).

To disable all play tone notifications at once – such as if you want a distraction-free period – enable Do Not Disturb mode instead. You can find Do Not Disturb under the Settings app main menu.

Disabling play tone notifications on Android

You can easily disable play tone notifications on an Android smartphone by adjusting the sound settings for apps in the Settings menu:

Open the Settings app
Go to Notifications via the menu or by searching

Locate the app you want to disable sound notifications for like YouTube, Facebook etc.
Toggle the Sound setting to Off

With this toggle off, notifications from that app will only display visibly on your device and no ping, alert, play tone etc. will sound when you receive them. Repeat for any other apps that you want to silence.

As an alternative, consider using Do Not Disturb to block sounds and vibrations for all notifications. You can also customize notification settings for each app if you only want to disable play tone alerts for certain apps. This gives you more fine grained control.

Stopping play tone notifications on Mac

You can easily turn off play tone notifications in the system preferences on your Mac.

To stop play tone notifications for specific apps:

Open System Preferences
Go to Notifications
Locate the app you want to disable notifications sounds for

Uncheck the “Play sound” box

To turn off notification sounds completely, simply uncheck “Play sound” for All Categories in the Notifications settings (source).

You can also change the default alert sound or disable sounds temporarily using Do Not Disturb mode. Customizing notifications on a per-app basis gives you granular control.

Preventing play tone alerts on Windows

Disabling notification sounds in Windows 10 can be done via the Settings app. Follow these steps:

– Open the Settings app by pressing Windows key + I or clicking the Start button and selecting Settings.

– Go to System > Notifications & actions.

– Locate the application you want to disable notification sounds for.

– Toggle off “Play a sound” for that app.

You can also globally disable notification sounds in Windows 10 by toggling “Allow notifications to play sounds” under Settings > System > Notifications & actions.

Another method to prevent these sounds is using Windows 10’s Focus Assist feature to enable Do Not Disturb mode which will block sounds (source).

Using Do Not Disturb to Block Notifications

One way to prevent play tone notifications is by enabling Do Not Disturb on your device. When Do Not Disturb is turned on, it blocks all incoming calls and notifications from making sounds or vibrations. This allows you to avoid disruptions from play tone alerts.

Do Not Disturb can be scheduled to automatically turn on during certain times, like at night when you are sleeping. You can set a schedule so that Do Not Disturb activates on a daily basis or only on certain days.

While Do Not Disturb blocks most notifications, you can allow exceptions for calls or messages from important contacts like family members or your boss. This way you can still receive alerts from high priority individuals even when Do Not Disturb is enabled.

Both iPhone and Android devices have Do Not Disturb modes that can silence play tone notifications. On an iPhone, open Settings, tap Focus, and turn on Do Not Disturb. On Android, open Settings, select Sound & vibration or Notifications, and enable Do Not Disturb. Refer to Apple or your Android manufacturer’s instructions for details.

Customizing notification settings by app

Each app has it’s own notification settings that allow you to control the frequency, sounds, and previews of notifications.

On an iPhone, you can customize notifications for each app by going to Settings > Notifications > [Select App]. From there, you can toggle notifications on or off, allow previews, choose sounds, and select how frequently the app can notify you.

On Android, open the Settings app and go to Apps & Notifications > Notifications > [Select App]. You’ll find toggles for enabling notifications, controlling the notification sound, allowing peeking, and more.

For third party apps, you’ll generally find notification settings within the app itself. Look for a Settings or Preferences menu where you can configure notification options.

Taking the time to customize notifications on a per-app basis allows you to tune alerts to your preferences. You can disable noisy notifications from some apps while allowing important notifications from others. Overall, it gives you more granular control over notifications.

Sources:

https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/change-notification-settings-iph7c3d96bab/ios

https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-customize-notification-sounds-android/

Muting all notification sounds

One quick way to temporarily silence play tone notifications and other sounds is to mute all notification sounds on your device. This doesn’t fully disable notifications – you’ll still see them on your screen – but it will prevent any audible alerts.

Muting notifications can be helpful when you need to focus without distractions or when you’re in meetings and don’t want your phone making noise. Just keep in mind this only mutes notification sounds temporarily, until you manually turn the sounds back on.

On an iPhone, you can toggle the side mute switch on the left side of the device to mute all sounds. On Android devices, look for a Mute or Sound mode setting in your quick settings menu to mute notifications. On Mac and Windows computers, you may be able to mute sounds through the System Preferences or Settings menus. Refer to your device’s documentation for exact instructions.

Muting provides a quick way to silence distractions, but it also means you might miss important alerts. As an alternative solution, consider customizing notifications on a per-app basis instead.

[Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/oneplus/comments/9yrkpe/how_to_turn_off_all_notification_sounds_and_beeps/]

Take control of notification overload

In this guide we covered the key steps to disable notification sounds on major platforms like iOS, Android, Mac and Windows. By digging into your device and app notification settings, you can take control and prevent pesky notification sounds from constantly interrupting you.

Controlling notifications is important for reducing distraction and improving focus. Customizing your notification preferences allows you to filter out unimportant alerts while still receiving timely notifications about messages, events and other updates you care about.

Beyond completely muting notification sounds, most devices and apps offer additional customization around notification frequency, blocking by app or contact, overriding do not disturb and more. Take time to explore your options and set up notifications to best suit your needs.