Per-App Volume on Android: What Your Phone Can and Can't Do

You would like YouTube a bit quieter than Spotify, and TikTok quieter still. It sounds like a basic feature, but per-app volume control on Android is more limited than most people expect. Here's what Android actually offers, what some phone makers add, and what you can do instead.

What stock Android gives you

Android splits sound into separate volume settings:

• •Media: music, videos, games, browsers and social apps
• •Call: the other person's voice on a call
• •Ringtone: incoming calls
• •Notifications: message and app sounds
• •Alarm: your alarms

You'll find these sliders in your phone's sound settings, or by pressing a volume key and expanding the panel. Names vary by phone.

These settings are independent of each other. But inside media, every app shares one setting. Stock Android has no slider that says "YouTube 40%, Spotify 60%". When you raise the volume in one app and then open another, the second app plays at that same level.

What Android does remember: one level per output

There is one kind of separate volume built in: Android keeps a different media volume for each output. The phone speaker, wired headphones and Bluetooth devices each remember their own level. That's why the volume can jump when you connect or disconnect headphones. Our article on headphones vs speaker volume explains it in detail.

Bluetooth adds another layer. Many headphones and speakers sync their volume with the phone, while others, and some car systems, keep a volume control of their own. It depends on the device.

What some phone makers add

Some manufacturers add audio tools on top of Android. On some Samsung phones, for example:

• •Separate app sound, in the sound settings, can send one app's audio to a different output, such as a music app to a Bluetooth speaker while everything else stays on the phone.
• •Samsung's optional SoundAssistant app from the Galaxy Store has offered individual volume levels per app on supported models.
• •A media volume limiter in the volume settings sets a maximum for media volume.

Availability, names and behavior differ by model, region and software version, and other brands have their own extras under different names. The quickest way to see what your phone offers is to search Settings for "volume" or "app sound".

Volume options inside apps

Some music and video apps have their own audio settings, for example a volume normalization option that evens out loud and quiet tracks. These work on top of the phone's media volume and differ from app to app, so check the playback or audio settings of the apps you use most.

Workable alternatives to true per-app volume

Lower the volume before opening a loud app

Low-tech, but it works. If one app tends to start loud, press volume down before you open it.

Use a fixed maximum

A media volume limiter, where your phone has one, stops the volume going above a set point in every app. It won't make one app quieter than another, but it limits how far media volume can go.

Set a limit only in the apps you choose

This is the approach SoundAlert takes. It isn't a per-app slider. Instead:

• •You choose which apps to protect, from 35+ supported media apps across social media, messaging, browsers, video and music.
• •You set one alert limit (default 50%) and one reduce-to level (default 15%), or pick a preset: Quiet 30%, Normal 50% or Loud Environment 70%.
• •While a protected app is open, SoundAlert checks the media volume about once a second. If it's above your limit, it lowers it to your reduce-to level automatically.
• •In apps you haven't protected, your volume is left alone.

So Spotify can play at whatever level you like, while YouTube and TikTok are kept under your limit whenever they're open.

The limit and reduce-to level are the same for every protected app. With LIFETIME, AI Volume Learning can suggest levels that fit each app, separately for the phone speaker and for headphones, based on how you actually listen. It runs on your phone, and nothing changes until you tap Apply.

SoundAlert only changes media volume. It never touches ringtone, call, notification or alarm volume.

The short version

• •Stock Android has one media volume shared by all apps, plus a separate level for each output.
• •Some phones, including some Samsung models, add per-app sound tools. Availability varies.
• •Normalization options inside apps can even out loudness.
• •To keep specific apps under a limit, SoundAlert applies your limit only in the apps you choose.

Get SoundAlert on Google Play. The FREE version protects one app with unlimited auto-reduce.