Quiet Dial help

Just installed and nothing got quieter? Check two things first. The dial has to be on screen: open the app and tap Start volume control. And the quiet steps are the bars below the line on the dial: tap one of them while something is playing. If it still does not get quieter, see Why did the sound not get quieter?

How do I set it up?

1. Open Quiet Dial and tap Agree and continue.
2. Tap Grant overlay access. Android opens its own settings screen. On Android 11 and later that screen is a list of every app: find Quiet Dial and turn its switch on. If the app does not come back by itself, press back until you see it again. If you cannot find it, see the next question.
3. Tap Start volume control. The dial appears over whatever you were doing.
4. Android may ask about notifications. This is optional. With it, the control shows in the notification shade with a Stop button; without it, the control works the same.
5. On Android 13 and later you are offered a Quick Settings tile once. After the first setup, the tile turns the control on and off.

I cannot find Quiet Dial in Android's list

On Android 11 and later, the permission to display over other apps is turned on in a list of all your apps. Android opens that list in place of the app's own switch, and no app can change that.

1. Look for the Quiet Dial icon: a round, dark icon with rising bars. It is the same icon you tapped to open the app.
2. If the list is in A to Z order, Quiet Dial is under Q.
3. If the list has a search button, usually a magnifying glass at the top, tap it and type Quiet.
4. Tap Quiet Dial and turn the switch on. If the app does not come back by itself, press back until you see it again.

If Quiet Dial is not in the list at all, or its switch cannot be turned on, the device does not offer this permission. Some devices with little memory (Android Go edition) are built that way, and the dial cannot be shown on them.

What does the dial do?

• Above the orange line the dial sets your device's normal volume in even steps. Useful when the volume buttons are worn out or broken. The buttons keep working.
• Below the orange line are six steps quieter than your device's own minimum, down to -30 dB. Media, ringtones, notifications and alarms follow.
• MUTE silences media only. Alarms still ring.
• The minus button folds the dial into a small tab at the screen edge. The level keeps working. Tap the tab to bring the dial back.
• The X turns the control off. The sound returns to your device's normal volume.
• The i opens "Your access": where you stand, the price, restore, the tour and the legal texts. Tapping the app icon while the control is running opens the same sheet.

To come back up from the quiet steps, tap a bar above the orange line, or use the up arrow on the dial.

Why did the control stop by itself?

The usual cause is the device's battery manager closing apps that run for a long time. The setting has different names on different devices. Look in Settings, Apps, Quiet Dial, Battery and choose the option that does not restrict the app (often called Unrestricted, or Don't optimise). Some devices also have a list of apps that may run in the background, or apps that are never put to sleep: add Quiet Dial to it.

After a restart of the device, the control comes back by itself only if it was on when the device shut down. A control you stopped stays stopped.

If the dial is gone but the notification is still there, the "display over other apps" permission was switched off. Open Quiet Dial and grant it again.

Why did the sound not get quieter?

A few kinds of sound cannot be reached by this app. This is how Android routes them, and no setting in the app changes it.

• Regular phone calls. Android carries cellular voice on a separate path that runs no audio effects. During a regular call the quiet steps are dimmed. Calls made through apps such as WhatsApp are lowered on phones that play them through the media output, which varies by phone.
• Keyboard clicks and touch sounds. Android plays these on a low-latency path that skips audio effects.
• Some Bluetooth combinations. On a small number of phone and headphone combinations the quiet steps have no effect over Bluetooth, although they work on the speaker. The phone sends that headset's audio through a separate output on which the system does not apply the effect, and it does not tell the app, so the app cannot warn you. One thing to try: in that headset's Bluetooth settings on the phone, switch off the high-quality codec option (shown as "HD audio: aptX" on some phones), reconnect, and start the dial again. This brought the quiet steps back on the one setup where it was reported and tested, a Pixel 7 running LineageOS with aptX headphones.
• Some devices. A device maker can decline to let apps attach the audio effect the quiet steps use. When that happens the app says so in "Your access", and the normal range above the line still works.

Try this first: play something, set the device's own volume to its lowest step that still makes sound, then tap a bar below the orange line.

What happens after the free week?

Everything is open for seven days, counted from the install. After that the dial locks until one payment, made once, unlocks it for good. There is no subscription and nothing renews.

To unlock, tap the i on the dial, or the app icon while the control is running, to open "Your access", then tap the button that begins Keep it for good. Google Play handles the payment.

The price is the one Google Play shows on the button in "Your access". It differs by country, so this page does not quote a number.

If the free week ends while the control is on, your level stays as it is until the control is stopped or the device restarts. Changing it on the dial asks for the unlock. The volume buttons of the device keep working.

If you installed the app before the paid unlock existed, everything stays free for you.

Refunds are described in the Terms of Use.

I already paid. How do I get it back?

1. Make sure Google Play on this device is signed in to the same Google account you bought with.
2. Open Quiet Dial. The purchase normally comes back by itself. It is never charged twice.
3. If the app still asks for payment, open "Your access" and tap Already bought it? Restore.

If Restore finds nothing, Google Play is using a different account from the one that paid. Switch the account in the Play Store app (tap your picture, then the arrow next to your name), come back and tap Restore again.

How do updates work?

When a newer version is in Google Play, "Your access" shows a row with an Update button, and the i on the dial turns green with a small dot beside it. The app asks Google Play when the control starts and about once a day while it runs. The update is downloaded by Google Play. A control that was running comes back by itself afterwards.

Do not have the app yet? Volume Control: Quiet Dial on Google Play. Free to install, seven days of the complete app, then one payment, made once.

How do I contact you?

Write to rotemzus@gmail.com. It helps to say the device model, the Android version, and what you were playing when it happened.