Alert audio to Android App partially muted/muffled

[no3grover]

I'm not exactly sure the right way to describe this issue, but looks to be an issue with push notification sounds playing on the phone after or around the time of a new Android Pie update (t-mobile).

We have two Samsung Galaxy S9+ phones, both running Blue Iris android app (updated). The prior behavior of an alert was for the alert to play at full audio (based on alert volume) however it seems that now the alert audio being played is roughly half muted, and then the end of the alert tone seems to be at the correct volume. Seems like something is suppressing or dampening the front end of the alert being played.

For example, our front door camera has the doorbell alert tone played. If either by alert trigger or test, the doorbell alert is sent to the phone, the dual "ding" "dong" is played, but the first ding is heavily muted or muffled, and the last part of the dong is then at the normal loud volume.

I've used BI for years and have grown to know the alert tones and rely on them at full volume. Now with this behavior, I am not even hearing some alerts and it is not being an effective alert.

I've tested and confirmed that power saving/battery saver is disabled for the app. Tried a few different versions of BI, but believe it was introduced at the Android Pi update on the phones. The behavior can be reproduced 100% of the time, and even with the app open and running and the phone unlocked.

I'll also submit to support but wanted to post it here in the event anyone else has seen or experienced this and it was a device configuration of some kind.

 

[fenderman]

I'm not exactly sure the right way to describe this issue, but looks to be an issue with push notification sounds playing on the phone after or around the time of a new Android Pie update (t-mobile).

We have two Samsung Galaxy S9+ phones, both running Blue Iris android app (updated). The prior behavior of an alert was for the alert to play at full audio (based on alert volume) however it seems that now the alert audio being played is roughly half muted, and then the end of the alert tone seems to be at the correct volume. Seems like something is suppressing or dampening the front end of the alert being played.

For example, our front door camera has the doorbell alert tone played. If either by alert trigger or test, the doorbell alert is sent to the phone, the dual "ding" "dong" is played, but the first ding is heavily muted or muffled, and the last part of the dong is then at the normal loud volume.

I've used BI for years and have grown to know the alert tones and rely on them at full volume. Now with this behavior, I am not even hearing some alerts and it is not being an effective alert.

I've tested and confirmed that power saving/battery saver is disabled for the app. Tried a few different versions of BI, but believe it was introduced at the Android Pi update on the phones. The behavior can be reproduced 100% of the time, and even with the app open and running and the phone unlocked.

I'll also submit to support but wanted to post it here in the event anyone else has seen or experienced this and it was a device configuration of some kind.

Sounds like a problem with your phone...not something that BI can solve.

 

[no3grover]

I'm sure it's a problem related to the Android Pie 9.0 update (upgraded from Oreo by T-Mobile) and how the BI Android App interacts with it for this specific function. I can imagine it is difficult to test and certify an app against all the different versions and variations of devices OS's across multiple platforms, but perhaps a bug report and behavior could be logged and validated in the future to determine if this is a real issue or if other users end up reporting similar behavior. I'll continue to look for solutions, or perhaps a new phone.

 

[handinpalm]

I use BI push alerts on Google Pixel2 phone w/ Android 9. I have not had any problems w/ the audio, but I get updates directly from Google w/o all the carriers bloatware. Also use GoogleFi, which uses TMobile networks. Have you tried different alert tones from BI to see if anything changes and use the "Test" button through local wifi and cell link?

 

[no3grover]

I have conducted testing with the Test function for the push notices, and tried many different alert tones. They all experience the same issue, and all play immediately, however the sound is muted and muffled for the first part of the alert, then it rises to full volume. So far its the only app that I have identified that plays alert notifications this way. Other apps that play alert notification tones are full volume the entire alert. Behavior is the same both when on the local WiFi LAN as well as when off-network via cellular network.

 

[98r860]

I'm having the exact same issue. Everything was working fine until I had an update from Verizon about a couple of months ago. My alerts sound muffled as no3grover had described. I believe that there are many users experiencing the same issue but cannot find a resolution. I have spent hours trying to see If I can find the setting to correct it but I cannot figure it out.

 

[no3grover]

This is very much still an ongoing unresolved issue for me to date. I had opened a ticket with support and they were going to have the Android developer look at this, but have not heard an update in a while now. This makes usability for security alerting on the Android phone mostly worthless as many of the alert tones are short and barely play audible. I have found that longer alert tones play but after an initial delay where they are very muted/quiet. I would also expect there any many users impacted, however not sure how many use it for security notifications. Of the many apps on my phone that create alert sounds, this is the only one that experiences this behavior, and only after I was forced to upgrade to Pi. Hope is a solution to this soon, and hope that the answer isn't upgrading to 5.0 as I expect to delay a bit to let issue get worked out before bumping up as the solution has been a critical piece of my security solution and overall peace of mind while away from home.

 

[fenderman]

This is very much still an ongoing unresolved issue for me to date. I had opened a ticket with support and they were going to have the Android developer look at this, but have not heard an update in a while now. This makes usability for security alerting on the Android phone mostly worthless as many of the alert tones are short and barely play audible. I have found that longer alert tones play but after an initial delay where they are very muted/quiet. I would also expect there any many users impacted, however not sure how many use it for security notifications. Of the many apps on my phone that create alert sounds, this is the only one that experiences this behavior, and only after I was forced to upgrade to Pi. Hope is a solution to this soon, and hope that the answer isn't upgrading to 5.0 as I expect to delay a bit to let issue get worked out before bumping up as the solution has been a critical piece of my security solution and overall peace of mind while away from home.

The alert tones play back fine on my pixel 2xl. Very usable.
You are assuming the issue is with the server (unlikely as he indicated this is something the android developer has to address) and not with the android app, crapware by your phone manufacture or even an android setting.

If the solution was to upgrade to version 5 you would have no choice but to do it. I chuckle at your "expectations" as if there is anything you can do about it. There isnt. This is a 60 dollar software package that is amazing. The upgrade will likely be 30-40. I highly suggest you try the other options out there at significantly higher costs and that are way less customization, you will come running back to blue iris.
You should have an alarm system as overall piece of mind.

 

[no3grover]

The alert tones play back fine on my pixel 2xl. Very usable.
You are assuming the issue is with the server (unlikely as he indicated this is something the android developer has to address) and not with the android app, crapware by your phone manufacture or even an android setting.

If the solution was to upgrade to version 5 you would have no choice but to do it. I chuckle at your "expectations" as if there is anything you can do about it. There isnt. This is a 60 dollar software package that is amazing. The upgrade will likely be 30-40. I highly suggest you try the other options out there at significantly higher costs and that are way less customization, you will come running back to blue iris.
You should have an alarm system as overall piece of mind.

I'm sorry but it appears you may have misinterpreted my reply and comments. I was simply indicated that the issue is still present on my Samsung S9+ and I am hopeful that there will be a resolution soon. I am not suggested or assuming it is on the server side, and I know it has something to do with the change related to the Android Pi update, carrier crap ware or some other configuration or method that the android app is using to play the alert that changed on this particular phone. My connection to version 5 was simply assuming that there would likely also be an app update or replacement to go with it. I think Blue Iris is an incredible piece of software that has amazing features and capabilities for, as you mentioned, a $60 software solution. I also pay maintenance/support on the product and believe it is still an incredible value. I never suggested or considered trying any other solution, just highlighting the fact that its been incorporated into a suite of security solutions that I rely on for my home and was bummed that this specific alert feature stopped working a few months ago. My suggestion that I would wait a bit to upgrade comes from years of professional software and technology experience and experience with prior BI upgrades breaking other features at times. I'm reasonable and know things don't always work perfectly, it comes with the process of software development and technology advancement. Thanks for the reply and I in no way was attempting to bash any aspect of the software, as I know from experience that it is a world class, feature rich and amazingly capable software solution. I'm sorry if you felt otherwise. I agree with the alarm system comment and have that as part of my solution as well.

 

[J Sigmo]

Is it possible that the Pie OS has a new feature where it is slowly ramping up the volume of alerts so that they don't start out at full volume, but instead gently increase in loudness to make them more pleasant and less jarring?

The alarm clock in pie does this on my Note 8.

And if this is a "feature", might there be a setting that disables this? For brief alert tones, having them slowly ramp up might cause you to miss them entirely.

I would ask about this on one of the Android forums such as androidcentral, in the S9+ forum. There's a lot of good information to be had there.

 

[no3grover]

Is it possible that the Pie OS has a new feature where it is slowly ramping up the volume of alerts so that they don't start out at full volume, but instead gently increase in loudness to make them more pleasant and less jarring?

The alarm clock in pie does this on my Note 8.

And if this is a "feature", might there be a setting that disables this? For brief alert tones, having them slowly ramp up might cause you to miss them entirely.

I would ask about this on one of the Android forums such as androidcentral, in the S9+ forum. There's a lot of good information to be had there.

I did a bit of searching and found a few posts of others with similar issues, one with Ring Doorbell app but nothing else with BI, and all of the posts describing similar behavior did not have a resolution posted and have been posted in the past few months after updating to Android Pi 9.

Spoke with Samsung support today and they also didn't have a solution, but recommended I post "feedback" via the Samsung members app, which I did today as well. Samsung Support indicated this is a way for the developers to see feedback from app behavior and take as input to bug fix and issue tracking. We'll continue to wait and see what happens.