Sound Notifications: Get notified about important sounds around you

Sound Notifications help you know what happens in your home. When Sound Notifications are on, your phone will always check for sounds that you want notifications about, like when a smoke alarm beeps or a doorbell rings.

Step 1: Download Live Transcribe & Sound Notifications

Note: If you have a Pixel phone, skip to step 2 below. Sound Notifications are already installed on Pixel phones and select other Android phones.

For other phones, download Live Transcribe & Sound Notifications on Google Play.

Step 2: Turn on Sound Notifications

To turn on Sound Notifications, follow these steps:

1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Tap Accessibility Sound Notifications.
3. Tap Open Sound Notifications.
4. Accept microphone and notification permissions.
5. Optional: Change your Sound Notifications shortcut. Learn about accessibility shortcuts.
   • To open Sound Notifications, tap the floating accessibility button with shortcut or other customisable options, like:
     • Quick Settings
     • Volume keys
     • Two-finger swipe up
6. Tap the Accessibility button .

Tip: If your device runs on an older version of Android 9, like Android P or older, you can't use 'Hey Google' when Sound Notifications are turned on. If you want to use Google Assistant via voice command on those devices, pause Sound Notifications. Learn how to check your Android version.

How to use Sound Notifications

Sound notifications never send audio or background conversations to Google without your consent. All audio is processed locally and never leaves the device.

When you receive Sound Notifications on your phone, you can:

• Silence the notification: Tap Silence this alert.
• Send feedback about the notification: Tap Send feedback.
• Find the list: Tap the notification.

For the best results, follow these tips:

• Centre your phone in the room where you want audio detected.
• Make sure that nothing blocks the phone.
• Keep other sounds in your home low, like the TV
• Sound Notifications are always on and may increase battery usage. Charge your phone daily.

Choose sounds to detect

1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Tap Accessibility Sound Notifications.
3. Tap Open Sound Notifications Settings .
4. Tap Sound Notifications are active.
5. Choose the sounds that you'd like to detect:
   • Smoke and fire alarms
   • Sirens
   • Baby sounds
   • Dog barking
   • Knocking
   • Doorbell ringing
   • Appliance beeping
   • Water running

Choose how to be notified

1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Tap Accessibility Sound Notifications.
3. Tap Open Sound Notifications Settings .
4. Tap Ways to be notified.
5. Choose how you'd like to get notified:
   • Vibrate
   • Camera flash

Get help

For more help with Android accessibility, contact the Google Disability Support team.