IssueTracker

Some additional information - it seems that it affects only hardware decoded videos (e.g. enabling "Force software decoding" in Archos Video Player makes the issue disappear.) It's also interesting to note that Kodi does not show the issue even with hardware acceleration.

It also seems that ShieldTV is suffering from the same issue: https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/881738/shield-android-tv/big-big-gamma-problem-with-2-0-/

Have the same issue with my NP on 6.0. Washed out blacks. Only tried it with the Play movies & TV app. My other NP on 5.1.1 works fine.

Same problem on two Nexus Players with Android TV 6.0. Dark movies are unwatchable - darks are too light...washed out as others say. Only occurs during video playback. Not affecting interface of OS or apps.

sigh... all the blacks look like light grey :(  Please fix this.  Videos are unwatchable.  

Same here, noticed after the 6.0 update.

Same issue here with youtube. It's really annoying.

On my Nexus 6P the original MDA89D build didn't have this issue, but flashing the 3 other images shows the issue.

It's especially bad on AMOLED screens as the RGB value 0/0/0 should turn the screen off completely, this this doesnt and is washed out.

I notice that this still has a Priority of "Small". I think for those of us who are experiencing it, it's more like an Emergency level thing. Please help.

Figured I'd add some photos as I did just get another nexus player out of the box and noticed this with my other one, I named the pictures the version of android they are on. Current build I'm running is MRA58N. First one is from 5.0, then 5.1.1, then 6.0. As you can tell by the last one, Dennis' shirt is really light blue and if you look at the objects beside him they seem washed out/the lighting isn't correct. Thank you!

The difference in the blacks behind Dennis is especially noticeable. Very poor on the last image

This happens on both my Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X as well!

More info on the issue:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Nexus6P/comments/3rljrq/ucoolbho3k_found_the_commit_causing_the_washed/

https://productforums.google.com/forum/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer#!msg/nexus/fwhHeJ0aLRo/D8DfTmUQBwAJ

Here are a couple screenshots from my Nexus 5X to show the issue. Note, it helps to compare the images in a dark room.

Here is a screenshot of a video as played within the YouTube app. Notice the black portions of the image are actually dark gray.
http://i.imgur.com/76hNVHj.png

And here is a screenshot of the same video being playing within Chrome. Notice the deeper black and better contrast.
http://i.imgur.com/WQNAYq7.png

And here's a link to the video if you want to see it yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JApehOE5PrI

If this is happening on 5X and 6P, this issue should really get more attention than it is. 6P is an AMOLED screen, one of the huge selling points for me is perfect blacks. This issue basically renders that feature obsolete for videos

Google, please fix this issue. I expected my Nexus Player to improve with a new OS update, not become unusable. On my LG OLED TV, and the problem is very obvious. For now, I'll have to stream videos using my Xbox instead of Nexus Player.

Sorry to everyone who got a notification about this issue and may have gotten their hopes up.  I cannot believe that no one has officially recognized this issue other than marking a support thread as "assigned".  This affects a number of flagship devices and there is no urgency to fix it even though we are in the middle of the busiest shopping season of the year.  I bought 3 nexus players because they have a fantastic UI with great performance.  I purposely didn't install 6.0 because of this issue, but I of course didn't know that google pushes updates without asking to nexus players so all 3 look like crap now.  Why cant someone at least say this is a known issue and there will be an update out in the coming weeks.  Right now I am close to returning all of these players and going back to Roku.

While many users will not notice the image quality difference, that does not discount the fact that there is one and it is a dealbreaker for a dedicated media player to have these issues for any length of time. Every user is affected by this and is exposed to it any time they're watching video. Patching this should be priority number 1.

It's possible the colour/gamma issues with devices other than Nexus Player are caused by unrelated bugs, as they use completely different platform drivers for their displays. Please do not assume they are the same, use https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=192577 to track the colour/gamma problem on Nexus 6P.

I have this issue on my Nexus Player as well. I hope it's getting fixed before Kodi launch their next version which will use the internal decoder. Right now "cast" youtube through Kodi to get around the issue.

I just got a Nexus Player and have had the same issue since 6.0 update. In 5.1 and 5.0 Youtube and Google Play Movies were fine, after updating to 6.0 blacks are grey and it is very noticeable. This makes my Nexus Player unusable for viewing video and I will have to return it. My Raspberry Pi Kodi and my legacy smart tv app show YouTube videos just fine, with proper blacks. My tv is a 2014 Sony KDL-40W605B with HDMI levels set to auto.

I wonder how widespread is this bug, I mean, if every Nexus Player with 6.0 suffers from the issue or it is just some of us. And if, as I suspect, this is a widespread bug, why it hasn't been fixed by now and just assigned a "small" priority, since this bug just breaks the main purpose of the device and makes it useless.

I'm also suffering from the same issues as well with my nexus player.I thought my tv was broke.  The small priority is a joke as it makes this thing watching content useless. Also I don't like how google just doesn't corresponds and keep us updated with the community about this bug.

Hey everyone, We understand the severity of this issue. It's a widespread problem impacting all Nexus Players on 6.0. We're working as fast as possible to resolve it.

We also noticed similar problems on Nexus 6P and 5X, as reported in #14; however, those had a different root-cause. Those have been fixed internally, and will be included in a future MR.

For the NP I would suggest offering the ability to let the end-user forcibly choose RGB Full (0-255) or Limited (16-235) system-wide, even if it would be hidden somewhere under Developer Options.

Even if you default to one, there's always the possibility that in an end-user system the other option is the only correct output in a chain of devices (e.g. NP > A/V receiver > TV/projector).

Thank you for updating us and for updating the priority to High. Good to know it's being worked on actively.

Odd that the issue is so similar between the phones and the NP and yet it's a different root cause. I'd be interested in what the causes were, but I suppose I'd be happiest with the fixes

Actually besides video it also happens when chromecasting photos to my NP - while on my Chromecast colors pop nicely.

I guess people with high contrast and crushed black settings on their TV don't notice the problem, but if you have neutral settings or a calibrated display it's very noticeable.

Google get on this already!!!
It's been over 2 months with this glaring video problem or at least allow people to roll back to the previous version!

Hopefully the devs are serious this time and not teasing us. I was this close to returning the nexus player when the priority was changed from small to high. I agree they should have an option to roll back if they can't get on the ball and fix their issues in a timely matter.

Glad that this is finally being addressed. Even with my tv on maximum contrast the picture is still washed out. Hard to believe they allowed the 'upgrade' to go ahead with such a glaring fault.

Also relieved to hear this is finally getting traction. I hope there are real signs from Google soon that this platform hasn't already been abandoned.

Got a Nexus 6P early November and have noticed the gray blacks during YouTube videos right away. Did some research and this problem is really widespread. Has checked for updates on this issue periodically (so annoying, I check daily now) and surprised it has taken this long for an issue like this to be acknowledged to a higher priority. As of this comment, the problem still persists. -Nexus 6P, with November security update.

Quick update: we have identified the issue in the Nexus Player hardware composer and working on a fix. Thank you for your patience.

A google member stated that there won't be a fix this entire month? Hopefully that's not true.

I'll have sold mine by the time they can be bothered to fix this. Theyve proved they've got no real interest in the nexus player which I suspect will have no support in a few months.

Are you ever going to change Android 6. So phone numbers with - can be called back asap as we receive them in text to call.

Hopefully they will get a fix out before Christmas. I don't blame people for bringing their nexus back to the store. That's nearly 3 months since the grey washed out colors bug was introduced. A smaller company with less resources like ROKU corrects bugs faster than google.

@tergulath@gmail.com - The argument falls flat, because you could easily argue that they do so exactly because they are so small, they have less stuff to correct bugs for ;)

Anyway, the fix is coming, as they have found the issue and now it's just a matter of having patience. - The real issue is that it took this long to make people realize that there actually was an issue... and i am not only speaking about google here. Those who never calibrate their monitor's etc., that didn't think they had/have a issue with the player.
But maybe if the same issue had plagued the chromecast, then a lot more people would have actually noticed it and screamed about it.

The fix was in the hardware composer of Nexus Player, and it will be rolled out in an OTA update.

any word on what/when the fix will come for nexus 6p/5x?

The fix did come to the 6p/5x in 6.0.1

Seems to me Google has all but given up on the Nexus Player. How could it take this long to fix a video color problem on a video player? The core functionality of the device has been broken since October and its now Christmas and it has still not been fixed. I wonder how many people will get this as holiday gift and turn it on and say "Why does video look so bad?". Could they at least publicize the date that they will start rolling out the fix? It would be great to know when my device will function as advertised again so I can get some use out of my investment. So disappointing.

Well its now christmas and still no clue when this will be fixed for the nexus player. This bug will pissed anyone getting a nexus player for christmas. The dev said it will be rolled out in a OTA update but didn't give a specific time frame so it could mean next christmas for all we know.

This has become extremely aggravating.
Doesn't Google test their version updates (LIKE OH I DON'T KNOW PERHAPS PLAY A VIDEO!) Before sending it out to the hundreds of thousands of devices?
This blows, time to hook up my roku again.

The December update was completed before they announced the fix. Though this bug is serious, they're most likely not changing the release process just for one issue, so it would be strange to expect an OTA before the next scheduled one in January.

 Ok Google boys it's the new year, how about that update we've all been waiting forever for.

"Though this bug is serious, they're most likely not changing the release process just for one issue, so it would be strange to expect an OTA before the next scheduled one in January."

This is not just a serious bug - it literally is a major bug in the PRIMARY functionality of the device.  This is the kind of thing you do a hotfix for - I thought Google was different than Apple and would address serious bugs ("showstoppers") in a timely fashion....

Has to agree. For a device whose primary function is play videos, this is a show stopper. Not only Google realized and acknowledged it much too late (it is well documented before 6.0 OTA was even started), Google sees no urgency to release the fix either. This sparks serious doubts from me on the team's knowledge about how to play back video properly.

It's fixed with this update. :) Thanks to the engineers !

About time. Now how long do we have to wait for the update to go live OTA.

Any confirmation that January fixes it?

Confirmed here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/nexusplayer/comments/3zkfs0/washed_out_colors_fixed_in_with_january_update/

Has anyone gotten the update yet? Its been a few days for me and still haven't receive the update.

I don't think the OTA has been released yet.  You would need apply the update using the firmware from Google yourself or wait for the OTA to be available sometime in the near future.

I got the OTA yesterday and it solved the problem.

I've downloaded and installed the OTA, but I still see washed-out colors. I'm using a Nexus 5X.

[Comment deleted]

qualquer palavra sobre o que / quando a correção virá para moto g2 xt1069

[Comment deleted]

I have finally received the january patch for the nexus player. I tried netflix, with the same movie i have tested before just to make sure the test was the same, and i can confirm that the colors and brightness are back to normal.

So the nexus player is indeed once again a viable media player.

Another confirmation. My Nexus Player's blacks are finally back.

F I N A L L Y
Only took them 3 MONTHS. Bravo team!

hey, i just bought a brand new nexus 5x in India,
i have very washed up colors screen and bad brightness by comparison to my friend's 2 months old nexus 5x.

Updated to 6.0.1 a month ago and today, suddenly, I just wanna throw this nexus 5 to down the toilet. I can't even see properly with the washed hazy-purple screen colors.
Will have to buy a new phone soon if this doesn't get fixed in a few days.

To the recent posters, this thread is about an issue that WAS specific to the Nexus PLAYER.  Please find an appropriate thread for your device(s).

Was this a side effect fix? shouldn't this be closed now?

Is it possible that I see this on latest update of mm for the s6 edge as well?

Problem is also occurring in the version of Android 6.0 on the Moto G XT1078 device (Second Generation). Please place an update release for this annoying problem does not continue.

This is what happens in a dark room since 6.0 on netflix with S6 edge:

http://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/list_message/46306543#46306543

[Comment deleted]

Agree with #72. This was an issue specific to Nexus Player on 6.0. Fixed MMB29T. Closing.

EU J700M SO FICA REINICIANDO

Please fix

Samsung Galaxy A500-m! When i see a video, it keeps blinking a blue screen over the video.

This bug is specific to the Nexus Player and has been fixed for a long time. If you don't own a Nexus Player, this is the wrong place to post.

Hi. I have one problem with many games by ea sports. The touch screen dont respond and the dont move on. Anyone can Tell me what is this bug and if have any solution?

Estou com um terrível problema, quase todos os apps pede permissão, aparecendo sobreposição de tela, formatei varias vezes, em pouquíssimo tempo volta novamente não estou mais suportando este problema.
Sempre tive android mais pelo jeito irei sai desse sistema que esta arruinando minha paciência,

[Comment deleted]

probably 32 levels would be fine

Not for everyone it isn't.  Honestly, I still state that the best possible solution is just to implement a setup where the number can be overridden.  It isn't even necessary that there be a system setting to control this as long as it doesn't require root access to actually change.  Just as an oversimplified example of how this could be done, if during bootup it checked for a "volsteps" file on the internal storage (/sdcard) and used the number in it that would be sufficient even.  Though there are better ways to implement such a thing, this is just an example of one way such a thing could be done.  And even if it requires third party software to adjust, surely such programs would be quickly implemented and available to all anyway.

That said, 32 is still a heck of a lot better than 16.  Not enough, but better.

[Comment deleted]

This is so obvious !!!

Please do this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I totally agree. 16 volume levels aren't enough. Most of the time there is no exact level to feel comfort with. Its either too loud or too silent. Please fix this.

Give up all hope, people. Google won't bother with it (unless they get thousands of responses). If those who designed Android had any sense, they wouldn't have even thought of setting so few levels into the hardware, or at least would have allowed some customization (and Google as a rule is anti-customization, just look at how few options Chrome has). However, I've found a solution that works for me: I bought a pair of good bluetooth headphones. They have their own volume control, which has more levels. And by setting the phone's volume below maximum (about 3/4 or 4/5 of the max) I get even finer changes (the maximum volume is still very high if I go all the way up on the headphones, but the range "shrinks", so the changes are smaller). So, my friends, either do this or get an iphone. Or look for some niche solutions such as Ubuntu or Tizen (I don't know how many levels they've got, but I want to believe that idiocy is not contageous).

If you run Xposed Framework, there's a very good module that gives you up to 50 volume steps: http://repo.xposed.info/module/com.p1ngu1n.volumesteps

Recently having moved from iPhone to Andriod, I remember the buttons on the side of the iPhone had large volume steps, but you could then finely adjust the exact volume with the on screen slider. Surely not difficult to implement in android?

This issue is as old as android itself.
Not difficult? I'd rather say impossible, unless you do it yourself.

Because Google clearly doesn't give a F.

The issue was closed... so perhaps a new one should be created. Better to have this one reopened of course, but as is, I doubt anyone will act on this.

A new one was already created a while back:  https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=162868  There are probably others.  I hate to say it, but "BloodyRa..." is probably right.  Google clearly doesn't care.  I think if we could somehow get others to listen -- such as CyanogenMod and maybe some OEMs -- we could eventually force them to actually consider it, but sadly even this is insanely hard to do...

As usual with this stupid world: vote with your wallet.
Simply don't by an Android next time and instead choose an Apple or WinPhone.

And if you get asked state why. That's as close as we ignored customers get to "forcing" them.

Doesn't work like that.  Not only will that not convince Google to fix this, but then you're stuck with a much much worse option.  The volume control sucks, but why should I have to be stuck with a super limited super locked down system and basically no real options at all just to try to "stick it to the man"?  Especially since this is fixable via messy hacks and third party system modifications (but even jailbreaking won't fix iOS and Windows Mobile is beyond all hope.)

The real problem is they probably still aren't even really aware of the issue.  Just because this is here doesn't mean anyone actually at Google is even aware that people feel this way.  Chances are they haven't even given it any serious thought.

If you really think that they are not aware by now of an issue that has several reports over the timespan of EVER then you're just naive.

They clearly just don't care, though that questions at the same time the point of this tracker if it's just being ignored anyways.

But hey, if you have any means to actually get the attention of someone who's not a goggle bot, by all means, try it : /

2016 - and a modern OS does not support fine grained volume control. Stupidity at best to say the least. Even Win95 or my 10 year old MP3 player supports volume control without steps. Jesus, get your shit together.

fix this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Im using HTC U Ultra with Android 7 and the lowes step is to loud! How can this not been fixed yet? 5 years and still problem to increase steps for all volume types.

Won't fix? So bad and ilogical. So annoying...

please fix

5 years later and no fix in sight :(

STATUS: "Won't Fix (Obsolete)."  So the official word from Google is that functional, useful volume control steps are "obsolete?"

Fixing things is obsolete.

Maybe we should start a social media campaign to generate some attention.

something like:

#googleMadeMeDeaf https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/36941017

That's insane. I basically can't use bluetooth headphones for music. Podcast is ok. If the only other option wasn't just iOS I'd ditch android in a second

When the choice in volume is between nothing and too loud, this is a serious bug in basic functionality of the system. The issue hasn't gone away.

Maybe someone from this team can explain what prompted the decision to close the issue?

nah... its useless. there must be some sort of agreement with manufacturers of dedicated portable audio players. don't see any other possible explanation

Same issue, ever since I got my first Android. Still not fixed.

OK seriously, we need to take a different route here, because so far over the last several years we've been following Einstein's theory of insanity to a T - doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

One thing I know is that there is apparently YouTube staff (or at least people in contact with YouTube staff) on the YouTube subreddit, so assuming that the issue fully applies to the YouTube Android app as well, maybe one could frame the issue under a guise of ignorance.  Here's an example of a theoretical Reddit post:


Can't set volume in YouTube Android app low enough? (headphones)  Doesn't seem to be an issue on my iPad...


I'm having an issue with the YouTube app where I can't seem to set the volume low enough (I'm using headphones) - it seems to jump straight from "too loud" to "muted".  Is there anything I can do or that can be done to get quieter volume without having it fully muted?

 By comparison, the YouTube app on my iPad seems to go considerably quieter than the Android app on my phone, but my phone is much more portable so I can't just use the iPad everywhere I go (and surely Google and therefore YouTube would prefer that I use Android as well. ;) )

It affects everything that uses the standard media methods.  Which is
to say the only things it does not affect are things that explicitly
take over the volume (PowerAmp being one of these rare examples.)
Anything that does take over the volume to provide more steps like
PowerAmp does is something that acknowledges the problem exists, so
Google must not do so in things like Youtube or they will have
acknowledged the problem (and thus, that they refuse to spend the two
minutes it would require for them to find and open up the source file,
type in different numbers, and hit save for the sake of their users.)

Honestly, I really do think the issue is awareness.  Google clearly
ignores stuff like this unless it gets flagged somehow (probably a
simple search that looks for keywords like "unbootable," "bricked,"
"breaks,"  or something of the sort.  Hah, maybe it just flagged this.
:-p  Probably whatever it is has to be in the first post or within a
certain time or something of the sort though.)  So the idea of getting
the attention of the Youtube staff is not necessarily a bad idea.  The
main thing needed is just to get Google to become aware of this since
they obviously don't really use media functionality more than just the
bare minimum required to test (likely mostly just using built-in
speakers for that matter.)

On Fri, Aug 4, 2017 at 2:37 PM,  <buganizer-system@google.com> wrote:

This issue is definitely not obsolete, on Nougat even at minimum volume using earphones during a call makes my ears bleed!

Bye Android!

Sent from my iPhone

Wow, this issue is opened since 2012 and with Android 7 in 2017 nothing has been done about this since...
Currently, ANDROID IS ULTIMATELY UNUSABLE FOR COMFORTABLE AUDIO EXPERIENCE without an external analog volume control integrated on the headphones.

Could you please seriously take this issue into account?

Thanks in advance.

People, you can fine tune the volume by manually moving the slider. This is not an issue anymore.

#117, what are you talking about? What slider?

The one that appears on screen when you press volume up/down

I'm afraid you're wrong. It seems to slide smoothly, but volume is change in steps just as it used to. I'm not mentioning the fact that it would be very uncomfortable to have to first press the buttons and then tweak the slider each time you wanted to change the volume.

Well shit, you're right. Sorry about that.

No problem.

Yeah, the problem is the system itself only recognizes 16 positions
(15 effective) by default.  The slider is capable of a large number of
positions (my guess is up to a maximum of 256, but I haven't tested
it.)  Like I said, all the UI/etc elements for supporting a large
number of steps is already done and, in fact, was done a very long
time ago -- probably even before all this came up.  All they have to
do is just change that one pre-defined value in one original code file
and with just that they are done.  It's actually not too terribly hard
to externally modify it if you have root access, but unfortunately
most OEMs work very hard to ensure you can't get root access even via
legitimate means and of course messing with root access is beyond many
people (particularly when it requires unlocking the bootloader and
flashing a dev ROM.)  I just can't see any legitimate reason it should
require all this just to have decent volume control though!

On Fri, Dec 8, 2017 at 12:13 PM,  <buganizer-system@google.com> wrote:

It's 2018 and this is still an issue!

haha yes. Media still only 16 steps Android Pie. Call volume even fewer.

Fun fact:  it seems this can be fixed just by modifying build.prop even.  One line for each volume control.  Seriously, that's how ridiculously minor and simple this is to fix even at a post compilation point.  All these years and no one can change a few numbers in one file or add a few lines no another.

Maybe I should re-iterate my comment I made around a year ago stating that we seriously need to look into a different route outside of the issue tracker if we want to get this changed, because at this rate we've been essentially doing nothing but perfectly demonstrating "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result".

I don't think anyone disagrees with you at all here.  The problem is:  what can we do?  How do we get their attention?

At least on my Samsung 8+ you can make fine adjustments after hitting the rocker buttons by scrubbing the GUI volume slider.  The physical rocker buttons are much more coarse, I guess so you don't have to press-press-press-press...  them.    Press and hold on the rockers does a smoother adjustment, just too quickly.

Are you sure about this? Can you actually hear more levels? Someone has already posted a similar claim and it turned out only the software showed more levels, but the actual levels were the same, with the volume changing much coarser than shown by the slider.

On Nexus 6p there was an extremely noticeable jump in volume around 1/3 of
the way up. That is not the case on the s8, with the same headphones. I
have not scientifically tested it but whilst this was a major problem with
the 6p, it's not on the s8.



On Mon, 27 Aug 2018, 5:53 am , <buganizer-system@google.com> wrote:

Can confirm the claim in #129 that Samsung Galaxy S8 can do finer adjustments by dragging the slider in the GUI. Tested on my S8 running android 8.0. Also noticed that after the slider is dragged manually, increasing the volume a step and then decreasing takes you back to the volume you set, thus the volume level does not "snap" to some predefined values when adjusting.

But can you actually hear the difference? And how many levels are there? I mean you can just count the steps while listening to something assuming you hear the difference between each step.

At this point I have to point out that it doesn't matter.  It is well known that Samsung has significantly modified the sound system in their "Android" releases -- so much so that it actually breaks a lot of functionality.  The fundamental issue is that the underlying sound system requires third party modification to fix and in most cases third parties don't even think of it anyway, but even if they did, the original would always be broken.

#127 has the right of it.  We somehow need to do something to get Google's attention on this.  But what?  I wish I knew.  And the most ridiculous and saddest thing is that they'd need a grand total of five minutes to at least effectively correct it, so we only need to get their attention for that long.

I've long given up on hoping for Google to fix this. I''ve been using bluetooth headphones and I've almost forgotten about this problem. I set the phone volume to about half, and then I use the headphones' volume control, which is finer-grained.

#133: I can actually hear the difference. For me it's most noticeable between level 0 and the first step.

#135: My BT headphones (Bose QC 35) volume controls adjust the volume on the phones, so I can't adjust them separately.

I have a 500 € phone and a 100 € Bluetooth speaker. It's the middle of the night and I'm unable to play music at a volume level that's audible to me, but not disturbing to anyone else that's trying to sleep. This is ridiculous.

Google is obviously not inclusive and diversified enough and is discriminating people with sensitive hearing.
We need to figure out another way to get this fixed.

There are only two long term solutions:
1.  Convince third party ROM designers to fix this (maybe someday it
might make it back upstream if enough do) and stick to third party
ROMs.
2.  Root and either edit build.prop or use something like the Xposed
volume fix module.  Or well, you could edit the framework, but that's
a royal pain to do and the build.prop method is much cleaner.

2 isn't really long term because you must manually fix it fairly
frequently and it requires third party modifications that are
prohibitive to average users, but at least when I tried once before to
get CyanogenMod to implement a fix they ignored me.  (Maybe someone
might fare better with LineageOS?  It's worth a try.)  A third party
ROM is still quite prohibitive too though.  But, like I said, maybe if
it went big enough the changes might eventually go upstream as people
take note and eventually apply the same thing at the source.  2 might
fail on some heavily modified OEM ROMs like Samsung's.

I have no better ideas.  Google is never going to listen or care to
this particular problem and no one seems to know any ways of getting
their attention to it.
On Tue, Oct 2, 2018 at 7:18 PM <buganizer-system@google.com> wrote:

Pathetic. Fix it.

This is ridiculous. 6 years since this thread was opened and nothing was done. This problem is so easy for them to fix and it's a big deal for people who want it fixed, but seems like Google doesn't care at all.

Crazy idea - maybe any issues marked as "Won't Fix (Obsolete)" simply have absolutely no developer attention payed to them?

Of course.  But it never should have been marked as that and no one
can figure out any means to get this changed.  Somehow someone needs
to get their attention.  Just because they aren't paying attention
doesn't mean we should just drop it.  It's still a problem whether
they ignore it or not.
On Mon, Oct 22, 2018 at 5:24 PM <buganizer-system@google.com> wrote:

Can we open a telegram group and discuss our action plans?

i agree to, i have the same problem with my car multimedia system when i want to decrease volume level to lowest level. At the lowest level, the sound is disturbing.

Hi, can this be unmarked as obsolete? I have a Android 9 phone, and volume control seems to still be about 15 steps or so

This issue is still present on recent devices running Android Pie. My Moto G 6 seems to have only 15 steps.

Seriously? For 7 years not fixed?

Longer.  Just it became a really big deal around seven years ago when Android started becoming really popular and when companies like Archos started releasing "portable media players" built on Android (the one I had used 2.2 if I recall.)  It never should have been 15 steps in the first place.  That was a mistake from the very beginning.  When they first did it they didn't research or consult about that part and just didn't think about it, and since then they've just not cared enough to bother to change one set of numbers in one file in all these years.

My bet is they'll never fix it.

I upgraded to Samsung Galaxy phone because they have an app, Samsung SoundAssistant, that provides option for additional volume steps. The problem now is only media volume is affected by the app, in-call volume has only like 7 steps and minimum is 13%. My eardrums can't take the punishment when I get on a call using headsets.

If you're willing to root there are multiple "solutions" to fix it including some that can change other volume settings as well (the best and simplest is the VolumeSteps+ module for the Xposed Framework) though with Samsung it can be tricky since they've made a lot of creative changes all across the board -- including stuff in the sound system which messes up a lot of things.  Even without it there are still some things you can do.  I don't think I'd pick a phone based solely on if it comes stock with some app since there are a lot of more universal ways around the issue that are cleaner and more efficient including even audio players that can bypass the system volume control and implement their own with more steps.

Obviously this is not going to be ever fixed, as Google doesn't see it as a bug but a feature, maybe because not enough people complain about it (most people are, relatively speaking, deaf - maybe from too many disco hours).

If you want a simple solution (without messing with the phone and its warranty), invest in headphones with their own volume control. I've got bluetooth headphones with volume control, so I control my volume with those (it has more steps, plus I set the phone's volume to around 60-70%, depending on the situation - the headphones are still loud enough, but the phone's range is "squished" a bit, allowing for even more precision). The only other situations I use the phone for music is in the car (where I obviously control the volume with the car's system) and occasionally on my home sound system, where the system controls it.

I've actually forgotten about this problem since. If you don't have good headphones with volume control, you need to make a small investment, but your sanity is worth it.

I don't wanna sound alarmist but there is a risk of cancer with using wireless headphones :). Honestly I chose Samsung Galaxy over Pixel 3 mainly because of the headphone jack (and triple lens). I will probably get a headphone with higher impedance/lower sensitivity.

OnePlus has 30 volume steps.

On Sat, Mar 16, 2019 at 1:55 PM <buganizer-system@google.com> wrote:

Use cabled headphones with volume control then. I don't use headphones very often, so I'm not too worried.

Yeah, you won't get cancer from Bluetooth and if you actually believe that I invite you to look up how it really works.  But even so there are analog volume controls (just a potentiometer) if it comes to that.  You can also use an amplifier which in some cases will ultimately mean better sound (depending mainly on the headphones) anyway.  Higher impedance just means the maximum volume is lower and if anything you'll need the precision that is lacking even more then.  But the real point is just that you shouldn't have to rely on always having to use external mechanisms to fix something where all someone has to do is edit a number or two in one single file.

Does anyone know how to submit patches to open source projects?  I kind of wonder if it's possible to submit to AOSP.  It's such a minor change you don't even need to know real coding to change it.  I'm sure it's possible to submit to LineageOS and the like, though I think it would only catch Google's attention in AOSP (though it sure wouldn't hurt if the alternatives had it fixed stock without needing rooting/etc.)

In-volume control is tied to OS volume.

My headphones are very sensitive - Campfire Andromeda and Massdrop Plus.

Peer reviewed study about cancer risk: https://qz.com/1241867/cell-phone-radiation-can-cause-cancer-in-rats-according-to-the-final-results-of-a-us-government-study/

"the real point is just that you shouldn't have to rely on always having to use external mechanisms to fix something where all someone has to do is edit a number or two in one single file"
I agree, but who's going to do it? I've been waiting for years and no-one has done anything about it. I prefer my workarounds than the frustration of waiting for something that may never happen.

"Peer reviewed study about cancer risk"
The article may be peer reviewed, but it's about the use of phones, not headphones, of which there is no mention. I'm not sure if bluetooth has the same impact as mobile phone signal.

Cellphones do indeed use different frequencies at higher powers than what Bluetooth (especially modern low power BT standards) uses.  I couldn't find specifics in the study as to exactly how much "dosage" was given to the mice and rats, but usually to perform studies like these higher dosages than real life use are given out of necessity, so this is a first step into a bigger investigation and likely doesn't actually prove anything one way or the other.  This is getting way off topic.  My real point is just that shouting "cancer" to everything doesn't really belong here.


I may try to figure out how to do a patch later.  I see AOSP does indeed have a submission process.  I don't know any real programming myself, but like I said, it's just a few numbers pre-defined in one file and pretty much that's it.

Oh, and I'm not sure what "in-volume control" means, but if you mean Bluetooth, it depends on the implementation.  They can do it in software or they can do it at their own amplifier (BT headphones must have their own separate amplifier.)  It goes without saying, but analog potentiometers do not use the OS volume control, nor do analog amplifiers.

Sorry, in-line volume control on wired headsets. I make a lot of calls for work (2-4 hours/day); I haven't found a portable amp with mic passthrough yet. I know BT radiation is about 1/10 of cell phones, but I didn't want to risk it longterm lol.

I said analog potentiometer.  The old rolling dials are analog and do not use the system.  You can stick them right in-line, though you'll have to search a bit to find one that will pass through TRRS (eg four pin) instead of TRS (eg classic three) if you're using a headset with a microphone.  If you're a fair hand with a soldering iron it's easy enough to make your own analog volume control too or make a TRRS passthrough for a simple amp (a C-Moy for instance.)

Bluetooth isn't just less power, it's a different frequency.  A frequency that has been thoroughly tested and understood to be non-ionizing radiation.  It's worth noting it's the same sort of range as WiFi which, even if you're discussing a tablet and you are trying to tell us you don't use cellphones (you wouldn't cite a study that says cellphones are bad as an argument against Bluetooth if you were using cellphones, right?) will still be using to make connections.  I believe it's less power even than WiFi even (which is already insanely tiny.)  You receive far more (wide-ranged including ionizing) radiation from going out into the sunlight versus using BT headphones for maybe a few hours here and there.


I want to be clear.  I'm not a huge fan of BT headphones for various reasons (namely quality concerns,) but this is just about the only single argument against them that has never had any basis beyond an assumption that if something sounds complicated it must be assumed to be dangerous by default which is not a valid or logical assumption.  In either case I consider requiring external devices -- especially devices that cost extra -- to be an improper solution to a problem inherent to the system that simply should not be there and which could be fixed with a super minor software update.  I just don't want "but I personally feel like I think it causes cancer" to scare people away from availing themselves of what few "solutions" there are at this time -- however improper.

I guess you're not familiar with the inverse square law. If you feel like piping radiation inches from your brain, that's up to you.

In any case, we're way off topic. Just drop it.

I think I got cancer from reading this conversation. But I couldn't hear the diagnosis from my doctor because the Android volume levels damaged my ears.

After suffering (as in literally suffering ear damage as if I wanted just a bit more volume I had to go to levels that are too loud for long term use) I FINALLY discovered a workaround for this...

1) Go to developer options (enable developer options if you haven't previously done so)
2) Turn on "Disable absolute volume"
3) Enjoy being able to turn up your Bluetooth headphones and not go from very quiet to very loud after only a ONE STEP increase.

Yes, I have found max volume now on my Bluetooth headphones is now not nearly as loud, but it's still louder than one should have for more than a few minutes at a time. I hope this helps at least someone because clearly there is never going to be fix for this. So sad.

I have a Sony Bluetooth speaker and cannot fine tune the volume, it's either too quiet, or too loud on the next level. Setting the developer options as mentioned in the previous post doesn't help, the amount of steps in volume control remains at 15 usable levels.

Please Google, seriously? This problem persists for so many years noe, it's a pain to see your ignorance 😞

Same issue.  Using google play along with a wireless BT speaker.  Harmon Kardon.  I can't adjust the volume to appropriate levels.  It's either too low or too loud in our office.

A shame considering the amount of attention put into sound quality.

In Android 10 it looks like you can select any media volume option. Just
updated my phone and while the volume keys still make large jumps, I can
manually select volumes between those jumps now.

See comment #120
You might be deluding yourself, my friend.
I don't think they would implement this kind of partial solution. Perhaps you can visually move the slider, but the audible levels are probably the same. I wish I was wrong.

No, I just tested it and it's working granularly. I can now make volumes
used to be able to such as barely above muted and barely below max volume.
I tested it on a music video sliding the slider and it was smoothly
transitioning and not jumping between points. You could argue that they
just smoothed the transitions, but at that point they'd be doing more work
than just making it granular so I highly doubt it.

Here's the video, but unfortunately Samsung's video recorder doesn't
actually capture differences in volume.
https://youtu.be/ChpRSKqhybY

Ah, it might actually be Samsung finally adding it to the S9 phones, not
something that's part of Android 10

On Thu, Mar 5, 2020, 1:00 PM James Anderson <sevrules@gmail.com> wrote:

Does anyone knowledgeable know what is going on? What's the actual reason this thing hasn't been dealt with?

I'm sure it's Samsung, because this looks like a workaround.

I think the reason this hasn't been dealt with is that Google doesn't care unless thousands of people report a problem. And most people are (apparently) functionally deaf, or they just assume that's how things are supposed to be.
The real question is why this was implemented in the first place. The only analogy I can think of is if a company decided that 65 million colours were not needed on displays and instead they implemented 65 hundred and the limit was hard-coded into all hardware and software for no apparent reason. Most people wouldn't probably notice much of a difference (especially if they never saw a 65 million colour display) and would assume that everything looked OK (because it would, sort of, in a way).
It's a slightly idiotic world where people want 4k displays on phones (although most wouldn't see a difference between 720p and 1080p on such a small screen), but they don't mind 15 volume levels on a high tech device. Probably because no one has made a selling point out of it.

This issue has been marked obsolete here so Google is not even looking at it. So we should hit up Google (or Android) on social media to raise attention.

Or wait until PinePhone is fully functional.

@167 Actually, sound was always considered ultra-low priority for Android.  Given the completely divergent histories of iPhone versus Android I think in this particular example they actually sort of once had an excuse for being so much worse.  However, it's long past time they should have overhauled the sound system in Android (and stopped third parties from making major breaking changes *coughSamsungcough*

And yes, @174, you are right.  Unless a huge number of people complain they won't pay attention.  Unfortunately, quite a lot of people don't even really fully understand that it shouldn't be this way even if they too would still benefit from it being corrected.

There are articles from 2017 that state that the Google Pixel 2 phones have 25 steps. This would indicate that Google recognizes the issue. I also remember reading an article where it was stated that the reason most android phones are stuck with 15 steps is because android is so diversified throughout different manufacturers, and there is some risk of messing things up through conflict when going in and changing things. I'm personally not knowledgeable enough to confirm this, but I feel like there has to be some explanation for this, it's just too ridiculous.

8 years on from the original request complaining that the features were available 10 years before.... come on we are coming up to 20 years behind where we were. This isn't okay. I have to hack the phone just to get a volume that doesn't hurt my ears because it goes from a whisper to shout in one short step.

@#178, no, there is absolutely no issue whatsoever in the base system itself having more volume steps.  It's just a set of pre-defined variables that sets the number of volume steps for each media volume type.  The main issue you've likely read about is actually in modification methods.  For example, using Xposed Framework along with a volume steps modification module will work on *most* devices, but some like Samsung changed the base systems enough that these don't work.  That is to say, the issue there is the opposite:  a few third parties actually changed the base system rather than the base system somehow could not work the same across devices and those third party systems just plain don't work the same so modules don't always work with them.  None of those changes were explicitly necessary for the specific platforms (standard Android audio systems work just fine on Samsung devices -- I'm using LineageOS on a Samsung A5 right now for instance,) so it isn't a fault of the base system that Samsung changes it.  (As for whether there are any benefits or not I couldn't say, though honestly I haven't really seen anything in their modified systems that seemed truly beneficial personally.)

There seriously just is no excuse for this insane incompetence.  All they have to do is go into one single text file in the framework source and change the pre-defined number for at least media volume (though IMO all should be raised a bit.)  It would take them only a few moments to correct it in the base code and then all future versions would come with a reasonable value by default.  What I don't get is why no one seems to be able to get third parties (like CyanogenMod then and I guess LineageOS now) to implement such a simple change officially at least.  While there are good benefits in some modifications (like Greenify operating more efficiently,) we shouldn't have to modify our devices just to have something as basic as reasonable volume control...  Plus the less actual modifying takes place, the  better (less overhead, less potential for conflict, etc etc.)