- Google is cleaning up Android’s “Sound & vibration” settings page in the upcoming Android 16 QPR1 update.
- Instead of one long list, the new layout groups settings into distinct categories like “sound patterns” and “Audio.”
- The volume sliders also get a modern design, while other options are relocated to make the page feel less cluttered.
After more than 16 years of development, the Android OS is packed with features. If they weren’t organized, navigating them would be a mess. For a long time, that’s exactly what Android’s sound settings page felt like, but Google is finally cleaning it up in the next quarterly release of Android 16.
After installing Android 16 QPR1 Beta 2 on our Pixel device, we noticed that the Settings > Sound & vibration menu has received a major cleanup. Instead of presenting every setting in a single vertical list, the latest Android 16 QPR1 beta separates them by category. For instance, the “phone ringtone,” “default notification sound,” and “default alarm sound” options are now grouped under a new “sound patterns” section. Meanwhile, the “Spatial Audio” and “Media” items are under a new “Audio” section. The five volume sliders remain at the top of the page, but they’ve been updated with the more modern Material 3 Expressive design seen in the volume panel. Furthermore, the “audio will play on” entry no longer sits awkwardly between the media and call volume sliders but has been moved to the very top.