On the best Samsung phones, you can have separate notification and ringtone volume levels. This makes sense, as you could want incoming calls to have higher priority than app notifications and set a higher volume for them. Google offered this functionality on Pixels back in the day but eventually removed it, linking the ringtone and notification volumes together. Pixel users have long requested Google to separate the two volumes, but the company never paid heed to their feedback. This could change later this year, with Android 14 offering separate ringtone and notification volume sliders.
Many Pixel users running Android 14 DP2 are noticing separate notifications and ringtone sliders on their phones. This was not the case when they initially updated to the latest developer build of the OS.
Left: Volume control panel in Android 13; Right: Android 14 DP2's volume panel with separate ringtone and notification sliders
As Mishaal Rahman notes in a Twitter thread, Google has been working on separating the notification and ringtone volume since Android 13 QPR2 beta. You had to enable a flag to activate the change, though. With Android 14 DP2, it seems the company remotely toggled the flag to separate the ringtone and notification sliders.
While the ringtone and notification sliders are not linked, both are muted if you put your phone on vibrate.
It is unclear if this was a mistake or an intentional change from Google. Since this is not an API-level tweak, the separate sliders could appear in the next Android 13 QPR3 beta and go official with the June 2023 Pixel Feature Drop.
You can install the Android 14 Developer Preview or the Android 13 QPR3 beta to enjoy this change on your Pixel. Here's hoping Google separates the ringtone and notification volume sliders with either OS release later this year.
Thanks: Moshe!