[Update: Fixed in March Update] How to fix charging and end call sounds on the Google Pixel after the Android 10 update

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Update (3/2/20 @ 4:50 PM ET): The Pixel 2‘s missing charging/end call sound bug has been fixed in the March 2020 update.

With the Android 10 update, some owners of the first and second-generation Google Pixel smartphones noticed that several UI sounds were different. For example, some users noticed that the end call and screen locking tones were missing while others noticed that the charging sound was different. If you have noticed this weird behavior on your Pixel after updating to Android 10 and are wondering what might possibly be the reason, we have the answer — as well as the solution.

As it turns out, the culprit seems to be the relocation of the system sound files. On Android 9 Pie and before, Google used to store UI‌ sounds such as docking/undocking sounds and screen locking sounds in /product/media/audio directory. That changed with Android 10, which has moved the sounds to a new location: /system/media/audio. The problem is Android 10 on the Pixel and Pixel 2 thinks the UI sounds are still in the old directory. As a result, when the system tries to access sounds from this old location and can’t locate the files, Android falls back to the older UI sounds embedded in framework-res.

According to XDA Member co4, you can easily fix this issue by tweaking the preference of the Global system settings. To do so set up ADB on your PC, connect your Pixel or Pixel 2 and run the following commands from the command prompt or Windows PowerShell.

adb shell settings put global car_dock_sound /system/media/audio/ui/Dock.ogg adb shell settings put global car_undock_sound /system/media/audio/ui/Undock.ogg adb shell settings put global desk_dock_sound /system/media/audio/ui/Dock.ogg adb shell settings put global desk_undock_sound /system/media/audio/ui/Undock.ogg adb shell settings put global lock_sound /system/media/audio/ui/Lock.ogg adb shell settings put global low_battery_sound /system/media/audio/ui/LowBattery.ogg adb shell settings put global trusted_sound /system/media/audio/ui/Trusted.ogg adb shell settings put global unlock_sound /system/media/audio/ui/Unlock.ogg adb shell settings put global wireless_charging_started_sound /system/media/audio/ui/ChargingStarted.ogg

These commands will change the path for each UI‌ sound from /product/media/audio to /system/media/audio, making sure the system is now looking under the correct location when requesting system sounds.

There’s no need to reboot the device after running the above ADB commands. Note that this issue shouldn’t affect the Google Pixel 3, Pixel 3a, or Pixel 4 because in the firmware for these three devices, the UI sounds are already located in /product/media/audio. It only affects Pixel and Pixel 2 owners who had performed a clean install of Android 10 i.e. by flashing the Android 10 system image. If you updated from Android Pie to Android 10 with the official OTA, you should be fine — as long as you don’t perform a factory reset.

Update: Fixed in March Update

The March 2020 update that was released earlier today has fixed a weird issue that cropped up earlier this year. The missing lock and unlock sound effects have finally returned according to several users on Reddit. This was a strange bug and we’re glad it has finally been addressed.

Via: Reddit