S21 Ultra notification issues - same alert sounds and missing notifications

[adamrj]

I'm having major issues with notifications on my S21.

The main problem is that many apps I use (e.g. BBC News, Whatsapp, Outlook) have their own embedded notification sounds. These have always worked fine on my previous Samsung phones. However, on the S21 all apps have the same default notification sound. There is no way to set it to the app-provided sound. I realise I can go into settings and change this to a different Samsung tone, but I don't really want to learn another 5-10 tones for the app alerts I've become familiar with. It may even be possible to import the tones and re-assign them but frankly I just want them to work and don't need the hassle.

One additional oddity is that on my S20 (where the embedded app sounds have always worked) if I go into the app settings, e.g. for WhatsApp, under 'Sound' it shows "App provided sound". If I then tap on this, the next screen shows "Default notification sound" selected. Going back without changing anything then shows "Default notification sound (Voyager)" under 'Sound' despite having not changed anything. This looks very much like a bug to me.

I've spoken to Support twice who were as helpful as they could be but have not suggested a fix. On the second call I was assured this is a feature, not a bug. I was also told this is the case on Apple phones.

The second issue I'm having is that I seem to be missing a lot of notifications. I haven't put my finger on a pattern for this yet, but I've missed several things already due to not being alerted.

Any suggestions for quick fixes for these issues would be very gratefully received.

[Danibanani]

I don't have a solution for this, but I am also having the same issue with my S21.  So far I am not impressed with this phone.  Tempted to package it back up and go back to my old phone.  I have spent way too much time trying to figure out how to fix this.  I do not consider this a perk, rather a hassle. 

Any suggestions on how to fix this?

[adamrj]

So some good news - I've solved this, with absolutely no thanks whatsoever to Samsung.

I spoke to two assistants - the first told me that it didn't bother him on his phone and generally seemed to think that opinion applied to everyone. I was called a day or two later to see how satisfied I was, and I made it very clear that I wasn't. I then had a call from another assistant who spent ages working through it with me only to tell me that her Samsung and her mum's iPhone both had default tones only, so that meant categorically that it was a feature, not a bug. She arranged for me to be sent a sub-standard bottle of whisky as an apology and a thank you for spending 1.2K on a dysfunctional phone with no charger, headphones or USB adapter.

Anyhow Samsung's shoddy attitude aside, the solution. I had a software update a couple of days ago which I installed. Made no difference. However, following this, uninstalling the apps in question and reinstalling them again has fixed the issue. It's a royal pain, but it does sort things out.

I hope this is helpful to a few of you.

[awatts311]

Have you tried uninstalling these apps and reinstalling them? I had the same thing happen to me with the Snapchat notification. When transferring data from smart switch it somehow deleted the default sound. Hope this can help

[Abubakkar]

Dear

same issue, some time whatsup double sound. Its not functioning Properly.

[Chris S21]

Wow, so the only way to fix it is to Uninstall all these apps and reinstall them? This is nonsense! Does it then show a App Provided Sound again.

[adamrj]

Yes, it's worked for most apps but I never managed to fix WhatsApp. Still has the default notification tone. Likely to get a Pixel 6 or 7 next time round. 

[john3546]

I have ti agree with you here man. It's shocking they don't give you a plug to charge your phone. Very disappointing when you spend good money. Thansk for the help with the BBC news app. It worked. Samsung should employ you. Your be an asset for them