Managing Volume Control in Windows Phone 8.1

Starting with Windows Phone 8.1, you have separate volume controls for 1) Notifications and Rings and 2) Media and Apps. This was one of the most lobbied request among windows phone users, specially the gamers who had to turn down the volume to play games, only to forget to turn it back on and then miss a call.

Now here is the confusing part, which you use the volume buttons, the real hard buttons, which one of these two gets controlled ?

The answer is simple. It depends where you are in your phone when you use those buttons.

• When you in are in Phone and Messaging, it changes Ringer + Notifications volume level. The same applies when you are on a call or during an incoming call.
• When you are using an app like a games or a regular app, it will change the media + apps volume.



• What happens when you are plugged in to your Bluetooth speaker or headphones ? An extra control shows up which changes your accessory volume instead of phone.

How does the Vibrate mode work?

Since Windows Phone 7, this pattern was followed:

• Once, short for text messages.
• Twice, short for emails.
• Three times for toasts.
• Once, long for reminders.

Now it seems to have changed. Not only the vibration is weaker, the pattern of vibration has changed as well. Not to mention that you still don’t have RING + Vibrate but Vibrate first and then Ring.

So for example, I just get same two vibrations for every notification. So when there is an incoming call, there are two vibrations and then phone rings. The same happens for an email.

While the continuous ring and vibrate still hasn’t made it, I see the behavior changing if I change the tone which jumps from two to three. just not very sure though. How about you folks ? Do you get different or same or there is a pattern you can match ?