XA2 on Pie - Hate the new volume slider

[JBanton]

I've recently had my XA2 upgraded to Pie (50.2.A.0.379) and I hate the new volume slider, purely because it's incredibly slower to use than the slider we were given in Android 8.0 and 8.1

At what point did the developers think that thew slider would be easier to use than the old one, which granted quick access to alarm and ring volume as well as media volume. The old system seemed like a no-brainer as an obvious winning formula. With this new update it's become abundantly clear to me that in updating the volume slider, the developers have tried to fix something that wasn't broken and instead have made a quick process long, drawn-out and nowhere near as comfortable as it used to be.

[greebster]

I think the positioning was quite a clever change, when you consider the majority of users hold their phone in their right hand. Most people are able to reach a large area on that side of the screen with their thumb, which makes moving the volume slider a simple and quick task, especially considering the proximity to the volume buttons. However they did make the other volume options a more convoluted task to change, I agree wholeheartedly with that. They also missed a trick by not adding a left-hand option for the volume slider in the settings, perhaps. 

[Martin1]

Hi @JBanton, I am sorry to hear that you are not happy with the volume control in Android Pie.

In Android 9.0 (Pie), the volume keys will only adjust the media volume. This is different from previous versions of Android, where as you mentioned, ringtone volume was the default setting for the volume keys.

There is no way to change this setting in Android Pie. However, there is a toggle button for the three ringer modes just above the on-screen volume slider, which lets you turn the ringer off and on with a single tap. There is also a cogwheel-icon in the bottom of the volume control which leads right into the audio settings where you can adjust the ringtone volume as well as the volume for alarms. 

I hope that this gave an answer to your question. You can read more about what is new in Android Pie here. Have a nice day! 

[JCBanton]

I rolled my XA2 back to 50.1.A.5.59 as it's the only Android 8 firmware I could find that will live with a UK H4113.

The volume sliders of Pie were too much of a nuisance for somebody who uses their phone for business as much as personal, not being able to adjust ring volume on the fly is a deal breaker (the XA2 is a phone after all).

I also travel a lot, so the XA2 Pie drop-down notification menus were a pain because there are less tiles on the initial drop-down and I can't review Wi-FI networks instantly anymore.

Sony had been doing really well with firmware updates for the XA2 but the update to Pie makes common tasks cumbersome and too slow for repeated use.

[Cocoa]

I totally agree.  I don't mind where it is on the screen now (although I agree about the comment of it not being movable to the lhs) but having to go through the rigmarole of going into settings every time I want to adjust different volumes is definitely a retrograde, non-intuitive step. I was already irritated that, unlike my previous Motorola, I couldn't just swipe down from the top to get all the volume bars (as well as use the sidebutton). Now, there's still only the side button and only one category comes up... Where is the easy, ergonomic flow? I'm so cheesed off it's prompted me to join the forum 🙂 

[AgSv]

I agree; a step backwards from Android.

So, let's see, for those of us that haven't yet received any notification that Android 9 is ready to be downloaded:

• It will probably not "brick" the phone; why that happened to some, with some version, in the first place is a bit surprising; it wasn't the first update from Sony Mobile. (That said, we don't know what people do with their phones, or install on them.)
• It could happen that you get problems with the headphone jack; well, this model at least had one, for some time.
• For some reason it has been decided that the volume control button now only adjust "media volume" in Android 9; how odd, here we have phone with an 8 core chip that can't detect if any music/video apps are running or not.
• Some say that in Android 9 you only have to press the power button to take a screen shot, not power button and volume button; that's weird, since in Sony's version of Android 8 on Xperia XA2 you only press the power button. Nothing to gain there (with an upgrade).
• Some say they have lost access to (older) themes after the OS upgrade. Does that include Xperia Loops that came with, was downloaded more or less directly, XA2 on Android 8?

We know that Sony Mobile has been giving two major OS updates to premium phones and one update to middle segment, that's all fine; but after that they are supposed to deliver security updates. In total for a minimum of three years from the release.

As it is, Android 9 has been delivered, depending on when it was installed, with two security updates, February update in .352 and the May patch in .379. Within a couple of months the next version of Android, Q, will be released. So it is possible to release security patches to more than one OS version albeit different models.

Why can't Sony deliver only security patches for Xperia XA2 running Android 8?

[Unikey]

And for those of us who are left handed?