How to Adjust the Volume of Android Phone Programmatically from the App?

As stated in the title of this article let’s discuss how to adjust the volume of an Android Phone programmatically from the App. Basically, control the volume in the app mean 

• Increase or Decrease the Volume without the Volume Bar UI
• Increase or Decrease the Volume with the Volume Bar UI
• Mute or Unmute the device

So we are going to discuss all these three processes step by step. Note that we are going to implement this project using the Kotlin language. 

Increase or Decrease the Volume without the Volume Bar UI

To programmatically control the volume in an Android device, follow the following steps:

Step 1: Create a New Project

To create a new project in Android Studio please refer to How to Create/Start a New Project in Android Studio. Note that select Kotlin as the programming language.

Step 2: Working with the activity_main.xml file

When the setup is ready, go to the activity_main.xml file, which represents the UI of the project. Create two Buttons, one for increasing the volume and the other for decreasing it, one below the other. Below is the code for the activity_main.xml file. 

XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    tools:context=".MainActivity">

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/btnUp"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
        android:layout_above="@+id/btnDown"
        android:text="+"
        />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/btnDown"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_centerInParent="true"
        android:text="-"
        />

</RelativeLayout>

Step 3: Working with the MainActivity.kt file

In the MainActivity.kt file, declare the two Buttons and an audio manager (refer to the codes). While setting the on click listeners to the buttons, we would use the audio manager to increase or decrease the volume. Below is the code for the MainActivity.kt file. Comments are added inside the code to understand the code in more detail.

Kotlin

import android.media.AudioManager
import android.os.Bundle
import android.widget.Button
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)

        // Declare Buttons
        val upBtn = findViewById<Button>(R.id.btnUp)
        val downBtn = findViewById<Button>(R.id.btnDown)

        // Declare an audio manager
        val audioManager = applicationContext.getSystemService(AUDIO_SERVICE) as AudioManager

        // At the click of upBtn
        upBtn.setOnClickListener {
            // ADJUST_RAISE = Raise the volume, FLAG_PLAY_SOUND = make a sound when clicked
            audioManager.adjustVolume(AudioManager.ADJUST_RAISE, AudioManager.FLAG_PLAY_SOUND)
        }
        // At the click of downBtn
        downBtn.setOnClickListener {
            // ADJUST_LOWER = Lowers the volume, FLAG_PLAY_SOUND = make a sound when clicked
            audioManager.adjustVolume(AudioManager.ADJUST_LOWER, AudioManager.FLAG_PLAY_SOUND)
        }
    }
}

Output: Run on Emulator

Increase or Decrease the Volume with the Volume Bar UI

The only change we have to make is to pass the parameter AudioManager.FLAG_SHOW_UI instead of AudioManager.FLAG_PLAY_SOUND in the MainActivity.kt file. Below is the code for the MainActivity.kt file. Comments are added inside the code to understand the code in more detail.

Kotlin

import android.content.Context
import android.media.AudioManager
import android.os.Bundle
import android.widget.Button
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)

        // Declare Buttons
        val upBtn = findViewById<Button>(R.id.btnUp)
        val downBtn = findViewById<Button>(R.id.btnDown)

        // Declare an audio manager
        val audioManager = applicationContext.getSystemService(Context.AUDIO_SERVICE) as AudioManager

        // At the click of upBtn
        upBtn.setOnClickListener {
            // ADJUST_RAISE = Raise the volume, FLAG_SHOW_UI = show changes made to volume bar
            audioManager.adjustVolume(AudioManager.ADJUST_RAISE, AudioManager.FLAG_SHOW_UI)
        }

        // At the click of downBtn
        downBtn.setOnClickListener {
            // ADJUST_LOWER = LOWER the volume, FLAG_SHOW_UI = show changes made to volume bar
            audioManager.adjustVolume(AudioManager.ADJUST_LOWER, AudioManager.FLAG_SHOW_UI)
        }
    }
}

Output: Run on Emulator

It can be seen that the volume increases when “+” is clicked, and similarly, it decreases when “-” is clicked. When the phone becomes completely mute, changes can be seen on the volume bar.

Mute or Unmute the Device

Step 1: Working with the activity_main.xml file

When the setup is ready, go to the activity_main.xml file, which represents the UI of the project. Create two Buttons, one to mute and the other to unmute the device, one below the other. Below is the code for the activity_main.xml file. 

XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    tools:context=".MainActivity">

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/btnMute"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
        android:text="Mute"
        android:layout_above="@+id/btnUnmute"
        />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/btnUnmute"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_centerInParent="true"
        android:text="Unmute"
        />

</RelativeLayout>

Step 2: Working with the MainActivity.kt file

In the MainActivity.kt file, declare the two Buttons and an audio manager (refer to the codes). While setting the on click listeners to the buttons, we would use the audio manager to mute or unmute the device. Below is the code for the MainActivity.kt file. Comments are added inside the code to understand the code in more detail.

Kotlin

import android.content.Context
import android.media.AudioManager
import android.os.Bundle
import android.widget.Button
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)

        // Declare Buttons
        val muteBtn = findViewById<Button>(R.id.btnMute)
        val unmuteBtn = findViewById<Button>(R.id.btnUnmute)

        // Declare an audio manager
        val audioManager = applicationContext.getSystemService(Context.AUDIO_SERVICE) as AudioManager


        muteBtn.setOnClickListener {
            // ADJUST_Mute = Mutes the device, FLAG_SHOW_UI = show changes made to volume bar
            audioManager.adjustVolume(AudioManager.ADJUST_MUTE, AudioManager.FLAG_SHOW_UI)
        }

        unmuteBtn.setOnClickListener {
            // ADJUST_Unmute = Unmutes the device, FLAG_SHOW_UI = show changes made to volume bar
            audioManager.adjustVolume(AudioManager.ADJUST_UNMUTE, AudioManager.FLAG_SHOW_UI)
        }
    }
}

Output: Run on Emulator