Google’s Pixel is getting new sounds with Android 12

Good user experience is achieved thanks to all factors that make it up, not just one. Sound is often the most overlooked aspect, but that’s its job. When there is a well-implemented sound design, the user doesn’t notice it but still feels the effect. In contrast, when it ruins your immersion, the whole image of a product can crumble.

Google seems to have taken this into account with the new alarm, notification, and ringtone sounds coming with the third beta of Android 12. They have been added to the Sounds app and will most likely be adopted as the defaults for the upcoming Pixel phones.

Alarm, notification, and ringtone - the holy trinity

The Mountain View, California-based tech giant has taken a much subtler approach with the new tunes, giving them a less intrusive and more pleasant feel. ‘Bright Morning’ is the current alarm sound and is a bit on the annoying/stressful side. It will presumably get replaced by a tune called ‘Fresh Start’, which is 31 seconds and has a more gentle approach to starting your day.

As for notifications, ‘Popcorn’ will be swapped with ‘Eureka’ (classic...), and while the name of the latter might suggest a loud screaming voice, it’s nothing of the sort. In this case, the new sound is very similar to the old one but toned down without the high pitch tones.

The new ringtone that’s supposed to become part of the future Pixel image is called ‘Your New Adventure’, not to be confused with the current one that’s named ‘The Big Adventure.’ Unfortunately, the “new adventure” fails to download from the Sounds app, reports 9to5google, so for now, we don’t yet have any input on it.

Thankfully, if you have the third beta version of Android 12, you can at least try out the alarm and notification tones. Keep in mind that already released devices won’t automatically get the new sounds, unlike those that will come in the future. For those not running the beta, all three new tunes should arrive once Android 12 gets officially released.