Some Android Fans Are Freaking Out Because There's No Silent Mode In Google's New Android Update
Over the past few days, Android fans have been complaining via Reddit and various forums that there's no silent mode in Android Lollipop.
While the silent mode that Android users are familiar with may be gone, Google has added a few options to replace it. You essentially have three options, as Gigaom originally pointed out on Monday. There are three modes to choose from: None, Priority, or All.
None keeps your phone entirely silent, which means you won't hear any system notifications. This also means your screen won't light up when you receive a text or notification like it would have with the old silent mode.
Priority silences almost everything other than alarms and only allows certain notifications to come through. You can also choose to set your phone so that it automatically kicks into Priority Mode at a certain time every day.
The third option, All, allows all notifications to come through normally as its name implies. You can find these settings by pressing the volume rocker on your phone.
Although the Priority and None settings sound similar to silent mode, some Android users have voiced their disapproval. The biggest complaint appears to be that the screen no longer lights up when you get an incoming notification like it did with silent mode.
Here are a few comments from a Reddit thread about the subject, which has more than 400 comments at the time of writing.
RedditRedditRedditSome Android fans in the XDA Developers forum have also complained about these changes to the sound settings in Lollipop.
Other than some backlash about the lack of a silent mode, general reception from developers and critics seems to be positive when it comes to Google's new Android update. Lollipop is currently shipping on the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9, and Google's partners are expected to roll out the update over the course of the next several months.