Android users can now receive push notifications for “critical sounds” like barking dogs, running water, or beeping appliances.
Designed for the estimated 466 million people globally with hearing loss (and those working from home with noise-cancelling headphones), Google’s new Sound Notifications sends an alert to your device when the baby starts crying or the smoke alarm sounds.
The feature—an extension of Google’s Live Transcribe service, which shows more than 30 sound events alongside real-time captions—works completely offline and uses your phone’s microphone to recognize 10 different noises, including door knocking. Sound Notifications is available on Android phones and Wear OS smartwatches, providing vibrations directly on your wrist, so you can stay vigilant even when sleeping (a concern of many in the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities).
“While we can notify you about baby sounds or dog barking, it often helps to know more about the preceding events that might have caused that disturbance,” Google product managers Sagar Savla and Sharlene Yuan wrote in a blog post. “With the Timeline view, you can scroll through a brief snapshot of detected sounds from the past few hours.”
Perhaps it was a knocking at the door that set off the dogs, or a beeping appliance that woke up the baby. “This shows when and how long the sound occurred to get a better sense of the sound’s importance,” the blog said. Turn on the new function via Settings > Accessibility > Sound Notifications. If the option doesn’t automatically appear on your phone, try downloading Live Transcribe and Sound Notifications directly from Google Play.
Apple recently released a similar Accessibility feature in iOS 14, listening for alarms, animals, household noises, and people, then notifying users when something needs attention.
