Lollipop QuickSilentKey

Lollipop QuickSilentKey offers the fastest and most convenient way to put your Lollipop phone into silent mode. No more pulling down menus and tapping buttons – switch the phone to silent mode (and back) simply by holding down the volume keys. And best of all: it works that simple in the lockscreen, too!

With QuickSilentKey, you can switch the phone to a silent mode of your choice by long pressing the Volume Down key. (This can be “No interruptions” (Samsung: “Mute”), “Priority interruptions only” (for non-Samsung devices), or Vibrate.) Switch the phone back to normal (“All”) by long pressing the Volume Up key. Normal presses of the volume keys will change the ringer (or media) volume as usual (however not in the lockscreen). QuickSilentKey even allows you to switch between Sound, Mute and Vibrate modes using nothing but the volume keys of your phone! (see below)

USAGE: When first enabling Quick Silent Key from the app’s window, you will be guided to the Accessibility Settings. There, enable Quick Silent Key as an accessibility service (at the very end of the menu). (Non-Samsung users may also have to grant the app “Notification access” – details see below.) Now, you can enable “Toggle interruption mode by long pressing volume keys”. Next, choose which interruption mode will be activated/deactivated by long pressing the volume keys. The default is “No interruptions” / “Mute”. This means that whenever you long press the Volume Down key, the device will switch to “None” (Samsung: “Mute”) mode. And whenever you long press the Volume Up key, it will switch back to “All” (Samsung: “Sound”) mode. And likewise with “Priority interruptions” or “Vibrate”, if you chose those options. (In the option ‘Vibrate’, if you long press Volume Down again when already in Vibrate mode, the device will switch to ‘None’ / ‘Mute’ mode. That way, you can easily switch between Sound, Mute and Vibrate modes using just your phone’s volume keys.) By normal pressing the volume keys, you can adjust the ringer volume as usual (except when in the lockscreen). Note that what is different from the pre-Lollipop way of silencing the device (holding down Volume Down, and watching the volume go all the way down to zero) is that this switch now happens instantly. Also, when switching back to normal by long pressing Volume Up, your old volume level will be restored – no more need to reset it exactly each time you unmute your device...

NOTE: For QuickSilentKey to work, you will need to enable it to run as an “accessibility service”. Please don’t be scared by the warning there – all that QuickSilentKey monitors are presses of the volume keys. Nothing else will be monitored, and absolutely nothing will be stored or transmitted! (Also, if you are not a Samsung user and wish to have the device switched to “No interruptions” mode, you will have to grant “Notification access” to QuickSilentKey. To do so, go to Settings > My Device > Sounds and notifications).

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