How to prevent alarm from interrupting media playback?

Sleep as Android Q&A
1

I use a third-party app to play brown noise through my Bluetooth speaker while I sleep. When the Sleep as Android gentle wake-up alarm begins to play through my phone’s speaker, it interrupts the Bluetooth media playback. This is a very jarring experience.

It used to work fine on my old Galaxy S7, but now on my S24+ it’s interfering with media playback. I’ve checked all sorts of settings in the app and on the phone but can’t find anything that works. How do I prevent the alarm from interrupting media playback?

2

Hi @SquidgyBiscuit, we did not change the alarm behavior for years.
Are you using “force headphones” feature for alarms?

If your new device uses some alternative way of mixing sound streams, it may have some side-effects. Try the settings for the Bluetooth in the system settings, sometimes, there are advanced options, that let you configure the behavior of the sound stream streamed to the BT device.

3

Thanks for the pointer! I was able to set it up by using two Samsung features: Separate App Sound, and Modes and Routines. The following procedure will set it up to direct the Sleep as Android alarm to the phone’s speaker without interrupting media playback on your Bluetooth device:

  1. Go to Settings → Modes and Routines
  2. Tap Add mode
  3. Give it a name, select an icon, and tap Done
  4. Tap Turn on automatically
  5. Tap Bluetooth device
  6. Tap Device
  7. Select the Bluetooth device that you want to play the brown noise (or other media) on
  8. Select Connected
  9. Tap Done
  10. Tap Done
  11. Under Choose what this mode does, tap Other actions
  12. Tap Add action
  13. Tap Sounds and vibration
  14. Tap Separate app sound
  15. Tap Apps
  16. Select Sleep (i.e. the Sleep as Android app)
  17. Tap Done
  18. For Audio Device, select Phone
  19. Tap Done
  20. Tap Done

Note that I am using the default setting of Device default for Alarm output in Sleep as Android (in Sleep as Android → Settings → Alarms → Dangerous options).

And so, in 20 easy steps you can play alarms to the phone’s speaker without interrupting media playback on your Bluetooth device. Thanks, Samsung! :man_facepalming: