Question

I’m creating notifications in my Android application, and would like to have an option in my preferences to set what sound is used for the notification. I know that in the Settings application you can choose a default notification sound from a list. Where does that list come from, and is there a way for me to display the same list in my application?

Answer 1

Just copy/pasting some code from one of my apps that does what you are looking for.

This is in an onClick handler of a button labeled "set ringtone" or something similar:

Intent intent = new Intent(RingtoneManager.ACTION_RINGTONE_PICKER);
intent.putExtra(RingtoneManager.EXTRA_RINGTONE_TYPE, RingtoneManager.TYPE_NOTIFICATION);
intent.putExtra(RingtoneManager.EXTRA_RINGTONE_TITLE, "Select Tone");
intent.putExtra(RingtoneManager.EXTRA_RINGTONE_EXISTING_URI, (Uri) null);
this.startActivityForResult(intent, 5);

And this code captures the choice made by the user:

@Override
protected void onActivityResult(final int requestCode, final int resultCode, final Intent intent) {
    if (resultCode == Activity.RESULT_OK && requestCode == 5) {
        Uri uri = intent.getParcelableExtra(RingtoneManager.EXTRA_RINGTONE_PICKED_URI);

        if (uri != null) {
            this.chosenRingtone = uri.toString();
        } else {
            this.chosenRingtone = null;
        }
    }            
}

Also, I advise my users to install the "Rings Extended" app from the Android Market. Then whenever this dialog is opened on their device, such as from my app or from the phone’s settings menu, the user will have the additional choice of picking any of the mp3s stored on their device, not just the built in ringtones.