How to set custom notification sound when App in background/not running?

Question

It is possible to play a custom notification sound when an App is in foreground, by supplying a sound file in a resources/raw folder, and then when reacting to the notification, doing something along the lines of :

Android.Net.Uri notification = Android.Net.Uri.Parse("android.resource://" + Application.Context.PackageName + "/raw/thesoundfile");                       
Ringtone rt = RingtoneManager.GetRingtone(a, notification);
rt.Play();

However. Obviously, this will not get executed when the App is in the background, and the OS will still play a (default) notification sound when the notification arrives.

How do I programmatically, set this "background" notification sound, to be the same as the custom one which is played in foreground?

I looked at the "duplicate" question that was used to close this post. That question was asked over 7 years ago when Android was still in version Jelly Bean (4.1 - 4.3.1). What worked over 7 years ago doesn't always work today. That answer is outdated and will not work on version Oreo (10).

Answer 1

Firstly make the folder in Resource (res) name it raw and put the file (YOUR_SOUND_FILE.MP3) in it and than use below lines of code for custom sound

NotificationManager notificationManager = (NotificationManager) context
        .getSystemService(Context.NOTIFICATION_SERVICE);
Notification notification = new Notification(icon, message, when);

String title = context.getString(R.string.app_name);

Intent notificationIntent = new Intent(context,
        SlidingMenuActivity.class);
notificationIntent.putExtra("isInbox", true);
// set intent so it does not start a new activity
notificationIntent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TOP
        | Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_SINGLE_TOP);
PendingIntent intent = PendingIntent.getActivity(context, 0,
        notificationIntent, 0);
notification.setLatestEventInfo(context, title, message, intent);
notification.flags |= Notification.FLAG_AUTO_CANCEL;

Use these lines of code for custom sound

 notification.sound =Uri.parse("android.resource://"+context.getPackageName()+"/"+R.raw.FILE_NAME);//Here is FILE_NAME is the name of file that you want to play


// Vibrate if vibrate is enabled
notification.defaults |= Notification.DEFAULT_VIBRATE;
notificationManager.notify(0, notification);

For the Oreo and higher , you need to check the SDK_VERSION and use the setSound method of the NotificationChannel

   Uri sound = Uri.parse(ContentResolver.SCHEME_ANDROID_RESOURCE + "://" + context.getPackageName() + "/" + R.raw.FILE_NAME);  //Here is FILE_NAME is the name of file that you want to play

if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.O) {

        NotificationChannel mChannel = new NotificationChannel("YOUR_CHANNEL_ID",
            "YOUR CHANNEL NAME",
            NotificationManager.IMPORTANCE_DEFAULT)

        AudioAttributes attributes = new AudioAttributes.Builder()
                .setUsage(AudioAttributes.USAGE_NOTIFICATION)
                .build();

        NotificationChannel mChannel = new NotificationChannel(CHANNEL_ID, 
                context.getString(R.string.app_name),
                NotificationManager.IMPORTANCE_HIGH);

        // Configure the notification channel.
        mChannel.setDescription(msg);
        mChannel.enableLights(true);
        mChannel.enableVibration(true);
        mChannel.setSound(sound, attributes); // This is IMPORTANT


        if (mNotificationManager != null)
            mNotificationManager.createNotificationChannel(mChannel);
    }
else


//for pre-oreo mobiles
{
 NotificationCompat.Builder builder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(context)
.setContentTitle(context.getString(R.string.app_name))    .setContentIntent(PendingIntent.getActivity(context, 0, new Intent(context, MainActivity_.class), 0))
            .setContentText("temporary text")
            .setAutoCancel(true)
           .setSound(Uri.parse("android.resource://"
                            + context.getPackageName() + "/"
                            + R.raw.alert))
            .setDefaults(Notification.DEFAULT_LIGHTS | Notification.DEFAULT_VIBRATE)
            .setPriority(NotificationCompat.PRIORITY_DEFAULT)
            .setWhen(System.currentTimeMillis())
            .setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_stat_notification);

    Notification notification = builder.build();
    NotificationManager notificationManager = (NotificationManager) context.getSystemService(Context.NOTIFICATION_SERVICE);
    notificationManager.notify(NOTIFICATION_ID, notification);
}