Android 5.0 Lollipop Update Removes Silent Mode on Phones: Report

Google might be boasting about its latest Android Lollipop update as the company's "sweetest release yet," however the release seems to have been hit by multiple issues right from the start.

Last week, a Wi-Fi related bug was reported to be affecting some users, and now multiple reports are claiming that that Android 5.0 Lollipop removes the very useful 'silent mode' from phones. Additionally, some Nexus 7 (2013) tablet users are reporting that they are having issues in video playback after updating to Android 5.0 Lollipop. Android Police first pointed out (via Reddit) the missing 'silent mode' feature, saying, "Lowering the volume only offers vibrate mode, and the new priority notification system isn't going to help you."

When users turn down the volume to '0' on Android smartphones (Android 4.3 and below), it activates vibration mode, while the silent mode is usually activated by turning volume up once again. In phones running Android 4.4 KitKat and higher, it turning the volume down once again below vibrate mode activates silent mode. It appears that with Android 5.0 Lollipop, turning the volume down below '0' offers only vibration mode, and no option exists to achieve true silent mode.

While this may be a bug, Google may have introduced this as a feature, in line with its new Priority notifications introduced in Android 5.0 Lollipop. It describes Priority notifications as, "For fewer disruptions, turn on Priority mode via your device's volume button so only certain people and notifications get through. Or schedule recurring downtime like 10pm to 8am when only Priority notifications can get through."

The Priority notifications offers three modes namely - None, Priority, and All. The Priority mode will only allow a few set of notifications to go through and users will see a Star mark in the status bar when in this mode. Meanwhile, the None mode will allow the phone to receive all notifications but will not alert the user. Notably, the None mode in Priority notifications even limits set alarm functionality. Motorola has shared a YouTube video to explain the new Priority notifications on the Moto X running the new Android 5.0 Lollipop.