How to add notification sounds to galaxy watch

In this guide, we will show you the steps to add custom notifications, ringtones, and alarm sounds on your Galaxy Watch 4/5. Both the fourth and fifth iteration of smartwatches from Samsung comes with 10 notification sounds and 10 ringtones. And that’s just about it. You do not have the option to download and set a custom tone of your choice, well at least not the native way.  Adding more to the misery, there exists just a single alarm tone as well.

And as you might have guessed, there’s again no option to add a custom alarm tone. For many, that might not be an issue but for some users like us, why restrict ourselves to just a handful of tones when we know that our device is running an open-source OS that is capable of doing so much more? So making use of the same, this guide will make you aware of the steps to add custom notifications, ringtones, and alarm sounds on your Galaxy Watch 4/5. Follow along.

Table of Contents

• Add Custom Notifications, Ringtones, and Alarms on Galaxy Watch 4/5
  • STEP 1: Install Android SDK
  • STEP 2: Download Custom Tone
  • STEP 3: Enable ADB Debugging in Galaxy Wach 4/5
  • STEP 4: Connect Galaxy Watch 4/5 to PC via ADB Command
  • STEP 5: Send Custom Tones to Watch via ADB
  • STEP 6: Refresh Watch Sound Storage
  • STEP 7: Bring up Sound File ID
  • STEP 8: Add Sound to System

Add Custom Notifications, Ringtones, and Alarms on Galaxy Watch 4/5

The below instructions are listed under separate sections for ease of understanding. Make sure to follow the same sequence as mentioned.

STEP 1: Install Android SDK

First and foremost, you will have to install the Android SDK Platform Tools on your PC. This is the official ADB and Fastboot binary provided by Google and is the only recommended one. So download it and then extract it to any convenient location on your PC. Doing so will give you the platform-tools folder, which will be used throughout this guide.

STEP 2: Download Custom Tone

Next up, download the desired custom notifications, ringtones, and/or alarm sounds for your Watch 4/5. It is recommended that the sound should be in .ogg or .mp3 format [.wav and .amr might also work but I haven’t personally tested them]. Moreover, once you have downloaded the tones, transfer them to the platform-tools folder.

STEP 3: Enable ADB Debugging in Galaxy Wach 4/5

1. Head over to Settings > About Watch > Software and tap Software Version 7 times.
   
   
2. Then go to Developer Options and enable the toggle next to ADB Debugging.
3. After that, scroll down a little bit and enable the toggle next to Debug over WiFi.
   
   
   
4. It will now bring up the IP Address, note it down somewhere [do not include the port number, i.e. values after the colon].
5. For example, if the entire value is 192.168.1.3:5555, then your IP will be 192.168.1.3.

STEP 4: Connect Galaxy Watch 4/5 to PC via ADB Command

1. Head over to the platform-tools folder, type in CMD in its address bar, and hit Enter. This will launch Command Prompt.
   
   
2. Now type in the below command in this CMD window [make sure to replace IP accordingly].

   adb connect IP

   
   

3. You will now get a prompt on your watch, tap OK or Always Allow from this computer.
   
   
   
4. Finally, execute the below command to verify the ADB Connection between your watch and PC

   adb devices

   
   

5. You will now get your IP Address and port number, followed by the ‘device’ keyword. This signifies that the connection has been successfully established.

STEP 5: Send Custom Tones to Watch via ADB

Next up, you will now have to send the downloaded custom notifications, ringtones, and/or alarm sounds to your Watch 4/5 via the ADB Push command. Here’s how it could be done

1. To begin with, transfer the desired sound file to the platform-tools folder on your PC.
2. Rename it to something shorter so that it becomes easier to type in the CMD window.
3. Now use the command depending on the type of file that you are transferring [replace file_name and .mp3, if required]

   adb push file_name.mp3 /sdcard/Ringtones/ 
   adb push file_name.mp3 /sdcard/Notifications/ 
   adb push file_name.mp3 /sdcard/Alarms/

   
   

4. For example, I’m transferring the Droidwin.mp3 ringtone file, so the command in my case will be:

   adb push Droidwin.mp3 /sdcard/Ringtones/
   

STEP 6: Refresh Watch Sound Storage

Now execute the below command to refresh the watch’s sound storage settings so that it is able to identify the newly added sound. Make sure to replace the file type [notifications, ringtones, or alarm] and filename accordingly in the below command:

adb shell am broadcast -a android.intent.action.MEDIA_SCANNER_SCAN_FILE -d file:///storage/emulated/0/Ringtones/Droidwin.mp3 >nul

STEP 7: Bring up Sound File ID

1. You will now have to bring up the file ID for the newly added sound. So use the below command for that:

   adb shell content query --uri content://media/external/audio/media/ --projection _id:_display_name

   
   

2. For example, in my case the file name is Droidwin.mp3 and the corresponding ID is 38.

STEP 8: Add Sound to System

1. Finally, you will now have to add that file ID to the system. In other words, add that custom sound to the system sound settings.
2. So use the command depending on the file that you want to add. Likewise, replace ID according to the value that you got in the above command:

   Ringtones --> adb shell settings put system ringtone content://media/external/audio/media/ID
   Notifications --> adb shell settings put system notification_sound content://media/external/audio/media/ID
   Alarms --> adb shell settings put system alarm_alert content://media/external/audio/media/ID

3. For example, I’m adding a ringtone named Droidwin.mp3 with File ID 38, so the above command will transform to:

   adb shell settings put system ringtone content://media/external/audio/media/38

   
   

4. The sound has now been added to your watch. You could access it from Settings > Sounds and Vibrations  > Ringtones/Notification Sounds.

That’s it. These were the steps to add custom notifications, ringtones, and alarm sounds on your Galaxy Watch 4/5. If you have any queries concerning the aforementioned steps, do let us know in the comments. We will get back to you with a solution at the earliest.

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About Chief Editor

Sadique Hassan

administrator

A technical geek by birth, he always has a keen interest in the Android platform right since the birth of the HTC Dream. The open-source environment always seems to intrigue him with the plethora of options available at his fingertips. “MBA by profession, blogger by choice!”

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