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Remove the Camera Sound

Kie

Android Expert
Oct 7, 2011
822
223
Perth, Australia
I don't know about you guys but I like to have a bit of silence when taking photos; not for secretive/perverse purposes (which is why Samsung don't allow you to turn it off as an option) but so I don't annoy people around me with my endless clicking.

The following tip is probably around other boards here, but I couldn't find anything. So to remove the (rather loud) shutter sound when taking a photo:

1. Must have root access.
2. Download Root Explorer
3. Navigate to system -> media -> audio -> ui
4. Tap Mount R/W at the top
5. Scroll down to Shutter.ogg and rename it to Shutter.ogg.bak
6. Rename Shutter_multiple.ogg to Shutter_multiple.ogg.bak

Now the shutter sound is gone. Please use this responsibly.
 
I have only tried taking a pic with my phone on vibrate (as its usually set to that), up to now i haven't heard my S4 make a sound either.

Maybe if you don't have the phone on silent or vibrate it does make a sound?

I am happy enough leaving it on vibrate though.

I have used the exact same tip though on my S2 to remove the sound so i know it does work :)

James
 
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Maybe if you don't have the phone on silent or vibrate it does make a sound?

Oh yes :) that's exactly it. If the ringtone (etc) is set to vibrate, the camera makes no sound, otherwise it makes a loud shutter noise. I tend to have it set to vibrate for calls etc. Suits me OK for the camera, but sometimes it can be a little weird wondering if it's actually taken anything or not. Good to know how to change this!
 
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Is it just me, but my GS4 and GS3 has/had the option to turn off the shutter sound in the settings of the camera. My camera doesn't make any sound when taking pictures. I know in the past it was a requirement, but I've notice more and more phones that seem to make it easy to turn off now.

In the GS4, when you go to settings while running the Camera, hit the gear icon and the second to last option is 'Shutter Sound".
 
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I keep hearing people saying its the law that the cell phone must make a sound, but from what I keep finding, the law was never passed. Link below, now this would be for a national law, I don't know about state laws but I can't see a big company making different phones for different states/cities/etc.

Camera Phone Predator Alert Act (2009; 111th Congress H.R. 414) - GovTrack.us
 
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I keep hearing people saying its the law that the cell phone must make a sound, but from what I keep finding, the law was never passed. Link below, now this would be for a national law, I don't know about state laws but I can't see a big company making different phones for different states/cities/etc.

Camera Phone Predator Alert Act (2009; 111th Congress H.R. 414) - GovTrack.us

The US isn't the only laws phone manufacturers care about.

Its easier to design once than worry about laws in every locale

If you want to remove the camera sound, rooting is usually a good start
 
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Is it just me, but my GS4 and GS3 has/had the option to turn off the shutter sound in the settings of the camera. My camera doesn't make any sound when taking pictures. I know in the past it was a requirement, but I've notice more and more phones that seem to make it easy to turn off now.

In the GS4, when you go to settings while running the Camera, hit the gear icon and the second to last option is 'Shutter Sound".

Second to last option for my s4 is storage(card or phone) for have a sound option,I am in Scotland.

Can confirm though that the option to use the volume key I'd there, I've been using it since day 2 when I discovered it :) had my s2 set up the same way, especially as zoom is pretty much pointless!
 
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Yes. In the same menu I mentioned above to turn off the shutter sound, there is an option there to change the volume buttons to either zoom, take a picture, or take a video.

Yes! I hate having to use a third party camera app on my GNex. Thanks!

Another question, that isn't very important-- just curious, can you set one volume key to do one thing and the other button, another?
 
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Is anyone else in Australia? I have no option to lower the sound of shutter in camera settings, nor does it turn off when everything is on silent/vibrate, hence why I posted the tip. Again, it doesn't help to have international versions mixed with american all in one forum...since people think you're an idiot rather than having a device with different settings on it.
 
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I lost the ability to turn off shutter sound too with the JB 4.1.2 upgrade on my Samsung Note. Turning vibrate on kills the shutter sound but the extra steps are a pain.

I found a solution that takes this back to one click on the camera icon - the E-Robot extension for the Elixir app.

I set up an E-Robot command to turn vibrate on when the camera app gets focus and another command to turn vibrate off when the camera app stops or loses focus.

Works like a charm - one click and no shutter sound as long as E-Robot is running.
 
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