Sound analysis & recording issues#

1. No sound recordings and flat noise graph (no data recorded)#

If your noise graph shows a completely flat line with no fluctuations or data and no recordings were captured, the app was blocked from accessing your microphone:

  • Missing Microphone Permission: Go to your phone’s System Settings ➔ Apps ➔ Sleep ➔ Permissions and verify that Microphone permission is set to Allowed.
  • Microphone Conflict (Lost Access): Android allows only one app to access the microphone at a time. If another background process (voice assistant, white noise generator, call recorder) holds an exclusive microphone lock, Sleep as Android loses mic access. Close all other audio apps before tracking.
  • Background Launch Restriction (Android 11+): If sleep tracking starts automatically, Android restricts background microphone access. Ensure you have granted the Display over other apps (Draw over other apps) permission so the app can initialize the microphone.

2. Noise graph shows sound data, but no audio clips recorded#

If your noise graph shows sound fluctuations or sound detection icons, but no audio clips were saved or playable:

  • Volume Threshold Too High: Sounds were detected, but they fell below your configured recording threshold. Go to Settings ➔ Sleep noise analysis ➔ Recording volume threshold and lower it (e.g., to 15% or 20%).
  • Storage Path Issue: The app could not save the audio file to your phone’s storage. Go to Settings ➔ Sleep noise analysis ➔ Storage path and tap RESET.

3. Too many short or constant recordings (e.g., fan noise)#

  • Reason: The volume threshold is set too low for your room’s ambient noise level.
  • 👉 Fix: Increase the threshold to 25% - 35% under Settings ➔ Sleep noise analysis ➔ Recording volume threshold.

4. Weird chirping or sonar noise in recordings#

If you hear feedback or high-pitched artifacts in your recordings:

  • Disable Audio Enhancements: Turn off Dolby Atmos, Adaptive Sound, or Equalizers in your phone’s sound settings.
  • Change Input Mode: Set Input to UNPROCESSED in Settings ➔ Sleep noise analysis ➔ Input.
  • Phone Placement: Ensure the bottom speaker/mic area of your phone isn’t touching a hard surface directly.

5. How do I listen to sound clips marked on my graph?#

  1. Look for the mic Microphone icon along the graph timeline.
  2. Drag your finger across the graph to highlight the specific time period.
  3. Tap the Play icon in the top right corner.

6. A sound was tagged incorrectly#

  • 👉 Fix: You can manually edit or remove tags in the app’s audio player.
  • Help us improve: When you change a tag, the app may ask if you’d like to share the clip with our team (support@urbandroid.org) to help us retrain our AI.

Need further help? Contact us via Left ☰ Menu → Support → Report a bug.