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I've been spoiled by my ability to control the volume (or mute) any individual program running on my computer. I just tried a Modern-UI game from the store and it was shockingly loud, so I did what I normally do - go to the audio mixer to mute it.
It didn't show up in the system volume control! Is there something I'm missing? Is it truly up to every individual application? Can I mute all Modern-UI apps without muting all audio?
Mark Allen
Posted 2012-11-17T00:34:54.710
Reputation: 2 801
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There seems to be no way to control the volume of individual Metro apps from a single interface, which certainly seems like a step back to me.
All you can do (in most cases) is select Settings from the Charms bar (Win+I) and click the speaker icon, or use the desktop volume control from the tray/notification area.
However, if an app does provide its own volume control you should be able to locate it by looking under its own Settings in the Charms bar.
Edit: Apparently, not only is the lack of a Metro audio mixer by design, Microsoft is also discouraging devs from including per-app volume controls as per this MSDN blog post:
There is no audio mixer in this environment as there is in the desktop. It still exists for desktop applications, but your app won’t show up here because we felt it was not a great experience to pop out into desktop to adjust relative app volumes. Instead, we are encouraging apps to not include volume controls. This way users are focused on the master volume control which helps simplify the entire volume experience as well – but that’s a different story.
(Note: Substitute "simplify" with "dumb down").
Edit 2: While a third-party volume mixer called EarTrumpet has enabled this functionality on Windows 10 since July 2015, it has shamefully taken Microsoft nearly 5 years to finally add Metro/Modern/UWP app support to Windows' own volume mixer in the Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 16193:
We’ve updated the Volume Mixer to now include UWP apps (like Microsoft Edge, or Groove Music), so you can set their volume without impacting the overall system volume. ... Note: UWP apps will only appear in the Volume Mixer once they start playing sound. To open the Volume Mixer, right-click on the speaker icon in the taskbar.
Karan
Posted 2012-11-17T00:34:54.710
Reputation: 51 857
1Great. Try skyping while using a game. You'd better hope that the game has its own volume control. Simplify as far as you can BUT NO FURTHER, and they certainly went overboard, completely killing the super-awesome feature of adjusting the relative volume of two apps. – RomanSt – 2014-08-22T19:54:59.130
I don't feel it's a great experience for you to have to breathe in AND out so we're just going to disallow it all together. Guessing there is a real technical reason behind this one that they didn't want to admit yet. – Andy – 2013-02-25T15:50:15.257
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Irrespective of the AppContainer sandbox used, I see no technical reason why they couldn't have app-specific volume sliders for Metro apps just like Desktop apps. I think it was purely a design decision, or maybe a business one to reduce time/money spent and get the product out of the door. Maybe v2 of the UI in Windows "Blue" will have it...
– Karan – 2013-02-25T16:00:35.237It makes sense to do it this way... if your apps are running on a device. My PC is not a device, though, no matter how much anyone wishes otherwise. – Mark Allen – 2013-06-20T02:39:36.703
1@MarkAllen: I would argue that it doesn't make sense even on a "device". Say I have a full-featured Win8 tablet or laptop. Why should it not have app-specific volume sliders? (BTW, Win8.1 "Blue" has no changes in this respect.) – Karan – 2013-06-20T02:42:16.963
@Karan Well, the idea being that if I'm holding a table or laptop, it might have an external volume control or something, or at best if it's an "app only" (like RT) device, or a phone, maybe it doesn't multitask all that much in the first place, making it less likely I'm trying to listen to multiple things at once. On my PC I'm listening to music, a video game, and a voice chat program at the same time. So to me there's at least the possibility of a difference. 8.1's not out yet, so unless you work in windiv as a PM, who knows what's coming by RTM. (Not I) – Mark Allen – 2013-06-20T07:18:54.320
@MarkAllen: I see your point. Regarding Win8.1, you can see the officially announced features by following the links here, and the Preview's less than a week away now.
– Karan – 2013-06-20T16:21:52.710Unfortunately, the same problem seems to exist in 8.1. Sighh. I've read online that Metro apps were all grouped under "System Sounds" in 8, but that's at least definitely not true for 8.1 (source: just tried it). I think the volume control in the charms bar was contextual in 8, but it's not in 8.1, so I guess muting Metro apps is impossible without muting everything else too. – éclairevoyant – 2014-01-23T19:01:44.140