[Samsung Galaxy S9  Questions & Answers] sunheatyy:
I can't get alarm volume back to normal in Uber Driver app.

It so happens Uber Driver app decided to use "alarm" volume type for trip alerts. I personally thinks it's a very bad idea because this volume type is not shown when you expand the volume control overlay, at least in a Samsung S9+. I'm going to raise it with Uber but I don't think they are going to change it, because they have an option of using the loudest volume for trip alerts, so if they use any other volume type, it disrupts use of other sound outputting apps such as music or ringtone. Even if they are OK to change it, it will be thrown in the backlog for a long time before it gets rolled out. This does not address my direct problem.

So in order to control this volume type, I had downloaded several volume control apps which showed this volume type, but now the volume seems stuck at the lowest level! I'm losing trip alerts in Uber Driver app which voids my chance of making money when driving for UberEats. This is really frustrating.

I suspect the reason it's stuck at lowest volume level consists of the following:

My alarms are set to start from lowest volume and increase, because I usually can wake up or hear the alarm go off at lowest volume. I don't need to startle myself. So everyday from the wake up alarm, the alarm volume is reverted back to lowest.

One or some of the apps I installed for volume control must have bugs. They do not unlock the volume when they are uninstalled.

Or, it could be as simple as from some point on, the Samsung or Android system no longer allows control of alarm volume from "the outside"?

I had done a settings reset, did not fix the issue. I do not want to be forced into doing a full factory reset including apps and data. And I don't have the time to write an app to check what volume type or parameter is causing this issue. And I don't think those volume boost apps will help, because currently the Uber Driver app alert sounds far away, not just soft. It sounds echoed and far away. I've had a similar experience with its built in voice navigation before this problem started (and before I applied the Oreo upgrade) - the navigation sound (which is on media volume type channel) would start soft, echoed and far-away-sounding, but became normal after about 2 seconds. That problem has gone away and it wasn't too much trouble. This alarm volume problem has not gone away no matter what I did, and it is a big problem for me because of the money-making opportunities I'm missing. Strangely, the system built in alarm clock alarm sound does not have this problem. I have been turning them off before they get the chance to get louder, but even the lowest volume sound did not appear to be far-away-sounding, or too soft. The Uber Driver app alerts when they are at the lowest of the low, were not audible at normal use distance of a phone.

I did upgrade to Oreo and applied the security update which came a few days after the initial Oreo release. But I doubt that caused the issue because it was after I tried the apps that I started having this issue. The first I installed was https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=netroken.android.persistfree, which contained adds and I uninstalled. Second was https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.loadlynx_jp.vollynx.free and third was https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.hp.volume as an attempt to fix this issue. I did reinstall the first one and checked and unchecked the lock volume tick box, did not make a difference.

How can I get control back on my alarm volume? Please help.