Sound Off

I've been playing Words With Friends (a Scrabble-like game) on my phone for years. I always have a game going with Hubby Tony, and occasionally additional matches with one of several friends. Late last year I got a notification that the the company had released a sequel, unimaginatively titled Words With Friends 2. I downloaded the new game and started using it.

For the most part I like the changes, although I ignore most of the new features. One thing was driving me crazy, though. The sounds! Each time I opened the app it played a little jingle. Shuffling the tiles made a sound. Successfully sending a word caused another noise.

My first thought was to turn off the sounds in the phone's settings, but there was no option there. I started disabling the phone volume before I opened the app, but then I'd forget to turn it back on and miss a call or text. Finally I researched the issue and found out the answer was simple, but unintuitive. At the top left of my phone screen in the app was a small profile photo. When tapped it brought up the Settings screen, where there was a toggle button to turn the sounds off.

Now I can shuffle the letters to my heart's content without anyone knowing what I'm doing.

Five years ago today: Strengthening and Flexibility