Is It Safe To Turn Off Background Apps

Having your battery drain faster than expected is i of the biggest headaches with any Android phone. Tracking downwards a charger and plugging in shortly afterward a full accuse overnight is e'er a sad feeling. If yous're set to thwart your battery woes, a uncomplicated culprit may be to arraign. Here's what you need to know to conquer background apps.

These apps can sap your bombardment and precious resources, only there may exist a few different causes for your problems. Some apps might not be well optimized, some might exist malware, or some might be buggy. All you need at present is a little know-how, and we'll have you living the charged life presently.

QUICK ANSWER

The simplest fashion to keep background apps in check is using Android's Adaptive Battery feature. Turn information technology on by going to Settings > Battery > Adaptive preferences and toggle Adaptive Bombardment on.

JUMP TO Cardinal SECTIONS

Update your device!
Take advantage of Adaptive Battery, if you tin can
Check what's draining your telephone
Cease the app, kill it, or uninstall your background apps
Limit problematic background apps

Editor'due south note: Some of the steps in this article were put together using a Google Pixel 4a with 5G running Android 12. Continue in listen steps may differ depending on your hardware and software.

Update your device!

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

Android updates often include battery improvements, problems fixes, and performance upgrades. All of these make for a more efficient device, which tin can improve the manner your handset handles background apps. This is why y'all should continually update your device to the latest Android version.

How to cheque for Android updates:

Open the Settings app.
Go into Arrangement.
Tap on Organisation update.
This page will let y'all know if there's an update available. You can also Cheque for updates.
If there's an update available, follow on-screen instructions to install the update.

Similarly, app updates can also bring improvements, so ever ensure yous're running the latest version of all your applications.

How to cheque for app updates:

Open up the Google Play Store.
Tap on your profile picture in the tiptop-right corner.
Select Manage apps & device.
Go into Updates available.
Hit Update all (if available).

Accept advantage of Adaptive Battery, if you can

Many phones are notwithstanding running on Android ten, even though Android eleven has been out for a while, and the latest devices now sport Android 12. Luckily, that's expert news for anybody. Android 10 introduced first-class power direction features that limit background apps and extend your phone's battery life.

One of them is called Adaptive Battery, which uses machine learning to figure out which apps you'll use in the adjacent few hours, and which ones you won't employ until afterwards, if at all, that day. Based on your usage patterns, it places each app into one of the 5 App Standby Buckets: "Active," "Working set," "Frequent," "Rare," and "Never." Each of these buckets has its limitations regarding how much resources the apps it contains can use.

Related: How to extend your Android phone'southward battery life

Simply put, an app placed in the "Never" bucket is hardly ever used, which is why the organisation will limit its access to resource similar the CPU. This means it will apply less battery. On the other hand, apps in buckets like "Active" are the ones you use the well-nigh and volition become full access to the system's resources, then you can expect to get all your notifications on time.

The process is automatic and dynamic, which means the arrangement learns your usage pattern over time and moves the apps from one bucket to the other accordingly.

How to plough on Adaptive Bombardment:

Open the Settings app.
Select Bombardment.
Go into Adaptive preferences.
Toggle Adaptive Bombardment on.

Check what'southward draining your phone

Robert Triggs / Android Dominance

Battery

Since bombardment life is so of import, information technology's well monitored past your Android Os. To wait at the background apps guzzling power, go to Settings > Battery > Bombardment Usage. You lot'll get a list of what's draining your battery, and past how much. Depending on your device and software, the apps will exist split into either organisation or non-system apps or by hardware and software to make things fifty-fifty more accessible.

The more you use certain apps, the higher on the list they'll sit. Look out for any apps you don't recognize, or ones you don't utilize oft just withal use a pregnant corporeality of battery. Whatsoever app using over a few pct is worth looking into — saving 5% here or 4% in that location will add up. Anything that's a Google app or service is probably not something to worry about and is but a natural role of Android and Google's Services.

How to bank check which apps are using the most battery on Android:

Open the Settings app.
Get into Battery.
Select Battery usage.

RAM

Using Programmer options, you tin also check out which apps dominate your telephone's express memory, likewise known as RAM. It may be that an app is not using a lot of battery, but when you're simply working with 2GB of RAM and an app you lot're not using is taking up a few hundred MB, leaving you short on available memory.

How to check RAM usage:

Open the Settings app.
Go into Organization.
Tap on About telephone.
Scroll downwardly to the Build number and tap on it seven times to enable Programmer options.
You'll be asked to enter your PIN. Go ahead.
You're now a "Developer."
Get back to the primary Settings card.
Get into Organisation.
Select Programmer options.
Hit Running services.

Here you can view which processes are running, your used and available RAM, and which apps are using it. Again, some of these services are essential to keep your phone running. Information technology would be best if you were primarily looking for demanding apps you've downloaded.

Related: How much RAM does your telephone need?

Cease the app, kill it, or uninstall your background apps

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

Once you've constitute your culprit, you have to know what to practise next. Luckily, y'all accept a few options to choose from if you don't want to remove the app entirely.

Close a background app using Developer options:

Open up the Settings app.
Go into Arrangement.
Tap on About telephone.
Scroll down to the Build number and tap on it seven times to enable Developer options.
You'll be asked to enter your Pivot. Get ahead.
You're now a "Developer."
Become back to the main Settings menu.
Go into Organization.
Select Developer options.
Hit Running services.
Tap on the app you want to finish.
Hit Stop.
Select OK.

How to force stop or uninstall an app:

Open the Settings app.
Select Apps.
Become into See all apps.
Observe the app yous desire to strength finish and tap on information technology.
Select Force Finish.
Alternatively, you can hit Uninstall to get rid of it.

Limit problematic groundwork apps

greenify best battery saver apps for android

If you lot want to keep using an app that appears to take loftier need, you might be able to limit what it tin can do.

Some Samsung and Huawei phones include Bone options to manage groundwork apps. In Battery Settings, Huawei offers an App launch option, which allows you to identify specific apps, restrict launches, and target ability-saving measures. Samsung likewise offers a power-saving option to help manage apps.

If you don't have access to a proprietary congenital-in option, there are good apps that assist. The perennial favorite is Greenify, which offers fine controls over apps and places them in hibernation. If y'all have a rooted phone, you lot'll have even more control, but it works well with standard devices too.

One problem with apps similar this is that you have to introduce another app to monitor your device. In our pop post titled 13 tricks and hacks to speed upward Android, our ain Adam Sinicki noted that while background apps tin kill the battery, background app killers can also slow you downwards.

Booting an app from nada takes longer and uses more than bombardment than switching to ane that is paused. If you open up an app that requires more memory, Android will automatically kill the least important ones to free up space. Chore killers can actually terminate upwards slowing your device down.Adam Sinicki

FAQs

We can't give you a definitive list of apps that drain your phone the most, simply we can say that social media apps are common culprits. These might include Facebook, Messenger, Snapchat, and others. Of course, music and video streaming apps like Netflix, YouTube, and Spotify are other common culprits.

Apps running in the background is an of import feature in the Android ecosystem. This allows the phone to work backstage while you're doing other things. You can keep a page loading while you bank check Facebook, for example. Every bit such, this allows for improve multitasking.

It all depends on which apps are important to yous. If yous rely on Facebook for work, for example, stopping it from running in the background isn't a viable option. Additionally, stopping system apps from running in the background can affect performance and functionality.