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Not all apps on your Android device need to run in the background. If you’re experiencing lag or excessive battery drain, you can conserve resources by preventing unnecessary apps from running in the background on your phone.
How to Check Which Apps Are Running in the Background on Android
The Developer Options menu on Android provides access to various useful features and insights into your device’s functionality. A notable option within this menu isRunning services, which provides a list of apps operating in the background along with their corresponding RAM usage. Here’s how to access it:
Once you’ve activated developer mode, follow the steps below:
You can also navigate to the battery usage menu in Android to find out which apps are consuming the most battery. This information can help you make informed decisions about which apps should be stopped toextend your Android phone’s battery life.
To check the battery usage of apps, open theSettingsmenu and head toBattery. Apps using the most battery should appear at the top. Go through the list to find non-essential apps, noting them for the next steps.
How to Stop Android Apps From Running in the Background
There’s more than one way to stop apps from running in the background on your Android, depending on whether you prefer immediate intervention or more automated, adaptive solutions. We’ll go over a few distinct approaches to explore.
1. Force Stop Apps
If you want a specific app to stop working in the background until you open it, you can force-stop it using these steps:
Note that this option isn’t perfect, as some apps can start themselves automatically.
2. Restrict Battery Usage for Apps
On Android, you may restrict the battery usage of specific apps, preventing them from running unnecessarily in the background. To restrict battery usage for an app on your Android, follow these steps:
As noted in this menu, restricting apps can cause notifications not to show. Be careful to only use this for apps that don’t send you time-sensitive information.
3. Enable the Adaptive Battery Feature
The Adaptive Battery feature on Androiduses Google’s DeepMind AI to understand your usage patterns over time and restricts background activity for apps you don’t frequently use. This option is ideal if you don’t want to force-stop apps manually all the time or configure battery usage settings for each app individually. To enable it:
If this utility doesn’t do enough for you, you mightconsider a third-party app like Greenify to hibernate appsand prevent them from running in the background. However, note that many of these apps are no longer in active development, so you’re best off with Android’s built-in options.
While preventing apps from running in the background offers certain benefits, doing so has its fair share of downsides. One of the key drawbacks is the potential impact on real-time notifications. Additionally, apps that require constant syncing or refreshing of content may not function as effectively.
Furthermore, closing frequently used apps can lead to slower loading times and higher CPU power consumption. This iswhy we don’t recommend constantly closing apps on Android.
