The concept of "background mode" is relevant for any smartphone, computer or laptop. But what constitutes this process and can it be controlled somehow?
You can argue about how technologies are developing rapidly. Today, almost all is tied to certain services: from communicating in social networks and buying a ticket to the cinema before paying utilities and fines. Many and at all the smartphone is a tool for work.
Another 10-20 years ago, we could not take advantage of all the advantages that now offers a modern mobile phone with access to the Internet. Thanks to this, various actions (sharing files or information, shopping, etc.), requiring earlier efforts, become much easier. It is enough to press a pair of buttons in the application interface - and ready.
But any development of services and technologies as a whole requires the same from the devices that we use every day. And yet, what is the background mode in the phone on Android?
What is the background mode
holders of inexpensive or already irrelevant Android-based smartphones with time can notice the aging of their device, What is accompanied by an accelerated battery charge flow or the appearance of "lags". This is because the processor (heart and brain of any phone) begins not to cope with the loads elevated on it.
In order for us to appreciate the whole charm of the time in which we live, a bunch of applications on the device works even when we do not run them. Due to this, they can send us various reminders of unfulfilled affairs, assigned meetings, or notify about the release of a new series of beloved talk show. Convenient, isn't it?
The problem is that for the operation of these notifications of the application should work even when we do not run them (that is, is always ), and on the screen of the smartphone Only the desktop screensaver can be seen. Thanks to this, they can exchange any data with their servers and load the information that we need.
For example, if in any mail service to activate the "Enable Notifications" function, the application will wait for new letters every second, regardless of whether it is opened on the device at the moment. And as soon as the new message appears in the box, a special trigger will work in the system (event), which will make the program output the appropriate notification.
Thus, the background process on Android is the activity of applications and system resources at a time when the phone is inactive.
Working in the background - good or bad?
As you already probably understood, and other services (browser, applications of social networks, etc.) that send you various notifications, Work on the same principle: wakefulness 24/7. Because of this, the processor is loaded, as well as the consumption of battery resources and is an extra consumption of RAM.
Yes, between active (manual opening of the application) and the background modes ("hidden", invisible activity) there is a big difference, but for weak or already obsolete smartphones work in the background is harmful, especially if The system has a huge number of programs.
In any case, given the modern realities, the background mode opens up additional opportunities for almost any program, so it makes sense to make sense only to users who are constantly complaining of "brakes" and "lags". The restriction of this process will help save a lot of resources, reducing the battery consumption, memory, and even Internet traffic.
Why is this good:
- data synchronization. Used to remote access to documents and other files on any devices, for example, in cloud storage or browsers.
- Backup. Some services use background mode to save the data important for your user. For example, WhatsApp sometimes launches this process with a certain periodicity (once a week, month, etc.). Thanks to this, messages, contacts, media files and other content in the case of which will not be lost.
- Advanced functionality. With the help of notifications and status bar, many applications allow you to make important actions without launching.
- Conveniently. Any reminders and useful news alerts for programs that are allowed background mode will come on time.
Why it is bad:
- Negative influence on the system. The work in the background badly affects the battery life (smartphone is faster) and speed. In some cases, this influence is absolutely unnoticed, in others - one of the main problems of the appearance of "lags".
Foundation Mode Management
In addition to services, whose background activity can still be It is justified and is useful for the user, there are useless programs that also love to do their affairs in the "hidden" order. The benefit of modern android versions are already equipped with the necessary tools that can resist this.
Prohibition of background activity for applications
Step 1. Open the settings on your smartphone.
Step 2. Go to the "Applications and Notifications" tab and press the button "Show all applications".
Step 3. From the list, select any program, the background mode for which you want to disable.
Step 4. Press "Advanced" and open the "Battery" section.
Step 5. Select a string "Work in the background" and click on it, after which you confirm the action with the button "limit".
for clarity, in the screenshots above it can be noted that some services can significantly work in background. In Telegram, for example, the active mode was 1 hour and 48 minutes, while the background - as many as 2 hours 30 minutes.
restriction of network connections
in case you are worried about the consumption of online traffic, then you can put a ban on Unlimited data consumption. This, at a minimum, should help save on spending for mobile communications.
Step 1. Open the settings menu.
Step 2. Select "Applications and Notifications".
Step 3 Expand additional functions by clicking on Advanced, then go to tab "Special Access".
Step 4. Select "Unrestricted Data Access" from the list of functions.
Step 5 Set the sliders to inactive for all apps except "Google Play Services", "Carrier Services" and other system services.
Disable autorun [ROOT]
There is a more efficient and multifunctional way for Android smartphone owners with obtained root access (root-rights) dealing with the background. There are many useful utilities in this regard, and one of them is Autostarts.
After starting, the program will try to access the superuser account. A list of so-called events will appear on the screen that trigger the launch of an application. For example, the "Card removed" event means an action in which we remove the memory card from the device. It can be associated with the VLC player, which will launch at that moment to update the library (exclude from the list of available songs those stored on the SD Card).
For each event, you can see which programs are dependent on it and run if it occurs. In turn, Google Keep, Any. Do and other services that “wake up” when they need to notify the user about a scheduled task or meeting can be attached to the “Event Reminder” action.
By the way, if you try to install it on a non-rooted device, it will be impossible to disable even third-party applications from working in the background, and Autostarts will display an error message. Of the other system requirements, there is only one: Android version 5.0 and higher.
Disable sync
One last thing to do to completely protect your smartphone from background processes (at least as much as possible on basic systems without root access) - disable automatic synchronization.
We described in detail how to do this in our other article, which is available at this link.
