How to allow apps to work in the background

Last reviewed: October 3, 2026 · Markdown version

Three places to check: the app's own battery setting in Android (set it to Unrestricted), on a Galaxy phone Samsung's Never sleeping apps list, and the "Pause app activity if unused" switch for apps you rarely open. This page is the how. The reasons Android holds background work back in the first place are on a page of their own, and we will not repeat them here.

1. The app's battery setting

Google's help for its own tablet gives the route most current Android versions follow: open Settings, tap Battery › Battery usage, find the app under "View by apps", tap it, then tap Allow background usage and pick one of two settings. "Unrestricted" will "Remove limits on how an app uses the battery when running in the background"; "Optimized" is "Recommended for most apps" (Check battery level and usage on your Pixel Tablet, read 3 October 2026).

The Pixel phone help reaches the same Allow background usage screen from the app's App battery usage entry, and is candid about the price: "If you turn off battery optimization for an app, that app can run more while you're not using it, even when Adaptive Battery is on. This can use more battery than needed." It also notes that "Battery optimization isn't available for some essential services", and that some of its steps "only work on Android 14 and up" (Keep Adaptive Battery & battery optimization on, read 3 October 2026). So do this for the one or two apps that genuinely need it, not for everything.

2. On older Android: the exemption list

Android's developer guide describes the older form of the same switch: "Users can manually configure the list of exempted apps in Settings > Battery > Battery Optimization." Worth knowing before you expect miracles: an exempt app "can use the network and hold partial wake locks during Doze and App Standby. However, other restrictions still apply to the app, just as they do to other apps" (Optimize for Doze and App Standby, read 3 October 2026). An exemption loosens the rules; it does not switch them off.

3. On a Galaxy: Never sleeping apps

Samsung adds its own layer on top of Android's. Its US guide puts it under Settings › Battery and device care › Battery › Background usage limits, with three lists. Deep sleeping apps "will never run in the background. They'll only work when you open them." Never sleeping apps are the opposite: "You can add apps that will never turn off or sleep in the background so you'll always be able to use them" — tap the + sign, choose the app, then Add. The same screen has a switch, "Put unused apps to sleep", that sends apps you have not opened in a while to sleep on its own (Sleeping apps on your Galaxy device, read 3 October 2026).

Menu names move between software versions. Samsung's Gulf page describes the lists under Battery › App power management instead, with the switch called "Unused apps to sleep automatically" (How to manage sleeping apps on a Galaxy phone, Samsung Gulf, read 3 October 2026). Neither Samsung page says whether Never sleeping overrides Android's own Unrestricted setting or works alongside it; they are silent on that, so on a Galaxy we would set both — and check the app is not sitting in the Deep sleeping list, which by Samsung's description is the one that blocks background work outright.

4. Apps you hardly ever open

An app built to do its work without being opened is exactly the kind Android eventually treats as unused. Google's help says that for apps you have not used for a long time, Android will "Stop unused apps from running in the background" and "Stop unused apps from sending notifications". To exempt one, go to App Info › Unused apps and turn off Pause app activity if unused (Manage unused apps on your Android device, read 3 October 2026).

Adinand Auto File Sorter and these switches

Background sorting is the Pro feature most affected by everything above. The app schedules it with Android's WorkManager at the interval you choose — every 15 minutes, every hour, every 6 hours or once a day — and it deliberately does not ask Android for a battery-optimisation exemption, so the settings on this page stay your decision. If the phone has been holding the job back, its health indicator turns that into something you can see, and its battery help sheet points to the right screens on phones from Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Realme and OnePlus. Even with every switch set, Android or the phone's maker can still delay or stop a scheduled run; a manual Sort Now is free and works whenever you open the app.