# What is Doze mode on Android? — Adinand Auto File Sorter Last reviewed: October 15, 2026. HTML version: https://adinandsorter.com/answers/what-is-doze-mode-on-android **Doze is the state an Android phone drops into when it has been left unplugged, still, and with the screen off for a while. In it, apps lose network access and their scheduled work waits; every so often the phone opens a short window to let the queue run, and the moment you pick it up, everything goes back to normal.** It has applied to every app since Android 6.0. Google's developer guide says Doze and App Standby "manage the behavior of all apps running on Android 6.0 or higher, regardless of whether they are specifically targeting API level 23" ([*Optimize for Doze and App Standby*, Android Developers](https://developer.android.com/training/monitoring-device-state/doze-standby), read 15 October 2026). This page is the definition. How to give one app more freedom is on [a separate page](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/allow-apps-to-work-in-background). ## What puts a phone into Doze, and what takes it out

Three conditions together, in Google's words: "If a user leaves a device unplugged and stationary for a period of time, with the screen off, the device enters Doze mode." The exit is just as specific: "When the user wakes the device by moving it, turning on the screen, or connecting a charger, the system exits Doze and all apps resume normal activity." The guide gives no number of minutes for "a period of time"; it is silent on how long the wait is ([*Optimize for Doze and App Standby*](https://developer.android.com/training/monitoring-device-state/doze-standby), read 15 October 2026).

## What it holds back

The guide lists the restrictions an app meets while the phone is in Doze:

Two things get through. Alarms an app sets with `setAlarmClock()` "continue to fire normally", and a high-priority message from Firebase Cloud Messaging can wake an app long enough to show a notification ([*Optimize for Doze and App Standby*](https://developer.android.com/training/monitoring-device-state/doze-standby), read 15 October 2026). That is why your alarm clock rings and a chat message still arrives on a phone that has sat untouched all night.

## Maintenance windows, and why they spread out

Doze is a queue, not a cancellation. "Periodically, the system exits Doze for a brief time to let apps complete their deferred activities", and in that window it "runs all pending syncs, jobs, and alarms". The windows do not stay evenly spaced: "Over time, the system schedules maintenance windows less frequently", which saves the most battery on a phone left alone the longest (same page). In practice, work due in the small hours of an untouched night can wait well past its time, and the guide gives no figure for how long.

## Can you turn Doze off?

Not as a switch that we can find documented. Google's Doze guide describes no user setting that disables Doze itself, and the Pixel help page on battery settings is silent on Doze by name. What that Pixel page does describe is the per-app setting under an app's **App battery usage › Allow background usage**, where it tells you to tap "Optimized", and it says these settings "are on by default" ([*Keep Adaptive Battery & battery optimization on*, Pixel Phone Help](https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/7015477?hl=en), read 15 October 2026). Taking an app off optimisation loosens Doze for it without lifting it: the developer guide says such an app "can use the network and hold partial wake locks during Doze and App Standby. However, other restrictions still apply" (the Android Developers page above). The steps, including Samsung's own sleeping-apps lists, are on [the background page](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/allow-apps-to-work-in-background).

For developers, the same guide gives a way to force it for testing, with a debugging connection to a computer: `adb shell dumpsys deviceidle force-idle` to enter, `adb shell dumpsys deviceidle unforce` to leave.

## Doze and App Standby are different brakes

Doze is about the phone: it starts when the whole device is idle. App Standby is about one app: Google says it "defers background network activity for apps with no recent user activity" (same page). How Android grades apps for that second brake is on [the standby buckets page](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/android-app-standby-buckets).

## What Doze means for Adinand Auto File Sorter

The app's background sorting, a Pro feature, is scheduled with WorkManager, so it is exactly the kind of work Doze holds back. On a phone left on a desk overnight, a run waits for a maintenance window or for you to pick the phone up. The interval you choose, from every 15 minutes to once a day, is a request, not a promise. The app takes no wake lock and does not ask for a battery-optimisation exemption. When the system has not let the job run, its health indicator says so. Sort Now, which is free, sorts straight away whenever the app is open.

Related: [How to allow apps to work in the background](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/allow-apps-to-work-in-background) · [Android app standby buckets, explained](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/android-app-standby-buckets) · [Why background apps stop on Android](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/why-background-apps-stop-on-android)