How to protect AdGuard from being disabled by the system

In some cases, apps won't stay in the background ("alive" or in a sleep mode) due to Android OS optimization function, or so called "battery save mode" — this function can kill background applications. It may be inconvenient to relaunch them each time they are getting closed. To avoid the background app termination you need to follow these steps which we described separately for each manufacturer (version) of Android OS. Note that instructions for different manufacturers are mostly very similar.

List of manufacturers with different versions of Android OS:

Asus

Information on Asus devices is still far from being exhaustive so there may be more issues than listed here. We're going to update this part of the article when we know more.

Go to Settings - Power Manager - Mobile Manager - Settings - Battery-saving options - Auto-start nanager - AdGuard - uncheck.

Xiaomi

MIUI 10-11

To let your app run successfully in the background, configure settings as follows:

  • Settings > Battery & performance > switch-off Battery saver function
  • Then open App battery saver settings > AdGuard > No restrictions

Power management

Please enable:

  • Settings > Advanced Settings > Battery manager > set Power plan to Performance
  • Device Settings > Advanced Settings > Battery Manager > Protected apps – your app needs to be Protected
  • Device Settings > Apps > your app > Battery > Power-intensive prompt and Keep running after screen off
  • Settings > Additional Settings > Battery & Performance > Manage apps’ battery usage and here:
  1. Switch Power Saving Modes to Off
  2. Choose the following options: Saving Power in The Background > Choose apps > Select your app > Background Settings > No restrictions

App battery saver

Security > Battery > App Battery Saver > AdGuard > No restriction

App pinning

To set up AdGuard's background work for Xiaomi devices you should pay attention to Battery and Permissions.

  • Tap on the Recent tasks button and swipe AdGuard down to make options visible (as shown on the screenshot):
  • Tap on the lock icon. This will stop Xiaomi from closing AdGuard automatically. It should look like this:

  • Go to "Battery"

  • Select "battery saver" app

  • Find and select AdGuard

  • Set up the following "Background settings":

  • Go to "Permissions"

  • Select "Autostart"

  • Make sure that autostart function is enabled for AdGuard:

Samsung

Galaxy S9 / S10

Battery optimization is turned on by default. At some unclear moments (maybe on app update, OS update?), the settings also do revert back to the defaults, forcing you to turn them off again and again.

Sleeping apps

Sleeping apps menu is the sniper’s nest for Samsung’s app killing policies. Make sure to follow the instructions very carefully to prevent the apps from being killed.

Checklist:

  • Disable Put unused apps to sleep
  • Disable Auto-disable unused apps
  • Remove your app from the list of sleeping apps
  • Disable background restrictions for your app
  1. Start Device care from phone settings
  1. Tap Battery
  1. Tap the 3-dot menu > Settings
  1. Disable all toggles (except Notifications)
  2. Tap Sleeping apps
  1. Wake up all the apps using the trashcan icon

Note: Make sure that Put unused apps to sleep and Auto-disable unused apps is disabled. Otherwise Samsung will put your apps back to sleep after a few days (3 by default) even if you have woken them up manually!

Old Samsung devices

For early Samsung devices, there is no huge need for setting up the background work, but if in your case the application is getting closed or disappears from the recent tasks after a while, do the following:

  • Tap on the Recent tasks button, tap on the Additional settings icon. It should look like this:

  • Tap on Lock Apps:

    • Tap on the lock icon

    Huawei

App Launch on some EMUI 8, 9 and 10 devices (Huawei P20, Huawei P20 Lite, Huawei Mate 10…)

  • Phone settings > Battery > App launch and then set your app to “Manage manually” and make sure everything is turned on.
  1. Phone settings > Battery > App launch. This feature may or may not be available for all devices or labeled differently.
    1. Turn off “Manage all automatically"
  1. Make sure to ENABLE all toggles.

Also for reliable background processes you may need to uninstall PowerGenie as detailed below.

EMUI 9+ devices

Note: On some phones with EMUI 9+ (Android P+) Huawei introduced a new task killer app called PowerGenie which forces to quit all apps not whitelisted by Huawei and does not give users any configuration options. See below how to uninstall it.

Huawei is extremely inventive in breaking apps on their devices. In addition to all the non-standard power management measures described below, they introduced a new task killer app build right into EMUI 9 on Android Pie.

It is called PowerGenie and it kills all apps that are not on its whitelist. You cannot add custom apps on their pre-defined whitelist. This means there is no other way to fix proper app functionality on Huawei than uninstalling PowerGenie.

Unfortunately, this is a system app that can only be fully uninstalled using ADB (Android Debug Bridge) Source: XDA.

You need to:

1) Install ADB on your computer;

2) Connect your phone with a data cable;

3) Enable Developer options;

4) Enable USB debugging within Developer options on your phone;

5) Run the following commands on your computer:

adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.powergenie

We did not yet have this confirmed but it is possible you can alternatively just disable PowerGenie in Phone settings > Apps. This setting would need to be re-applied every time you reboot your device.

Please still follow the steps below - Huawei phones usually have multiple powersaving mechanisms.
Also, you may not have PowerGenie on your phone, but your apps may still get killed by another mechanism.

EMUI 6+ devices (and some EMUI 5 devices):

  • Phone settings > Advanced Settings > Battery manager > Power plan set to Performance;
  • Phone Settings > Advanced Settings > Battery Manager > Protected apps – set your app as Protected;
  • Phone Settings > Apps > Your app > Battery > Power-intensive prompt [uncheck] and Keep running after screen off [check];
  • Phone settings > Apps > Advanced (At the bottom) > Ignore optimisations > Press Allowed > All apps > Find your app on the list and set to Allow.

Huawei P9 Plus:

Open device settings > Apps > Settings > Special access > choose Ignore battery optimization > select Allow for your app.

Huawei P20, Huawei Honor 9 Lite and Huawei Mate 9 Pro:

Open device settings > Battery > App launch > then set your app to Manage manually and make sure everything is turned on.

Huawei P20, Huawei P20 Lite, Huawei Mate 10:

Phone settings > Battery > App launch and then set your app to “Manage manually” and make sure everything is turned on. Also for reliable background processes you may need to uninstall PowerGenie as described above.

Early Huawei

Old Huawei devices are the easiest to set up, it is enough to perform two simple steps to lock the application in the background so it won't be terminated by battery saving or background killer process.

  • Tap on the Recent tasks button:

  • Tap on the lock icon:

Besides, to set up the background work of your app more effectively, you should open device settings and do the following:

  • Go to Advanced Settings > then open Battery Manager > Set Power plan to "Performance";
  • Then choose Protected apps in the Battery Manager and check if your app is Protected;
  • Go to Apps in the main settings and click on AdGuard there > choose Battery > enable Power-intensive prompt and Keep running after screen is off;
  • Then in the Apps section open Settings (at the bottom) > Special access > choose Ignore battery optimization > press Allowed > All apps > find AdGuard on the list and set it to Deny.

Meizu

Meizu has almost the same approach to the background process limitations as Huawei and Xiaomi. So you can avoid disabling the background work of AdGuard and any other app by adjusting the following settings:

  • Go to Advanced Settings > then open Battery Manager > set Power plan to "Performance";
  • Then choose Protected apps in the Battery Manager and check if your app is Protected;
  • Go to Apps section and click on AdGuard there > choose Battery > enable Power-intensive prompt and Keep running after screen is off;

Nokia

Nokia on Android O and P disables any background process after 20 minutes if the screen is off.

Here is what you need to do in order to prevent killing the background process of your app:

  • Go to device settings > open Apps > choose See all apps;
  • Then tap on the right top corner menu > choose Show system;
  • Find Power saver in the app list, select it and tap on Force stop. It will remain stopped until the next restart.

From now on, background apps are supposed to work smoothly and use the standard Android battery optimizations.

There is an alternative solution for background work optimization which is more appropriate for advanced users. You will find the instructions below.

Nokia 1 (Android Go)

  • Uninstall the com.evenwell.emm package via the following adb commands:

adb shell
pm uninstall --user 0 com.evenwell.emm

Other Nokia models

  • Uninstall the com.evenwell.powersaving.g3 package via the following adb commands:

adb shell
pm uninstall --user 0 com.evenwell.powersaving.g3

Oppo

Sometimes background services are being killed (including accessibility services, which then need re-enabling) every time you turn the screen off. So far, a workaround for this is:

Go to “Security Centre” - tap on "Privacy Permissions" - "Startup manager" and allow AdGuard app to run in background.

Other solutions:

  • Pin your app to the recent apps screen
  • Enable your app in the app list inside the security app’s “startup manager” and “floating app list” (com.coloros.safecenter / com.coloros.safecenter.permission.Permission)
  • Turn off battery optimizations

Oneplus

Devices with OxygenOS on board are the most problematic, with its OS-sepcific cache cleaning and free RAM, including OS optimization. In addition, OxygenOS can interrupt the application's work if you do not use it for a while. To avoid these unwanted consequences, follow these steps:

  • Go to Settings

  • Battery - Battery optimization

  • Find the app you want to keep awake all the time

  • Tap on it and select "Don't optimize" option

  • Tap "Done" to save

  • Open recent apps menu (as showed on this screenshot):

  • Lock AdGuard application:

On some OnePlus phones there is also a thing called App Auto-Launch and Deep Optimisation which essentially prevents apps from working in the background. Please disable it for your app.

And here is one more thing to try:

  • Open device settings > Battery > Battery optimization > switch to the All apps list (top menu) > choose your app > activate Don’t optimize

  • Open device settings > Battery > Battery Optimisation > three dots > Advanced Optimisation > Disable Deep Optimisation

Sony

Sony was the first mobile OS developer to introduce non-standard background process optimization and opened Pandora’s box. It is called Stamina mode and it instantly breaks all background processes and all alarms if enabled.

Solution:

Go to Settings - Battery - Three dots in the top right corner - Battery optimisation - Apps - AdGuard - uncheck

Wiko

Wiko devices are definitely problematic in terms of non-standard background process optimizations and adjustments to the settings that need to be done to make apps work properly.

Solution:

  • Go to Phone Assistant - Battery - turn off Eco Mode
  • Go back and go to Manual mode
  • Tap on the Gear icon on top right - Background apps whitelist > Select AdGuard

Android stock devices Pixel/Nexus/Essential

Android stock OS normally does not conflict with applications working in the background, but if you are facing any issues you will need to switch on the "Always on VPN" mode.

  • Go to Settings - Network and Internet

  • Tap on "VPN" and choose AdGuard

  • Set up "Always on VPN" mode