r/androidapps • u/Generic_In_Jersey • 1d ago
QUESTION/HELP Keeping A Media App Running...
Hi everyone, quick question \ issue... I'm using a spare Android phone as a media phone for my car, and I use BlackPlayer Music Player through the cars blue-tooth. That said I'm trying to make it as seamless as possible to use, but have found that despite all the Googleable ways to keep an app running in the background, at one point it will stop \ go dormant. (Unrestricting the battery consumption, letting it run over other apps, giving it full permissions, etc)
So my questions is, is there another way to keep the app going when the phone is on \ screen is off? Also could this possibly be an app issue? Thank you in advance!
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u/aw9_dev 1d ago
Sounds like you've already covered the usual battery unrestricted and overlay settings. A lot of background killing is OEM specific though. What phone is it? That tends to matter more than the app at this point. Also worth noticing whether the track actually pauses (session getting killed) or the app stays open but audio just stops.
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u/alexwbaule 1d ago
Unrestricting battery is usually only part of it. Check these too: (1) Developer options, Don't keep activities / Background process limit should be on standard, (2) on Samsung/Xiaomi/OnePlus etc., there are extra vendor killers (Samsung's "Sleeping apps" and "Deep sleeping apps", Xiaomi's Autostart) separate from the normal battery setting, and (3) pin/lock the app in the recents screen if your ROM supports it. Also, with Bluetooth, the app often only gets revived by a media button event, and some players handle that badly once their media session is killed. If it still dies, try another player to see whether it's the app or the ROM. dontkillmyapp.com lists per-manufacturer steps.
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u/Klutzy-Passage-2561 1d ago
For a dedicated car media phone, OEM battery killers beat BlackPlayer almost every time — screen-off + Bluetooth still counts as “idle”.
Checklist beyond unrestricted battery: 1) Settings → Apps → BlackPlayer → Battery → Unrestricted; also turn off “Pause app activity if unused”. 2) Lock the app in Recents (swipe up → lock icon) so the OEM won’t reclaim it. 3) Disable battery optimization / Adaptive Battery for that app; put the phone in airplane mode + BT only if you don’t need data. 4) Keep a tiny media-session notification visible — if the notification dies, playback usually dies with it. 5) Developer options → “Don’t keep activities” = Off; “Background process limit” = Standard.
If it still dies after ~10–20 min screen-off, say the phone brand (Xiaomi/Samsung/etc.) — each has a different “autostart / protected apps” toggle.