On many Android smartphones and tablets, the screen turns off after 30 seconds of user inactivity. As a rule, this is the best option in which you can comfortably use the device and save its battery power. But there are times when you need to disable sleep mode while an application is running. Since this cannot be done using standard Android tools, we will tell you how to implement this in other ways.
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Why does my phone screen turn off?
If you want to know how to make your Android phone or tablet's screen stay on longer, you're not alone. Luckily, this is very easy to do and only takes a few clicks.
The mode when the phone screen turns off is called “sleep”. It usually turns on 30 seconds after the last action. For many users this is enough, but, for example, if you read a lot on your phone, the time may not be enough. Or, for example, you are preparing food according to a recipe found on your tablet - you won’t constantly press the screen with your flour-covered hands so that it doesn’t turn off?
Method 2. Applications
This application in the Russian-language Google Play is known as “Never-fading Screen”.
A small utility with a nice design has one single function - to prevent the device from going into sleep mode while selected applications are running. To activate it, simply launch Keep Screen On and select the necessary applications during which you want to keep the screen always on. The utility can work with all programs installed on the device, including system services. The advantage of Keep Screen On is its ease of use and the fact that the application is completely free and does not contain advertising. Another free, but more functional application called Stay Alive!, which can also manage screen timeout. The utility allows you to set rules for turning off the screen not only for selected applications, but also for those programs and system services that have not been selected. At the same time, Stay Alive! does not have any filters or additional options for applications and shows all software components installed on the device in a general list. And if you have, for example, 100+ applications installed, then it is better to use the search. A special feature of the utility is that it allows you to keep the screen on, even when a specific program is not running, but is running in the background.
Stay Alive! has several operating modes:
- active mode while charging the device;
- active mode during charging and when running on battery power;
- pause mode (inactive mode);
- automatic mode with rules for selected applications.
They are switched using a small panel that is hidden behind the curtain.
We have to admit, Stay Alive! fulfills its main task with 5+. The application does not simply prevent the device from going into sleep mode, but offers individual settings for various conditions. For example, you can prevent the screen from turning off when charging, when connected to a car dock, or completely disable the screen timeout. In addition, Stay Alive! can pause when the battery charge reaches a specified percentage. Among the additional features there is a very useful option “Allow the screen to dim”, which allows you to dim the screen, but not turn it off completely.
The only drawback of Stay Alive! - These are paid functions, the most important of which is application autoloading. So, if you are using the free version, you will have to manually launch the utility every time you turn on/reboot the device.
How do you set the screen timeout on your mobile device? And have you ever had to prevent the screen from turning off in certain programs?
How to prevent the screen from turning off when charging
Is hibernation not enough for your purposes? On Android, you can turn off the mode in which the screen will not turn off while charging. In this mode, you can use your phone as a night light.
To activate this mode, you need to go to Settings > For developers (if there is no such item, look for “How to enter developer mode on Android”) and check the “Keep the screen on” checkbox.
Now, when connected to a charger, the Android device's screen will be always on (but can also be turned off by pressing the power button).
Method 1. Xposed module
This method requires ROOT rights on the device and the special Xposed Framework runtime installed. The module that we need to connect to the Xposed Framework is called Stay Awake – Keep On Screen . It makes it easy to disable screen lock on specific apps and return to previous screen timeout settings.
How to download and install Stay Awake – Keep On Screen:
- Launch the Xposed Installer application and select the "Download" section.
- Use the search to find the Stay Awake – Keep On Screen module.
- On the module page, go to the "Versions" tab and download its latest version.
- Install the module and reboot the device.
- Launch Xposed Installer again and go to the “Modules” section. Make sure you have activated the module by checking the box next to Stay Awake – Keep On Screen.
- Reboot your device.
After all these steps, you can use the enable/disable sleep mode feature at the system level for each application. It works very simply. To prevent the screen from turning off, simply hold down both volume buttons in any active application. You will see the message “Stay Awake Enable” - this means that the screen in the current application will be turned on permanently.
Using this module is convenient because it remembers in which applications you have disabled the screen timeout, and you can return everything back at any time by simply pressing the volume buttons. This function works even at the level of the native launcher.
How to prevent Xiaomi phone screen from turning off
On phones running the MiUI system, there is no sleep mode setting in the “Screen” section. But on Xiaomi phones you can also make sure that the screen does not turn off.
To do this, go to settings, in the System and device , select Lock and protection:
Under Lock screen, select Sleep mode :
In the dialog box that opens, select the time after which the phone screen should go dark:
How to keep the screen from turning off on any Android phone
If your phone does not have screen sleep settings or the time offered by the manufacturer is not enough, you can install the No screen off application. This application is available on Play Market. It does not support the Russian language and has not been updated for a long time, but it continues to work properly (and does not contain advertising!)
The application works very simply - when launched, it disables the sleep timer (that is, the phone screen will remain on until the battery runs out or until you turn it off). When you click on the application icon again (or when you click on the sun icon in the curtain), the sleep timer is turned on (the value you set in the settings is returned). Here's a demo of the application in action:
How to disable screen timeout using third-party software
I think it’s not worth going into too much detail about why the “Sleep mode” function is needed, or turning off the screen after a certain period of time (timeout from English - timeout). It is clear that if the smartphone is constantly in active mode, then the battery charge will begin to tend to zero too quickly.
In this case, the problem can be easily solved using special utilities.
Hold Screen On Demo
This program will not let the screen go dark while you are looking at it. Using the front camera, Hold Screen ON captures your gaze and prevents your smartphone from falling asleep. When you stop looking at the screen, it fades and, accordingly, resource consumption stops.
It is possible to bind the operation of the utility to a specific application, and then the phone screen will not go dark, identifying your eyes in this application, however, if your camera works in another application, the program will have to wait until it is free.
Owners of the Samsung Galaxy S3 use this function without installing the utility, since this model has it by default, and if you have a simpler device, then you just need to:
KeepScreen (now free)
Another good application that does a great job of disabling timeout. Unlike the previous one, Keep Screen controls the position of the device using a built-in gyroscope. Therefore, when you hold your gadget in your hands, the utility, taking into account its angle of inclination relative to the horizontal axis, will prevent the screen from going dark.
In addition, there is also the ability to block the screen from turning off on your Android device for selected applications. To do this, after specifying the desired program, click “ Start/stop service ”, and on the phone, in the screen blanking sensor (see the first screenshot), set the interval to 30 seconds.
Keep Screen takes care of your smartphone’s resources and works in the background; to do this, click “ On ”, and then “ Save and restart app ”.
Important! If you turn off (lock) the device using the power button while the program is running, then after thirty seconds the screen will turn on and will not go off. Therefore, before locking the gadget with the power button, you need to close the application or simply return to the main desktop.
We have nothing more to add on today’s topic, and, of course, you can judge how useful the information presented was. Good luck!
