Why
You may not be aware of that, but Android will kill apps if it thinks they consume a lot of battery. To be able to even run in background, apps have to launch a so called “background service”. Without it, you would not be able to listen to music or have TTS read a book to you, unless the application was open. As soon as you put it in background, Android starts a countdown until it kills power to the app, to save battery. And it still happens even for apps that use a background service, only it is according to more relaxed rules.
That’s a good thing. Malicious apps cannot use your phone until you run out of battery to do something you are not even aware of. But that cuts both ways. Even the apps you do want to run in background, for example to read a book to you, are constrained by the same rules. Android knows of some popular apps, like for example Spotify, that needs to run in background uninterrupted, but for less known apps, like Evie, you have to change the configuration yourself. And the good news is that Android will allow you.
The configuration changes with each Android release, and we cannot keep track of older releases, but these are the Android 16 features that control if an app can run properly in background.
How
- Data access while in background
Where to find it:- Long-press the Evie app icon on your home screen or app drawer and tap the “Info” icon (or App Info).
- Tap on Mobile data & Wi-Fi.
- Turn on the toggle next to Background data.
- Optionally, turn on Unrestricted data usage so the app keeps working even when you are using Data Saver mode.
- Use battery while in background
Where to find it:- Long-press the Evie app icon and tap App Info (the “i” icon).
- Scroll down and tap on App battery usage (on some devices, just Battery).
- Change the setting from Optimized to Unrestricted.
- Stay open until the user explicitly closes the app
Where to find it:- Open your Recent Apps overview screen.
- Swipe until you see the Evie window.
- Tap the Evie app icon at the very top of its preview window.
- Select Lock this app (or Keep open) from the menu that pops up.
A little padlock icon will appear next to the app, meaning Android won’t close it until you swipe it away yourself.
In our real-life tests, when using Evie a few hours per day to listen to a book, we found it consumes around 1-3% of the battery, so you can safely follow the above steps, without worrying about your battery.
Also, be aware that Android Speech Engines like Google Speech Services or Samsung TTS are android apps too. Your phone may allow Evie to run in background, and still cut power to the Speech Engine. Follow the same steps for the Speech Engine as well.
This website may have additional tips and tricks for your phone: Don’t Kill My App
Evie 