Apps running in the background on your Android phone can drain battery life, slow down your device, and use up data without your knowledge. While some apps are designed to run in the background for important functions like notifications and updates, others can consume unnecessary resources, impacting performance. Luckily, there are ways to manage and stop apps from running in the background. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to prevent background apps on Android.

Why Stop Apps from Running in the Background?

Before diving into how to stop apps from running in the background, let’s understand why you might want to do so:

1. Save Battery Life: Apps using background processes can quickly drain your battery. By limiting their background activity, you can make your device last longer between charges.
2. Improve Performance: Background apps consume system resources like memory and processing power. Closing them can speed up your phone and make it more responsive.
3. Preserve Data: Some apps run background processes that use mobile data, even when you’re not actively using them. This can be especially important if you have a limited data plan.
4. Enhance Privacy: Certain apps might access personal information or location services in the background. Managing background activity can help protect your privacy.

How to Stop Apps from Running in the Background on Android

There are several methods to control background apps on Android. You can manually close apps, adjust settings, or use built-in features to limit their activity.

1. Close Apps Manually

The most basic way to stop apps from running in the background is to close them manually:

• Step 1: Open the Recent Apps screen by tapping the square icon (or swipe up and hold, depending on your device).
• Step 2: Browse through the apps that are currently open.
• Step 3: Swipe left or right, or tap the X or Close All button to remove apps from the list.

Keep in mind that some apps may restart automatically after being closed, especially if they are set to run background tasks.

2. Use Android’s Battery Settings

Android allows you to limit background activity for specific apps through the Battery settings:

• Step 1: Open the Settings app.
• Step 2: Go to Battery.
• Step 3: Tap on Battery Usage or Battery Optimization (depending on your Android version).
• Step 4: Select the app you want to limit.
• Step 5: Tap Optimize to prevent the app from running in the background.

You can do this for apps that you don’t need to constantly update or receive notifications from.

3. Limit Background Data Usage

You can prevent certain apps from using mobile data in the background. This will stop them from consuming your data when you’re not actively using the app:

• Step 1: Go to Settings.
• Step 2: Tap on Network & Internet.
• Step 3: Select Data Usage.
• Step 4: Tap on Mobile Data Usage or Data Saver.
• Step 5: Choose the app you want to restrict, and toggle off Background Data.

This ensures the app won’t use mobile data when it’s running in the background.

4. Disable Background Services

Some apps are designed to run certain services even when they’re not in use. For instance, messaging apps may keep the service active for notifications. You can manually stop these background services:

• Step 1: Open Settings.
• Step 2: Go to Apps or Applications.
• Step 3: Tap on the app you want to modify.
• Step 4: Tap Battery or Data (depending on your version of Android).
• Step 5: Enable Restrict Background Activity or turn off Background Services.

This will prevent the app from performing tasks in the background.

5. Use Developer Options for Advanced Control

If you want more control over background processes, you can use Developer Options:

• Step 1: Go to Settings, then scroll down and tap on About Phone.
• Step 2: Tap Build Number seven times to unlock Developer Options.
• Step 3: Go back to Settings and tap Developer Options.
• Step 4: Scroll down and enable Limit Background Processes to limit the number of processes running simultaneously.

This can help reduce the number of apps running in the background and free up system resources.

Conclusion

Managing apps running in the background on your Android device is crucial for better performance, battery life, and data usage. By following the methods above, you can ensure that only the apps you need are running, and unnecessary background processes are kept to a minimum. While some background apps are essential for notifications and updates, limiting unnecessary background activity is a simple way to keep your device running smoothly.fdo