How to enable Don't Kill My App on Samsung

Select the version of Android your Samsung device is running below.

Not sure which version you're running? You can find out by opening Settings > About Phone > Software Information

Android 11
Android Pie and 10
Android Oreo and Nougat
Android Marshmallow and older

Android 11

On Android 11, Samsung will prevent apps from working in the background by default unless you exclude an app from battery optimizations.

This is a severe divergence from standard Android process management policies. and developers, such as MileIQ, cannot ask for this to be set automatically as we risk being kicked out from Play Store for policy violations.

Battery optimization

To keep MileIQ working properly make sure you check:
Settings -> Apps -> MileIQ -> Battery -> Optimize Battery Usage -> All apps (instead of Apps not optimized) -> MileIQ -> Slider to the left.

Find MileIQ and switch off the battery optimization

Lists of Sleeping apps, Unused apps, Deep sleeping apps, Never sleeping apps

1. Open Battery > Background usage limits.

Warning: Make sure Put unused apps to sleep 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!

Android Pie and 10

Battery optimizations are turned on by default. It is possible that any app you excluded from these restrictions might get reverted after an OS update or reboot.

By default any app which is not started in 3 days is put to sleep and background tasks including alarms will stop working.

Put unused apps to sleep

Phone settings -> Device care -> Tap on the Battery item -> (⁝) 3-dot menu > Settings
Uncheck MileIQ from this list.

Auto-disable unused apps

Phone settings -> Device care -> Tap on the Battery item -> (⁝) 3-dot menu > Settings
Uncheck MileIQ from this list.

Background restrictions

Check that Phone settings -> Apps -> Sleep as Android -> Battery -> Background restriction state as App can use battery in background for MileIQ in order for it to run in the background.

Sleeping apps

Make sure to follow the instructions very carefully to prevent the apps from being killed.

1. Start **Device care** from phone settings

4. Disable all toggles (except Notifications)

6. Ensure MileIQ is not listed. If so, wake up the apps by tapping the trashcan icon

Sleeping apps (cont.)

On some phones, the layout may differ:

4. Disable the option **Put unused apps to Sleep** .

5. Remove MileIQ from the lists in **Sleeping apps** and **Deep sleeping apps**.

6. Add MileIQ to the list in **Apps that won't be put to sleep**.

Warning: Make sure 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!

Android Oreo and Nougat 8 + 7

With the introduction of their flagship Galaxy S8 (and with some earlier experiments), Samsung has introduced an attempt at prolonging battery life called App power monitor.

App power monitor

App power monitor can be turned off completely, or you can manage the apps individually.
For MileIQ to work correctly in the background, you need to whitelist it in App power monitor and add the app to Unmonitored apps:

Open the Settings -> Device maintenance -> Battery, and at the bottom you’ll see a list of your most frequently used apps.

Apps that are sleeping will appear in the Sleeping apps list at the bottom (tap it to expand the list).
List of Unmonitored apps is at the very bottom (longer scrolling is needed) - these are apps that you specifically want to exclude (whitelist) from App power monitor evil reach.
When inside the Unmonitored apps menu, you can tap the 3-dot menu to add MileIQ to the list.

Android Marshmallow and below

On older Samsung phones, the path may look like this:
Phone settings > Applications > select three dot menu (top right corner) > Special Access > Optimize Battery usage > Find your app on the list and make sure that it is not selected.