How to correctly setup your device for background track recording

Recent Android versions optimise the usage of resources and sensors (including the GPS chip) to preserve the battery level as much as possible.

In order to continuously record a track while the application is not displayed on the foreground or when the screen is turned off, you may need to correctly configure your device and disable some battery optimisations.

In addition to the simple yet powerful optimisations available on a “pure” Android (also called “stock” or “AOSP” Android), some brands add their own optimisation tools, often difficult to setup or broken, usually to compensate the poor quality of their battery and other components.

On a pure Android version, there are only a few settings you need to pay attention to:

The battery saver will disable the GPS and other sensor after the screen is turned off for some time. To disable it, open the Android system settings and:

• Tap the “Battery” section;
• Tap “Battery Saver” ;
• Ensure “Use Battery Saver” is disabled.

Those optimisations prevent a particular application to use the GPS when it's not displayed in the foreground or when the screen is turned off. To turn them off, open the Android system settings and:

• Tap the “Apps” section;
• Tap “AlpineQuest Off-Road Explorer” ;
• Tap “App battery usage” ;

• Tap “Allow background usage” ;
• Turn on “Allow background usage” ;
• Select “Unrestricted” .

In same cases (system bug), you may need to disable then enable back the “Allow background usage” and “Unrestricted” options to correctly set the new settings to the application.
If you don't want that the system resets the permissions of the application after not being used for some time, disable “Manage app if unused” in the application settings.

The application does request this permission when you first activate the real-time positioning on the map using the GPS. In case you didn't grant the application at that time, you can do it by opening the Android system settings, and go in the settings section of the application (see above). Then:

• Tap “Permissions” section;
• Select the “Location” permission;
• Select “Allow only while using the app” ;
• Turn on “Use precise location” .

The application only needs to use the GPS after you manually start it and turn on the track recorder. Even if you close the main map view or turn off the screen, the track recorded is still running and the system still consider you as “using the app”.
The location permission “Allow all the time” is only needed by applications that start by themselves and want to know your exact GPS location, without you making a single action (like an e-mail or instant messaging application that regularly starts and checks new messages without any action from you). You should avoid installing applications that request this type of location permission.

Exact steps may vary depending on your device brand and system version.

• In your devices settings, tap “Apps” ;
• Tap the top/right menu icon and “Special access” ;

• Tap “Optimize battery usage” ;
• Tap on the “Apps not optimized” drop down list and select “All apps” ;
• Locate and un-check “AlpineQuest” do disable optimization for this application.

• Disable the power saving mode:

• In your devices settings, tap “Apps” ;
• At the bottom of the applications list, tap “Settings” and “Special access” ;

• Tap “Ignore battery optimisation” ;
• Tap on the “Allowed” drop down list and select “All apps” ;
• Locate and tap “AlpineQuest” , check the “Allow” option and tap “Ok” to validate.

• In your devices settings, tap “Battery” ;
• Be sure not to have activated the “Power saving mode” or the “Ultra power saving” ;
• Be sure not to have the AlpineQuest listed in the “Lock screen cleanup” list;
• Tap on the “Settings” icon;
• Un-check “Close excessively power-intensive apps” to prevent the application from being closed.

• In your devices settings, tap “Battery & Performance”;
• In the battery saver category, tap “Choose apps” ;
• Locate and tap “AlpineQuest” ;
• Tap “No restrictions” to allow the application to run in the background without being closed;
• Tap the top application name to validate and return to the applications list.

See here

More information can be found on dontkillmyapp.com.