Samsung Galaxy phones are great multitaskers, but aggressive battery management often kills background apps and games the moment you switch away. If you have ever minimized a game and returned to find it restarted, or closed a video call to check something and got disconnected, the problem is One UI’s battery optimization.
The good news: you can fix this without rooting or installing third-party tools. Samsung offers a per-app battery profile setting that lets you exempt critical apps from background restrictions. Here is how it works and when to use it.
Why One UI halts background apps
Android has managed background processes for years through App Standby, Doze, and battery optimization flags. One UI layers Samsung’s own power manager on top, with three distinct profiles per app:
- Unrestricted — The app runs in the background without limits. Battery drain may increase.
- Optimized — Default for most apps. Android decides when to pause background activity based on how often you use the app.
- Restricted — Heavy restrictions. The app cannot run in the background at all. Intended for apps that waste battery.
The default is Optimized, which works fine for messaging apps and casual tools. But power-hungry games, streaming apps, navigation, and productivity tools often get killed too quickly, especially on One UI 7.0 and later where Samsung tightened the default behavior.
How to keep apps running in background on Samsung
The fix takes about 30 seconds per app:
- Open Settings > Apps.
- Tap the app or game you want to keep alive.
- Select Battery.
- Choose Unrestricted.
That is it. The app will now continue running in the background even when minimized, similar to how desktop software behaves.
What to watch out for
Setting an app to Unrestricted disables Android’s ability to pause it when the phone enters Doze. This means:
- Battery drain increases — The app can keep using CPU, GPS, or network in the background overnight.
- Do not apply to everything — Only use Unrestricted for the handful of apps that genuinely need background execution. Games, navigation, streaming audio, remote desktop tools, and video call apps are reasonable candidates. A weather widget or a calculator does not need it.
- Check after major updates — Samsung occasionally resets battery profiles after One UI version updates or security patches. Verify your exceptions after updating.
Pinning to Recents is not enough
One UI includes a feature to pin apps in the Recents screen so they survive “Close all.” That prevents the app from being swiped away, but it does not prevent the system from halting background processing. The only reliable way is the Battery > Unrestricted path described above.
Compatibility across One UI versions
The battery profile setting has been available since One UI 5.0. On One UI 7.0, 8.0, and 9.0 (Android 17), the menu path is identical. On older One UI 5.x and 6.x devices, the option is labelled “Unrestricted” inside the same Battery menu. The behavior and the three-tier profile system are consistent across generations.
When the setting does not stick
Some Samsung devices or enterprise-managed profiles reset battery restrictions automatically. If your phone is managed through a work profile or an MDM solution, the administrator may enforce Optimized as the maximum. In that case, the Unrestricted option will revert on restart or after a policy refresh. There is no user-side workaround.
Should you use it?
The Unrestricted profile is a targeted tool, not a system-wide toggle. Use it selectively for the apps that actually break when backgrounded — games that disconnect, streaming apps that drop audio, navigation that recalculates, or remote desktop tools that lose connection. For everything else, the default Optimized profile is the right balance between multitasking and battery life.
Samsung’s own testing suggests that setting more than 5–6 third-party apps to Unrestricted starts to measurably affect standby time. Keep your list tight and review it after each major update.
In brief
- One UI stops background apps through three battery profiles: Unrestricted, Optimized, Restricted.
- To keep an app running: Settings > Apps > select app > Battery > Unrestricted.
- Pinning apps to Recents does not prevent background halting — only the battery profile change does.
- Limit Unrestricted to a few critical apps (games, navigation, streaming, video calls) to avoid unnecessary battery drain.
- Samsung may reset battery profiles after One UI version updates; verify your exceptions.
- SamMobile: You can prevent One UI from halting background apps and games, but be careful — guide originale e spunto editoriale (14 settembre 2026)
- Samsung Support — documentazione ufficiale One UI battery management