Disabling Optimizers and Memory Cleaners

Some Android devices have an “optimizer” or “memory cleaner” that prevents Locale from running.

Note that manufacturers intentionally keep moving and renaming these settings every few months, in order to make it difficult for you to turn them off. They also reset your preferences after system updates, so you might have to re-check them after updating your phone.

For these reasons our instructions are pretty much guaranteed to be incomplete, so please use your brain to look for settings that look suspiciously similar.

Repeat these for Locale X, the Locale Helper, and any third-party plug-ins.

All devices

Android 14

  1. Disable automatic pausing of unused apps: Locale X will detect this setting for itself, but it cannot detect it for the Locale X Helper and for plug-ins

    1. Open Android settings
    2. Choose Apps
    3. Choose All Apps
    4. Scroll down to find Locale X Helper and all third-party plug-ins
    5. Tap on the app
    6. Make sure that “Pause app activity if unused” is disabled

Samsung

Android 12

  1. Disable battery saver: When battery saver is enabled, location detection is blocked

    1. Open Android Settings
    2. Choose Battery and Device Care
    3. Choose Battery
    4. Make sure the option for “Power saving” is disabled

  2. Disable adaptive battery

    1. Open Android Settings
    2. Choose Battery and Device Care
    3. Choose Battery
    4. Choose More battery settings
    5. Make sure the option for “Adaptive battery” is disabled

  3. Disable background usage limits

    1. Open Android Settings
    2. Choose Battery and Device Care
    3. Choose Battery
    4. Choose More battery settings
    5. Choose “Background usage limits”
    6. Disable “Put unused apps to sleep”

  4. Disable Memory Cleaner

    1. Open Android Settings
    2. Choose Device Care
    3. Choose Memory
    4. Choose “Excluded Apps”
    5. Tap the Plus sign (+) button in the corner
    6. Choose Locale X to exclude it from the memory cleaner

  5. Disable battery saver automation

    1. Open Android Settings
    2. Choose Battery and Device Care
    3. In the top corner under the “…” menu, choose Automation
    4. Disable “Auto optimize daily”
    5. Disable “Adaptive power saving”
    6. Disable “Auto restart at set times”

Android 11

  1. Disable Battery Optimization

    1. Open Android Settings
    2. Choose Apps
    3. Choose Locale X
    4. Choose Battery
    5. Make sure that “Allow background activity” is turned on
    6. Make sure that “Optimize battery usage” is turned off

  2. Disable Memory Cleaner

    1. Open Android Settings
    2. Choose Device Care
    3. Choose Memory
    4. Choose “Excluded Apps”
    5. Choose Locale X to exclude it from the memory cleaner

  3. Disable background usage limits

    1. Open Android Settings
    2. Choose Battery and Device Care
    3. Choose Background Usage Limits
    4. Choose Never Sleeping apps
    5. Hit the Add button and add Locale X to the list of apps that will never sleep. NOTE: If you cannot add Locale X to the list, you might need to temporarily enable the battery saver (see next step below), add Locale X to the list, then re-disable the battery saver. If that doesn’t work, some users have reported that uninstalling and reinstalling Locale X will get the list to update properly.

  4. Disable battery saver: When battery saver is enabled, location detection is blocked

    1. Open Android Settings
    2. Choose Battery and Device Care
    3. Make sure the option for “Power Saving Mode” is disabled

  5. Disable adaptive battery

    1. Open Android Settings
    2. Choose Battery and Device Care
    3. Choose More battery settings
    4. Make sure the option for “Adaptive battery” is disabled

  6. Disable battery saver automation

    1. Open Android Settings
    2. Choose Battery and Device Care
    3. In the top corner under the “…” menu, choose Automation
    4. Make sure that all automation options are turned off

Android 10

  1. Disable Memory Cleaner

    1. Open Android Settings
    2. Choose Device Care
    3. Choose Memory
    4. Choose “Select apps to exclude”
    5. Choose Locale to exclude it from the memory cleaner

  2. Disable battery saver: When battery saver is enabled, location detection is blocked

    1. Open Android Settings
    2. Choose Device Care
    3. Choose Battery
    4. Choose Power mode
    5. Select “Optimized”
    6. Uncheck the box for “adaptive power saving”

  3. Disable app power management

    1. Open Android Settings
    2. Choose Device Care
    3. Choose Battery
    4. Choose App power management
    5. Choose “Apps that won’t be put to sleep”
    6. Choose Locale to exclude it from being paused

  4. Disable auto restart: When Android reboots, Locale won’t run until you unlock the device with your passcode

    1. Open Android Settings
    2. Choose Device Care
    3. Choose “…” in the top right corner
    4. Make sure that Auto restart is turned off

  5. Allow background activity

    1. Open Android Settings
    2. Choose Apps
    3. Find Locale in the list of apps
    4. Choose Use Details
    5. Make sure that “Allow background activity” is enabled
    6. Choose “Optimize battery usage”
    7. At the top, choose All
    8. Find Locale in the list and make sure the option for battery usage optimization is NOT checked

Android 9

  1. Disable Memory Cleaner

    1. Open Android Settings
    2. Choose Device Care
    3. Choose Memory
    4. In the top right corner, tap on the “…” menu
    5. Choose “Apps That Aren’t Checked”
    6. At the bottom of the screen, select “Add” and choose Locale to exclude it from being closed

  2. Disable battery saver

    1. Open the battery settings
    2. Choose Power mode
    3. Select “Optimized”
    4. Uncheck the box for “adaptive power saving”

OnePlus

Android 11

  1. Allow Locale to Perform Wi-Fi scans

    1. Enable Developer Mode

      1. Open Settings > About phone > Software information > Build number (or just Settings > About phone > Build number for some device models).
      2. Tap the build number 10 times until a message appears saying that Developer Mode is enabled.

    2. Disable Wi-Fi Scan Throttling

      1. Open Settings > Developer options (or Settings > System > Advanced > Developer options for some device models).
      2. Find “Wi-Fi scan throttling”
      3. Turn Wi-Fi scan throttling off

Android 9

  1. Disable Battery Optimization: Go to Android Settings > Battery. Select Battery optimization. Find Locale and set to “Don’t Optimize.”
  2. Disable Deep Optimization: Go to Android Settings > Battery. Select Battery optimization. Under the … menu in the top right corner, choose “Advanced Optimization.” On the next screen, make sure that “Deep optimization” and “Sleep standby optimization” are turned off.
  3. Enable normal app management: Go to Android Settings > System. Tap on “Recent app management.” Choose “Normal clear.”

Oppo

  1. Go to Settings
  2. Go to Battery
  3. Go to Energy Saver
  4. Select Locale
  5. Make sure that “Background Freeze”, “Abnormal Apps Optimization”, and “Doze” are disabled.

LG

HTC

  1. Open the Boost+ app from the home screen
  2. Select Optimize background apps
  3. Select Locale
  4. Set optimization to off

Sony

Wiko