Parental control app keeps stopping on Samsung? Fix it in 5 minutes

You check your kid’s location at 6 pm and it says they’re still at school. It said that at 3:15 too. Your stomach drops for a second before you realise: the dot hasn’t moved because the app hasn’t updated.

If this sounds familiar, you are not doing anything wrong, and the app probably isn’t broken. Your child’s phone is trying to save battery by putting apps to sleep, and monitoring apps are exactly the kind of app it goes after first: they run in the background and the person holding the phone rarely opens them.

The fix takes about five minutes per phone. Do it once, with the phone in your hand, and the gaps usually disappear.

Why Android phones stop monitoring apps

Every Android phone has Google’s standard battery management (called Doze). On top of that, most manufacturers add their own, more aggressive version. Samsung, Xiaomi, OnePlus, Oppo, Vivo and Huawei are the most aggressive. Their phones will:

• Put an app to “sleep” if it hasn’t been opened for a few days
• Stop it from waking up in the background
• Restrict its location access when the screen is off
• Close it when memory is low or overnight during “auto optimisation”

The result looks like this: location that freezes for hours, screen time that reads zero, or a “last seen” time from yesterday. The phone is working as designed. It just doesn’t know this app matters.

First, a 30‑second check

Before changing settings, rule out the simple things on the child’s phone:

1. Location is on. Swipe down from the top of the screen and check the Location tile.
2. The phone is online. Mobile data or Wi‑Fi, and not in airplane mode.
3. The app still has permission. Settings › Apps › [the app] › Permissions. Location should say “Allow all the time”.
4. Power saving mode is off, or at least not on “Maximum”.

If all four are fine and you still get gaps, it’s the battery saver. Here is the fix by brand.

Samsung Galaxy (One UI 5, 6 and 7)

Samsung has three separate places that can put an app to sleep. You need all three.

1. Set battery usage to Unrestricted

Settings › Apps › [the app] › Battery › Unrestricted

2. Add it to Never sleeping apps

Settings › Battery (on older phones: Battery and device care › Battery) › Background usage limits › Never sleeping apps › tap + › choose the app.

While you’re there, check the app isn’t listed under “Sleeping apps” or “Deep sleeping apps”. If it is, remove it.

3. Stop Samsung from putting unused apps to sleep

In the same Background usage limits screen, turn off Put unused apps to sleep.

Optional, for stubborn phones: Settings › Device care › Automation › turn off Auto optimise daily (or make sure it isn’t closing the app). Some Samsung phones on recent updates have a tighter battery mode; if gaps continue after the three steps above, this is usually the reason.

Menu names move around between One UI versions. If you can’t find one, open Settings and use the search bar for “Never sleeping” or “Background usage limits”.

Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO (HyperOS and MIUI)

Xiaomi phones are the most aggressive of all. Do every step.

1. Autostart: Settings › Apps › Manage apps › [the app] › turn on Autostart.
2. Battery saver: on the same screen, tap Battery saver › choose No restrictions.
3. Lock it in recent apps: open the recent apps view, long‑press (or swipe down on) the app’s card and tap the lock icon. This stops “clear all” from closing it.
4. Location: Settings › Apps › Manage apps › [the app] › App permissions › Location › Allow all the time.

OnePlus, Oppo and Realme (OxygenOS and ColorOS)

1. Settings › Apps › [the app] › Battery usage › turn on Allow background activity and Allow auto launch.
2. Settings › Battery › More settings › Optimise battery use › find the app › Don’t optimise.
3. Lock the app in recent apps, as on Xiaomi.

On older OnePlus models, also look for Advanced optimisation or Deep optimisation under Battery and turn it off.

Google Pixel and Motorola

These are the gentlest, close to standard Android. Usually one step is enough:

Settings › Apps › [the app] › App battery usage › Unrestricted.

After you change the settings

1. Open the monitoring app once on the child’s phone, so it can restart and reconnect.
2. Check from your phone in 10–15 minutes that a new update has arrived.
3. Check again the next morning. Overnight is when most battery savers kick in, so the morning record tells you whether the fix stuck.

If you want a deeper reference, the volunteer‑run site dontkillmyapp.com tracks battery behaviour model by model.

When it’s not the battery saver

If the settings above are right and you still see gaps, the likely causes are:

• Someone turned the setting back. Updates sometimes reset battery settings, and occasionally a child does. A good monitoring app tells you when its permissions change, rather than going quiet.
• The phone was off or had no signal. Underground, out of battery, airplane mode at a sleepover.
• Location accuracy was poor. Indoors without Wi‑Fi, a phone can report a location hundreds of metres out. Look for apps that show accuracy next to each point.

This is something we took seriously when building FamHound. The setup walks through the right battery setting for the phone’s brand. Both your view and the child’s phone show plainly when recording has stopped and why: “Location is off”, “Not synced since 15:12”. A silent gap is the worst kind, because you can’t tell a sleeping app from a real problem.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my child’s location stop updating on Android?

Usually because the phone’s battery saver has put the monitoring app to sleep. Less often, location has been switched off, the app lost the “Allow all the time” permission, or the phone is offline.

How do I stop Samsung from closing an app in the background?

Set the app’s battery usage to Unrestricted, add it to Never sleeping apps under Background usage limits, and turn off Put unused apps to sleep. On some models, also check Auto optimise daily under Device care.

Will these settings drain my child’s battery?

A little. Allowing one app to run in the background typically costs a few percent a day, much less than streaming video. If battery is a concern, keep the other apps on their normal settings.

My child keeps turning the setting off. What should I do?

Treat it as a conversation rather than a technical problem. If the arrangement was agreed and is visible to them, ask what’s bothering them about it. A monitoring app that alerts you when its permissions change makes this easier to raise calmly.

Does Google Family Link have the same problem?

Family Link is built into Android, so it is affected less often, but location updates can still be delayed by power saving mode and poor signal.