Behind the scenes
What a Force-Stop Does to Your Notification Light
By the llcloud team 5 min read
Quick answer
On Android, force-stopping an app also switches off its accessibility service, on stock Android as well as on Samsung, Xiaomi and other phones. An app cannot turn its own accessibility service back on, because Android reserves that for the system and for you. AuraDisplay cannot prevent every stop, so it lowers the odds with Keep AuraDisplay Running, notices when the service is off, and sends a prompt with a Turn back on button.
If you use AuraDisplay on a phone with a strict battery manager, you may have seen this: the light stops, you open the app, and the accessibility switch is off. You did not turn it off. Nothing crashed. The phone did it, and it did it in a way the app cannot undo on its own. This post explains what happens, why Android works this way, and what we built around it.
What actually happens during a force-stop?
A force-stop is the strongest way Android has to close an app. It ends the app's process, cancels its scheduled work and keeps it from starting again in the background until something specific wakes it. You can do it yourself with Force stop on an app's info page, but more often it comes from a cleaner app or from the phone maker's own battery tools, which may stop apps they think are using too much power.
For most apps, a force-stop is an annoyance. For an app built on an accessibility service, it is more than that. When the app is force-stopped, Android also switches its accessibility service off. That is not a quirk of one brand. We can reproduce it on a stock Android Pixel with a single command, and it behaves the same way on Samsung, Xiaomi and other phones.
AuraDisplay uses two permissions, and they react differently:
| Permission | What AuraDisplay uses it for | After a force-stop |
|---|---|---|
| Notification access | Knowing a notification arrived and which app sent it | Stays granted, and Android reconnects it |
| Accessibility service | Drawing the light over the lock screen and Always-On Display | Switched off until you turn it back on |
That difference is the whole story. The part that hears notifications comes back, and the part that draws the light does not.
Why can't an app turn its own accessibility service back on?
Because Android does not let it, and for a good reason. An accessibility service can see and act on what is on screen, which is why apps for people who need help using their phone rely on it. That power is also why Android insists that a person, not an app, decides which services are on.
The setting that lists enabled accessibility services can only be changed with a protected permission that ordinary apps from Google Play cannot hold. So after a force-stop, there is no API, no trick and no hidden setting that lets AuraDisplay switch itself back on. Apps that do switch accessibility services back on get there through developer tools or root, which a normal install from Google Play does not have.
We think that is the right rule. It does mean every fix after a force-stop needs one tap from you, so our job is to make that tap as easy as possible and to make it needed as rarely as possible.
What does AuraDisplay do about it?
We think about it in three layers: make a stop less likely, notice when one happens, and make the repair quick. No single layer replaces the others.
Prevention: Keep AuraDisplay Running
Keep AuraDisplay Running is a free option in the app's settings. It runs AuraDisplay as a foreground service, which comes with a notification and which Android treats as more important than an ordinary background app. On phones that close apps on their own, that lowers the odds of a stop.
We made two choices here on purpose. The notification can be swiped away, and once you swipe it, it stays gone instead of popping straight back. And we never describe it as armor. Some battery managers, Samsung Device Care among them, can force-stop an app even while it runs this way. It helps, and it is not a guarantee.
Detection: noticing the light is off
Remember that notification access survives a force-stop and Android reconnects it. That reconnection is the one moment AuraDisplay gets to run again without you opening it, so that is where it checks. A short while after it is reconnected, it looks at whether the accessibility service is on. If it is off, it knows the light is dead.
AuraDisplay also notices from the other side. If notifications keep arriving and none of them gets drawn, something is blocking the light, and that triggers the same check.
Repair: one tap back
When the service is off, AuraDisplay sends you a prompt with a Turn back on button. It opens your phone's accessibility settings on AuraDisplay's own entry, so you only flip one switch. If you have never turned the service on before, you see AuraDisplay's explanation of the permission first, because nobody should switch on an accessibility service without knowing why.
The prompt is a notification, so it needs AuraDisplay to be allowed to post notifications. If you turned those off, the warning has no way to reach you.
Once the light is back, AuraDisplay offers the settings that make the next stop less likely: your phone maker's background or auto-start switch, battery optimization, and Keep AuraDisplay Running.
How do you make force-stops rarer on your phone?
The settings differ by brand, and so does how aggressive the phone is. Start with the general picture in why Android kills background apps, then follow the guide for your phone:
- How to stop Samsung killing apps
- How to stop Xiaomi killing apps
- How to stop OnePlus killing apps
- How to stop OPPO and realme killing apps
One more thing worth checking: if you use a cleaner or a "boost" app, see whether it force-stops other apps. Some do, and each stop switches the light off again.
Why we are telling you this
It would be easier to say "keep the app running and it will work". It would also not be true on every phone. A notification light that silently goes dark is worse than one that tells you it needs a tap, so we chose to build around the honest version. If your phone keeps switching AuraDisplay off even after all of this, email us a diagnostics report from the app. Those reports are how we learn what each phone actually does.
Questions
Does force stop turn off accessibility on Android?
Yes. When an app is force-stopped, Android also switches off that app's accessibility service. We see this on stock Android, not only on phones with aggressive battery managers. The stop can come from the Force stop button in Settings, a cleaner app or the phone maker's battery tools, and the service stays off until someone turns it back on.
Why can't the app just turn its accessibility service back on?
Because Android does not allow it. Changing which accessibility services are on needs a protected system permission that normal apps from Google Play cannot hold. An accessibility service is powerful, so Android wants a person to make that choice in Settings. The best any app can do is notice it is off and send you to the right switch.
Does Keep AuraDisplay Running stop force-stops?
It makes them less likely, but it is not a guarantee. The option runs AuraDisplay as a foreground service with a notification, which Android treats as more important than a background app. Some battery managers, such as Samsung Device Care, can still force-stop an app that runs this way. That is why AuraDisplay also watches for the service going off and tells you.
How do I know if my phone is force-stopping AuraDisplay?
If the accessibility switch for AuraDisplay is off when you never touched it, a force-stop is the most likely cause. AuraDisplay sends a prompt when it notices the service is off. If it keeps happening, follow the guide for your phone's brand, and send a diagnostics report from the app so we can see what the phone is doing.
