Why do some device manufacturers break accessibility or background blocking?
Android manufacturers like Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei, and others add their own battery management and background app restrictions on top of stock Android. These can interfere with AppBlock’s Accessibility service and background blocking — even when everything looks correctly set up.
Why this happens
Many manufacturers aggressively manage background apps to save battery — sometimes more aggressively than stock Android recommends. This can:
- Turn off AppBlock’s Accessibility service without telling you.
- Stop AppBlock from running in the background.
- Prevent blocking from activating on schedule.
What to check
- Battery optimization — make sure it’s turned off for AppBlock (Profile → Help → Troubleshooting → Ignore battery optimizations).
- Autostart — make sure AppBlock is allowed to start automatically after a reboot (Profile → Help → Troubleshooting → Enable Autostart).
- Accessibility service — check that it’s still enabled for AppBlock (Settings → Accessibility → AppBlock).
- App lock / Recent apps lock — some manufacturers let you “pin” or “lock” apps in the recent apps screen so they don’t get killed. Try this for AppBlock.
Manufacturer-specific guidance
AppBlock is designed to work across all devices, but some phones behave differently due to custom software. Go to Profile → Help → Troubleshooting → Other issues for guidance on the most common manufacturers — search for your phone brand there if you’re having issues.
Good to know
This is one of the most common causes of AppBlock “randomly” stopping. If blocking stops working after a restart, an update, or a period of inactivity, this is the first thing to check.
