What is Android Doze, what it does and how it works

We have terminals with increasing capabilities: processors that offer a spectacular performance, hundreds of gigabytes of internal memory, amounts of RAM at times comparable to that assembled the modern PCs… and, in addition, lately it seems that the issue most pressing, is beginning to find a solution. We are referring to, as there can be no other way, to the thorny issue of the autonomy time of the batteries. Manufacturers every time they can mount larger batteries in the terminals, but in addition involves a function of Android known as Doze. Have you ever heard of it? Well, we we tell you what it is and something more.

What is Doze and what is it?

Doze is, in a nutshell, the function of optimization of the battery, which Google implemented in Android from version 6.0. The Big G had already made an attempt to have an utility of optimization of the battery in Android 5.0 called Project Volta, but his final performance was not as hoped for.

Its main utility is extend the hours of use of the battery of the terminalwell , helping the device to have better managed the energy resources it has available. In his time it was promised that there would be an appreciable increase in the autonomy of the terminal, although there were a few voices skeptical that put it in doubt.

This innovation was very well received by the users when it finally arrived, since it was possible to verify that it worked much better than expected, and the changes were remarkable: it was starting to not be necessary to load the device more than once a day, in some cases even during the night.

How does Doze?

What makes curious to Doze is precisely how it works: get in the action in the rest of the phone (the vast majority), limiting the amount of things that the apps can be done in the background. For “things that apps can do” we are referring to a very specific known as wakelock.

And what is that of the wakelocks? Imagine that you are sick and you go to sleep, but in your home need you to wake up every X time for you to take the medication. As a wakelock it is precisely that: they are “calls” that the applications make to the operating system in order to prevent in a deep sleep.

By deep sleep you mean the off time of the screen, in which the phone is locked and stopped using an application. The wakelocks

are important to, for example, do not stop sound the music or the podcast that we are listening even when the screen is off. However, that does not mean that developers do not abuse them (which they do).

And how is responsible Doze of help to alleviate this problem? As it creates what could be considered as “spaces of maintenance”, which allows the apps send these calls (if needed) at intervals of time spaced, instead of constantly. This is great for most applications, but with the messaging can become a problem. The good thing is that you can turn off, and then we tell you how.

How to turn off Doze for certain applications

Suppose that you are dependent on the apps messaging for work and do not want to miss any notification. With Doze enabled this can happen, so let’s see how we can turn it off for a (or several) apps concrete.

In the first place to go to Settings > Applications and notifications and tap See all apps if you do not see the that you want to get in the way of optimization of the battery, otherwise click on it in the first list that appears (in our example is WhatsApp, and yes it is, so click directly on it):

Application menu in Android

Now we will enter the management view of the app in and of itself. Tap Advanced to deploy all of the options, and then click Battery:

Configuration of applications on Android

Of the screen to where you will arrive, tap Optimization of battery:

Menu of battery consumption of applications

You will come here, where you have to click on the tab at the top to let you see all the applications, and where you’ll have to look for the one that you are interested in:

View all of the applications to configure the optimization of battery

As you’ve found, click on it. A window will appear in which you’ll be able to choose if you want to Doze optimize the use of the battery which will make the application or not. In this case we will choose Do not optimize, clicking in Ready:

Disabling Doze for an app

And this would be already enough. The method is valid for any application.