How do I keep my screen on while playing music?

It can be really annoying when you’re listening to music or other audio on your phone and the screen turns off unexpectedly. This interrupts your listening experience and means you have to turn the screen back on every few minutes to keep the audio going. It’s an issue many smartphone users face at one time or another.

The screen turning off is often due to your phone’s default sleep settings, which are designed to save battery life. But if you want to listen to audio without interruptions, you need a way to stop the screen from turning off.

Thankfully, there are several methods you can try to keep your phone’s screen on during audio playback. This guide will walk through the various options, from adjusting your phone’s built-in settings to using third-party apps.

Why Screens Turn Off

Most phones and other mobile devices are designed to turn their screens off automatically after a certain time of inactivity. This is primarily done to conserve battery power and extend battery life.

When a phone screen is active and on, it uses a significant amount of battery power. The display and touch capabilities require power. So if the screen stayed on constantly without ever timing out or turning off, the battery would drain very quickly.

Phone manufacturers implement automatic screen shut off features to avoid this battery drain. There are typical default settings on phones to turn the screen off after 30 seconds, 1 minute, or 2 minutes of inactivity. But the user can usually customize these auto screen timeout settings as well.

In addition to automatic screen shut offs, phones will often lock and require a password after a short time. This adds security in case the phone is lost or left unattended. But it also helps conserve battery life in the same way. The password lock makes the phone screen fully turn off.

So in summary, default power saving features like screen timeouts and password locks cause phone screens to turn off automatically. This extends battery life, but can interrupt music and audio playback.

Disable Sleep Settings

One way to keep your screen active while playing music is to adjust your phone’s display or sleep settings. You can increase the screen timeout so that your display stays on longer before turning off. Here’s how to find these settings:

  • Open the Settings app on your Android phone.
  • Tap “Display” (on some devices this may be called “Screen”).
  • Look for “Sleep” or “Screen timeout” and tap on it.
  • Increase the time before your screen turns off due to inactivity. Some phones may allow you to set this to “Never” to keep the screen on indefinitely.

By adjusting these settings, you can make your Android screen stay active for as long as you want while listening to music. Just be aware that having your screen constantly on will use more battery power. You may need to plug your phone in or place it on a charger while playing music.

Get an App

One of the easiest ways to keep your screen on while playing music is to use a dedicated app that prevents your device from sleeping. There are many great apps on the Google Play Store designed for this exact purpose.

One popular app is Wakey. Wakey allows you to whitelist specific apps that will prevent your screen from turning off. So you can set it to keep your screen on whenever you have a music player or streaming app open. The free version has ads, but the paid version removes ads and adds more features.

Another good option is Keep Screen On. This app also lets you specify certain apps to keep awake. A useful feature is being able to set a timer, so your screen only stays on for a designated amount of time. This prevents your phone from staying awake all night if you forget to turn it off.

Apps like Wakey and Keep Screen On provide customizable options to intelligently keep your screen on during music playback. They are easy to use and offer more flexibility than built-in Android settings.

Use Developer Options

Another way to keep your screen on is by enabling Developer Options on your Android device and using the ‘Stay awake’ setting. Here’s how:

First, you need to enable Developer Options. To do this, open Settings and go to About Device/Phone. Tap on Build Number 7 times until you see a message saying “You are now a developer!” This unlocks the hidden Developer Options menu.

Go back to Settings and you should now see a Developer Options menu. Open it and scroll down to the Stay awake option. Enable this toggle. Now whenever your screen is on, it will stay on instead of sleeping after the usual timeout duration.

As explained on the Android Developers site, this uses a PowerManager WakeLock to keep the device awake. It’s useful for development or testing purposes. Just keep in mind that having your screen always on will drain your battery faster.

Adjust Interactions

One way to keep your screen on while playing music is to adjust how you interact with your device. Since many phones will turn off the screen after a certain period of inactivity, you can prevent this by tapping or interacting with the screen periodically.

When listening to music, try tapping the screen or pressing a button every couple of minutes. This signals to your phone that you are still actively using it. You can also try turning up/down the volume or skipping tracks – anything to keep the device active.

Additionally, make sure the music player app is set as the foreground app. If you leave the app and your phone is still playing music in the background, the screen will likely turn off to conserve battery. But keeping the music app open and in focus prevents the phone from sleeping.

By being mindful of how you interact with your device while listening to music, you can override the automatic sleep functions and keep the screen turned on.

Try Motion Sensors

One option to keep your screen on while playing music is to use your device’s motion sensors, such as the accelerometer or gyroscope, to detect movement. Android devices have built-in sensors that can track motion, orientation, and positioning. By monitoring even subtle movements, your screen can stay on as long as you are interacting with your device in some way.

There are apps available like Keep Screen On During Use that use the accelerometer to intelligently keep the screen on while you’re actively using the device. You can also find code snippets online to build your own motion detection system by tapping into the Android sensor APIs.

The advantage of using motion sensors is that it allows relatively normal use of your device to keep the screen on, without having to constantly tap or disable sleep settings entirely. Just a little movement is all it takes. Give it a try if you want a seamless way to keep your screen on during music or other activities.

Use Your Charger

Plugging your phone into a charger is one simple way to keep the screen on while playing music or doing other tasks. When charging, Android will disable the automatic screen timeout that normally occurs after 30 seconds or 1 minute of inactivity. This allows you to keep looking at the screen without any interruption [1].

However, be aware that constantly charging your phone while using it can drain the battery faster. The screen being on uses more power, as does the processing required for your music or other apps. Over time, frequently keeping your phone plugged in while in use may degrade battery life and capacity. Use this method only when needed, and aim to charge your phone while not in active use as often as possible [2].

Cast Your Screen

A simple way to keep your phone screen on while listening to music is to cast your screen to your TV or another device like a Google Chromecast or Apple TV. When you cast your screen, it will continue playing audio on your phone while mirroring the display to the external screen (Google Chromecast 2022). This keeps the phone screen turned on and prevents it from sleeping. To cast your Android screen, open the Quick Settings panel and tap the Cast icon, then select the Chromecast device to connect to (CNET 2022). For iPhone, open Control Center and tap Screen Mirroring, then choose the AirPlay device (Apple 2022). Just remember to disconnect screen casting when no longer needed, as it can drain battery.

Conclusion

To recap, there are several effective methods to keep your screen on while playing music on your Android device. The simplest options are to adjust your display sleep settings to never turn off while charging or while a media app is open. You can also download third party apps like Keep Screen On that use accessibility permissions to keep the screen awake. Enabling developer options allows you to disable sleep entirely or increase sleep timeouts. Adjusting your phone’s interaction settings like raise to wake can help the screen stay active when in use. Using motion sensors or keeping your phone plugged in can also prevent automatic screen locking.

In the end, the right combination of display settings, battery saving modes, developer tweaks, and specialized apps gives you full control to keep your Android screen lit for as long as you need when playing music. With some trial and error, you can maximize battery life while enjoying uninterrupted playback. The key is finding the right balance for your usage needs.

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