How Do I Ensure Apps Start At Boot?

[SkinJob]

Sounds like a noob q., but I'm not a noob! Just having a lot of frustration trying to get apps to keep working once the phone is restarted. These apps seem pointless in fact, because the majority of the ones I want just do not autoload themselves after the phone is restarted. I don't want to force them to start at boot, but I can't find any other option to convince them that I do want them to hang around. I've given them security/accessiblity permissions wherever possible (Android 4.3). And indeed I have tried many apps that both promise to autostart an app or prevent an app from starting; including:

Apps Auto Run
Autostarts
Autostarter
Autostart n' Stay
Autorun Manager Pro
Manage Android Autostart
CleanMaster
Startup Cleaner Pro
etc

The problem with all of them, is that they throw the app in your face by starting it in the foreground, and if that isn't rude enough, they won't quit out of it automatically! I'm doing this phone for a non-tech friend. I can't expect her to deal with this kind of confusion. Is there any solution that will work?

 

[steiny180]

AutomateIt at the PS...

 

[SkinJob]

Thanks for the tip. I've already got Tasker installed, but its been driving me nuts how complicated it is... I now have AutomateIt, and it looks a lot easier, with some premade rules that I could actually use.

 

[mikedt]

I think most apps that are intended to keep running in the background, e.g. to receive real-time IM notifications like Wechat or weather information widgets, etc, should automatically start at boot anyway. There's a specific permission for it. And in fact some have a specific setting to automatically start at boot, like Skype. I've found I've never had to do anything else, like Tasker or whatever.

BTW don't use Clean Master, it's snakeoil spyware, that does more harm than good and phones home your personal and private stuff to servers in China for data mining and monetization.

 

[SkinJob]

Apps may keep running in the background, but they don't automatically start at boot, that's for sure.
Sometimes only 1 out of 6 will start. Then I restart, and still 1 out of 6... but a different app! Sometimes the apps will survive a restart... but not a second restart! All the permissions I know of are set on the apps I want always running on the device. Both in Settings (Location, Security, etc) and in app permissions, via a permissions app like Manage AutoStarts. Nothing has worked.

However... I'm starting to see that enabling "FastBoot" is partly to blame, and has an influence on whether apps restart reliably after a reboot or power down. I've since taken it off. I'm not sure if that will solve the problem, but it has certainly helped.



BTW, I could tell CleanMaster was a Chinese app, and I suspected it immediately. Did some research on it and... poof, it's gone now.

I think most apps that are intended to keep running in the background, e.g. to receive real-time IM notifications like Wechat or weather information widgets, etc, should automatically start at boot anyway. There's a specific permission for it. And in fact some have a specific setting to automatically start at boot, like Skype. I've found I've never had to do anything else, like Tasker or whatever.

BTW don't use Clean Master, it's snakeoil spyware, that does more harm than good and phones home your personal and private stuff to servers in China for data mining and monetization.

 

[steiny180]

If you're referring to AutomateIt, try adding a delayed execution to your rules.

Apps may keep running in the background, but they don't automatically start at boot, that's for sure.
Sometimes only 1 out of 6 will start. Then I restart, and still 1 out of 6... but a different app! Sometimes the apps will survive a restart... but not a second restart! All the permissions I know of are set on the apps I want always running on the device. Both in Settings (Location, Security, etc) and in app permissions, via a permissions app like Manage AutoStarts. Nothing has worked.

However... I'm starting to see that enabling "FastBoot" is partly to blame, and has an influence on whether apps restart reliably after a reboot or power down. I've since taken it off. I'm not sure if that will solve the problem, but it has certainly helped.



BTW, I could tell CleanMaster was a Chinese app, and I suspected it immediately. Did some research on it and... poof, it's gone now.

 

[mikedt]

Apps may keep running in the background, but they don't automatically start at boot, that's for sure.
Sometimes only 1 out of 6 will start. Then I restart, and still 1 out of 6... but a different app! Sometimes the apps will survive a restart... but not a second restart! All the permissions I know of are set on the apps I want always running on the device. Both in Settings (Location, Security, etc) and in app permissions, via a permissions app like Manage AutoStarts. Nothing has worked.

However... I'm starting to see that enabling "FastBoot" is partly to blame, and has an influence on whether apps restart reliably after a reboot or power down. I've since taken it off. I'm not sure if that will solve the problem, but it has certainly helped.



BTW, I could tell CleanMaster was a Chinese app, and I suspected it immediately. Did some research on it and... poof, it's gone now.

Yeh indeed. Clean Master is intended to stop apps running, as well as spying and lying to you, which sounds like the opposite of what you actually want.

But as I stated there's a specific permission for certain apps that you might want running at startup, such as messaging apps. This is Wechat, which has the "run at startup" permission, and indeed that's what it does so I can receive IMs in real-time with it, when I turn my phone on.

On the other hand there's plenty of things I don't want running at startup, like games or whatever.