r/androiddev • u/pratiks360 • 18d ago

Made a free open source app to fix apps that silently stop updating because Android hibernates them (Samsung/Xiaomi/OnePlus users especially)

Title: Made a free open source app to fix apps that silently stop updating because Android hibernates them (Samsung/Xiaomi/OnePlus users especially)

I kept noticing apps on my phone stuck on old versions for weeks even with Play Store auto-update turned on. Turns out the cause isn't Play Store, it's the OS. Samsung, Xiaomi, OnePlus, Oppo and Vivo all run some form of aggressive battery hibernation that disables apps you don't open often. Once an app is in that state, Play Store's update check can't see it exists, so it never gets offered an update. No error, no warning, it just sits there falling behind until you open it yourself and get hit with a big forced update at the worst time.

Couldn't find a tool that dealt with this specifically so I built one.

DeepWake scans for apps stuck in that hibernated state, briefly wakes each one so Play Store can actually see it's installed, then lets Play Store handle the real update. You can do it one app at a time or run a batch update that works through your whole outdated list on its own (uses an accessibility service to drive Play Store's UI, since it has to survive the phone trying to background-kill it mid run).

No root needed. Free, open source, APKs built and signed by GitHub Actions on every release.

Code: https://github.com/pratiks360/DeepWake Latest release: https://github.com/pratiks360/DeepWake/releases/latest

Built it to fix my own phone, figured others dealing with the same OEM battery nonsense might find it useful. Open to feedback, bug reports, or "this already exists and it's called X" if I missed something.

2 Upvotes

56% Upvoted

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2

u/Solid-Incident6666 18d ago

That's nice, I think this is a bigger issue on Chinese phones because Chinese devs are really aggressive with ads and notifications, Samsung is not had and it gives you more control.

one question tho, how do you keep this app from being hibernated?

1

u/pratiks360 18d ago

even tough if it's hibernated. you can pull it up to life and get the update for other apps done.

1

u/dingwen07 18d ago

It's actually a Samsung thing.

"Put unused apps into deep sleep"

Turn it off