Google partners Samsung to fix Android's background app limitations

SAN FRANCISCO: As part of the collaboration with Android device manufacturers, Google is working to prevent random app killings in the background, and Samsung is the first to participate, which will benefit Galaxy phone owners when One UI 6.0 based on Android 14 launches later this year.

"We are announcing deeper partnerships with Android hardware manufacturers to help ensure APIs for background work are supported predictably and consistently across the ecosystem. We are excited to announce that Samsung, representing one of Android's longest partnerships, is our first partner on this journey," Google said in a blogpost.

The collaboration aims to address one of Android's long-standing annoyances -- "restrictions on foreground services and background work" across devices.

"To strengthen the Android platform, our collaboration with Google has resulted in a unified policy that we expect will create a more consistent and reliable user experience for Galaxy users," said Samsung.

Moreover, the company said that the partnerships with hardware manufacturers and the changes will allow developers to create apps that work consistently across different Android devices.

According to the company, the Android 14 operating system will reduce restrictions on background apps by allowing developers to declare and request permissions specifically for foreground services.

As a result, the use of foreground services will become more clear and apps will be restricted only when they're not needed.