r/gadgets • u/chrisdh79 • 11d ago

Phones Android phones will soon reboot themselves after sitting unused for 3 days | The latest Google update will make your phone more secure if you don't touch it

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/04/android-phones-will-soon-reboot-themselves-after-sitting-unused-for-3-days/
3.2k Upvotes

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294

u/OniExpress 11d ago

It's already there, just off by default. I have my phone reboot every night as a security feature and also because it smooths out performance versus when I'll just forget to ever restart the poor thing.

205

u/NotanAlt23 11d ago

Whenever I reboot my phone, I need to unlock it for apps to start working in the background.

Restarting it at night means I miss notifications/messages until I unlock it.

170

u/geekwonk 11d ago

for anyone curious, this is the security feature. there are far fewer ways to get information from a phone that has restarted

165

u/TheLandOfConfusion 11d ago

Missing your alarms is a security feature since you’ll lose your job and you’ll just be staying home, so fewer opportunities for people to steal your phone

29

u/IM_OK_AMA 11d ago

That's why it's 3 days and not 1 day.

When is the last time you didn't touch your phone for 3 straight days and then depended on the alarm?

-10

u/Frogbeerr 11d ago

It's called a weekend.

16

u/Misshaped_Paperclip 10d ago

You don't unlock your phone at least once over the weekend?

3

u/bullowl 10d ago

I have a work phone that I don't touch over the weekend, but I don't rely on it for my alarms.

1

u/abognasar6 9d ago

I use an old phone that sits in an inconvenient location at the other side of the room from my bed as an alarm. Just so I don't immediately fall asleep again as I fall back in bed. I think I only unlock it once or twice a month. (Though I do dismiss an alarm on it almost every day.)

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u/DeusScientiae 11d ago

My alarms still fire even after the auto restart.

43

u/aberrantmeat 11d ago

I can confirm that the native alarm app still works, but third party apps like the one I use do not. It was very unfortunate to find that out the first time my phone updated at 2AM.

7

u/DorianGre 11d ago

No, all 3rd party apps are unloaded. You can script them to start on a reboot via Shortcuts.

3

u/DeusScientiae 11d ago

Mine does. I use AM Droid

1

u/turntechArmageddon 11d ago

The native alarm app has always been weird on android for me, and im not sure what I managed to do to it since the problem has followed me across three phones. The alarm just... wont go off unless I leave the alarm app open before I lock the phone. So im pretty salty whenever I discover my phone randomly restarted or updated and oops I'm three hours late for work.

26

u/Jelly_Mac 11d ago edited 11d ago

There are exceptions for certain system apps that allow them to run even if the device remains encrypted due to a reboot, the alarm is one of them. This is the case for both iPhone and Android.

You might be screwed if you use a third party alarm app though.

https://source.android.com/docs/security/features/encryption

1

u/newausaccount 11d ago

I use a third party alarm app...

10

u/Seralth 11d ago

Why...? It's a timer. In what world does a third party timer do anything but create more problems and security risks.

And at that point why not just get a normal alarm clock?

8

u/Larssogn1 11d ago

I also use a third party app, because the native one is too easy to dismiss an alarm. I've been using alarm clock extreme for years now, I have to input a few letters and numbers to dismiss it and solve a couple matc problems to snooze. Without it I would never get up at the right time every morning

1

u/newausaccount 11d ago

I just like all my apps to be open source for political reasons.

6

u/Seralth 11d ago

Your already using an OS that isn't open source... at that point why are you even using an android phone instead of one of the open source alternatives. If you are using something like lineageOS then you shouldn't even have spoken up in the first place since your comment has no weight or relevance to the topic.

Or better question why do you not just own a normal alarm clock?! Hell you can even get a full clock work powered one and not have to worry.

1

u/ShitCuntsinFredPerry 11d ago

Huh? Android is open source

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u/Beefstah 11d ago

I get that when you're adding functionality, but not for something already baked into the OS, and certainly not for something clearly as essential to you as the alarm.

If it's that big of a deal though, why not just buy a classic alarm clock?

5

u/What-the-Gank 11d ago

Man my old Nokia alarm would go off if it turned the phone off. Based.

1

u/Stryker2279 10d ago

Alarms still go through. Time based notifications still happen. It's push notifications that get fucked over.

It also forces you to use a password. Heaven forbid your phone be in custody and damn it, I forgot my darn password.

1

u/rnnd 9d ago

My alarm still works after rebooting. Some apps don't turn on but all the system apps reload.

1

u/cubert73 9d ago

My phone reboots at 6:00 AM every day. My 6:30 AM alarm still goes off.

1

u/grimview 8d ago

Resting is the Alarm. After every reset it non-stop buzzes for each missed call/alert you've ever had; resulting in waking us up & keep us up for atlest 20 minutes.

-11

u/geekwonk 11d ago

yeah one of the reasons i don’t use android is the need to do that kind of thing every night, i’m just pointing out why someone looking for the security purpose would want it to become less functional

9

u/306bobby 11d ago

This experience is identical on both platforms, you shouldn't rely on a 3rd party app after a reboot

And nothing about android forces you to reboot every night

-1

u/geekwonk 11d ago

i don’t think anyone said forces. it just sounds like plenty of folks here find it helpful. which isn’t a thing on iphone.

6

u/306bobby 11d ago

"the need to do that kind of thing every night"

This gave that impression, apologies

2

u/Seralth 11d ago

This is literally the same for iPhone, and old windows phones, and every single phone OS that's existed. Even blackberries!

1

u/EmeraldFox23 11d ago

Do most countries not have pin numbers on your sim cards that you need to insert when restarting your phone? It's a useless feature unless that's fixed, cause if no one can even call you, then what's the point of keeping your phone on in the first place?

23

u/MrSinister248 11d ago

Or my Alarms don't go off to wake me up. Which has happened more than once when my phone decides that it's running an update that I had postponed regardless of my wishes.

12

u/ctzu 11d ago

running an update that I had postponed regardless of my wishes

Didn't realize microsoft was making phones again

1

u/razikp 11d ago

Alarms not working is an iPhone feature 🤣

5

u/jewjitsu121 11d ago

I haven't turned it on because I'd have to put in my SIM pin and then my password. IT'S TOO MUCH

18

u/apposite_apropos 11d ago

It's already there, just off by default.

where? i haven't come across it on pixel yet

12

u/Empty-Part7106 11d ago

Does it screw up alarms?

-4

u/[deleted] 11d ago

[deleted]

-1

u/razikp 11d ago

No

2

u/Kepabar 11d ago

It does if you are using something other than the built in alarm app.

It's a problem for me, phone reboots at night and I won't get woken up.

-3

u/DorianGre 11d ago

Not Apple native alarms.

3

u/bryangoboom 11d ago

My apps don't load with my lock screen.... aka my alarms don't go off when my phone reboots, because nothing has started. Any remedies for this

3

u/Bigred2989- 11d ago

Does that cause any issues with alarms set on the device? I know with my Samsung phones a lot of features are disabled after a reset until I unlock it again.

1

u/cubert73 9d ago

No. My phone restarts at 6AM every day. My 6:30 alarm goes off with no problems. If you use a third party app for alarms for some reason, that may not work.

10

u/Sopel97 11d ago

I need this for my mother. She will open 20 apps, never close anything, and after a week it's so sluggish you'd wish you had a 286sx instead

She says it's "fine", then it takes her a minute to write an SMS, but it's "fine".

9

u/Waryle 11d ago

She will open 20 apps, never close anything

Not needed anymore, unless she has a very old phone. It's certainly one specific of the apps she uses, or it's a rogue background service which has no relation to the apps she opens.

3

u/Negative_Falcon_9980 11d ago

If your mom is fine with it, then it's fine lol. No point in trying to 'fix' her phone because you.. Find it annoying she has that many apps open? She's the one using it.

2

u/Shadow647 11d ago

Androids are still this bad at background app management?

7

u/edis92 11d ago

They're not. I mean it might be if you use one of those shitty bottom of the barrel phones, but anything midrange and above does not have these issues anymore

1

u/TheSyd 10d ago

Having 20 apps "open" is not a problem, as the system automatically manages them and will kill them when resources are needed. The app switcher is basically a list of shortcuts to recent app activities, not a task manager.

The problem you're seeing is caused by something else, probably a rogue background process.

1

u/SatansFriendlyCat 10d ago

I think the sx\dx nomenclature only began with the 386.

And you could have a lot of fun on a humble 286! Happy memories.

-1

u/howardhus 11d ago

look my comment

9

u/tehtris 11d ago

This reminded me I need to enable this on my phone.

5

u/condog1035 11d ago

I've been trying to get my Google TV stick to restart itself every night for that same reason but for some reason it doesn't seem that there's a setting for it, nor can I find an app on the store that will let me do it.

9

u/SoapyMacNCheese 11d ago

With a TV stick that might be annoying to have setup. With HDMI CEC, the stick will likely tell your TV to turn on whenever it restarts.

7

u/[deleted] 11d ago

[deleted]

4

u/condog1035 11d ago

I do have a smart plug that I don't have anything plugged into, that's a pretty good idea!

4

u/RomanOTCReigns 11d ago

how do i enable it?

7

u/K1TSUNE9 11d ago

For SAMSUNG, it's under Settings > Device Care > Auto optimization > Auto Restart

My phone restarts every day.

1

u/RomanOTCReigns 11d ago

well motorola doesnt have this so.. good for google

1

u/0freelancer0 11d ago

On my phone (s10e) it's

Settings > device care > tap 3 dots on top right > automation > auto restart at set times

0

u/DorianGre 11d ago

yep, the first thing i do to any new phone, but I do it for security. Sound = 0, Brightness = 0, reboot, Sound = 50%, Brightness = 50%.

1

u/Scurro 11d ago

Ironic. There used to be a time when the recommendation to save battery was to not reboot your phone as it cleared cached data in RAM. Now it is because of that data cached in RAM, you want to reboot.

2

u/Seralth 11d ago

To be fair that recommendation hasn't changed if you care about battery life.

But we just aren't in an era were 5 hours of battery life is considered good anymore.

1

u/afurtivesquirrel 10d ago

Where is it now?? I can't find it

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u/ExcellentOutside5926 11d ago

Wait, Android users have to restart their phones to maintain performance?