Your Samsung Galaxy phone puts apps into deep sleep to reduce battery consumption. However, this prevents those apps from receiving updates from the Google Play Store – they won’t even appear in the list of updates, even if one is available. A simple app can solve this problem. Here’s how to update deep sleeping apps on your Samsung Galaxy phone.
What Are Deep Sleeping Apps in One UI?
Samsung Galaxy phones running One UI 2.1 and newer (yes, it’s an older feature) come with the Deep Sleeping apps feature. When you haven’t used certain apps for a long time, they’re automatically put into a state of hibernation to conserve battery life and system resources.
These apps become completely inactive in the background; they do not run automatically, receive notifications, or check for updates unless you manually open them. This translates to longer battery life and smoother performance.
While your Samsung Galaxy phone automatically puts unused apps into deep sleep, you also have the option to manage this process manually. To add, remove, or view the apps currently in deep sleep:
- Open Settings. Tap on Battery.
- Select Background usage limits.
- Tap on Deep Sleeping apps.
Here you’ll find a list of all the apps that are currently hibernating. To remove an app from deep sleep, long-press on it and select the remove option. To add an app to deep sleep, tap the + icon in the top right corner and choose the app you want to add.
The Problem: Deep Sleep Apps and the Play Store
Unfortunately, the Google Play Store doesn’t show updates for apps that have been put into deep sleep. This happens because the Play Store primarily checks for updates on apps that are actively running or have recently been used. Since deep-sleeping apps are in a state of hibernation and not actively running in the background, the Play Store doesn’t recognize them as needing updates.
The Play Store will show available updates for any app in deep sleep only when you open the app manually. This is annoying because when you want to use an app, you will find yourself using an older, potentially less secure, or feature-rich version.
The Solution: The Runner App
Don’t worry, we have a solution. Runner is a simple app that launches all user-installed (non-system) deep sleeping apps, allowing you to check for app updates in the Play Store. Once you turn off the screen, all these apps will be put back to sleep.
Here’s how to use the Runner app on your Samsung Galaxy phone:
- Download and install the latest Runner APK on your Samsung Galaxy phone.
- Once installed, open the app. This should automatically launch the Play Store.
- In the Play Store, select Check for updates and wait a few seconds for it to detect any available app updates.
- After you’ve updated the apps, you can turn off your phone’s display. All of these apps will be put back into sleep mode.
It’s super quick and launches in about 2-5 seconds even if you have hundreds of deep sleeping apps. Just tap it, give it a few seconds, and you’re already in the Play Store. Check for updates and boom – you’re done.
Remember to run this app once in a while to keep all your apps on the latest version.
