Keeping Wandrr Running

Why location sharing sometimes stops on Android — and how to fix it for good.

The short version

To save battery, Android — and especially custom versions from makers like Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei/Honor, OPPO, Vivo, OnePlus and BlackView — can stop apps that run in the background and prevent them from starting after a reboot. When that happens to Wandrr, your circle stops seeing your location. Granting two permissions — Unrestricted battery and Auto-start — fixes it on almost every phone.

Quick checklist

Do these five things and Wandrr will keep sharing reliably:

  1. Set Wandrr's battery usage to Unrestricted (not "Optimised").
  2. Enable Auto-start (sometimes called "Auto-launch" or "Startup") for Wandrr.
  3. Turn off Power Save / battery saver, or exclude Wandrr from it.
  4. Lock Wandrr in Recent apps so clearing recents doesn't close it.
  5. After restarting your phone, open Wandrr once if sharing has stopped.

The two settings that matter

Unrestricted battery

Lets Wandrr keep working while it's in the background or your screen is off. Without it, Android throttles or stops location updates to save power, so your position goes stale or disappears.

Auto-start on boot

Lets Wandrr restart itself after you reboot your phone. Without it, many phones force-stop the app during boot, and a stopped app can't restart on its own — you'd have to open it manually every time. This is a separate setting from battery, and it's the one most people miss.

If sharing stopped after a restart or a "force stop": just open Wandrr once. A phone keeps a force-stopped app from doing anything — including restarting — until you open it again. Enabling Auto-start prevents it from happening next time.

Steps for your phone

Menus differ by brand. Find yours below — the labels on your phone may vary slightly by model and version.

  • Auto-start / keep alive: Settings → Battery → Background usage limits → Never sleeping apps → add Wandrr.
  • Battery: Settings → Apps → Wandrr → Battery → Unrestricted.
  • Make sure Wandrr is not in "Sleeping" or "Deep sleeping" apps.

  • Autostart: Security app → Permissions → Autostart → enable Wandrr. (Or Settings → Apps → Wandrr → Autostart.)
  • Battery: Settings → Apps → Wandrr → Battery saver → No restrictions.
  • In Recent apps, pull Wandrr down and tap the lock icon.

  • App launch: Settings → Battery → App launch → Wandrr → turn off Manage automatically, then enable Auto-launch, Secondary launch and Run in background.
  • Battery: leave Wandrr out of any "power-intensive app" prompts; choose Keep running.

  • Auto-start: Settings → App management → Wandrr → Allow Auto Startup (or Phone Manager → Privacy permissions → Startup manager).
  • Battery: Settings → Battery → Wandrr → Allow background activity; turn off "Sleep / Deep sleep" for it.
  • Lock Wandrr in Recent apps.

  • Autostart: iManager → App manager → Autostart manager → enable Wandrr.
  • Background: Settings → Battery → High background power consumption → allow Wandrr; set battery to Unrestricted.

  • Battery: Settings → Battery → Battery optimization → Wandrr → Don't optimize.
  • Settings → Apps → Wandrr → Battery → turn off "Intelligent control" / allow background activity.
  • Lock Wandrr in Recent apps.

  • Auto Start: open System Manager → App Management → Auto Start → enable Wandrr. (This is the key step — without it the phone force-stops Wandrr on every reboot.)
  • Battery: Settings → Apps → Wandrr → Battery → Unrestricted.
  • Avoid "memory cleaner" / "phone boost" tools, or add Wandrr to their protected list.

  • Settings → Apps → Wandrr → Battery → choose Unrestricted / "Don't optimize".
  • Look for an Auto-start, Auto-launch or Startup manager setting (often in a "Security", "Phone Manager" or "Device care" app) and enable Wandrr.
  • Lock Wandrr in Recent apps; turn off battery saver.

For detailed, illustrated steps for hundreds of phone models, see the community guide at dontkillmyapp.com.

In the Wandrr app you can jump straight to these settings: open Settings → Battery & Background and use the Request Unrestricted Access and Open Auto-start Settings buttons.