Parental control on Samsung Galaxy: what to set up
Samsung Galaxy phones (One UI) save battery their own way: apps that haven't been opened for a while go to "sleeping" and "deep sleeping" apps. For parental control that's bad: a "sleeping" KidPair won't start a break on time and stops updating the location. Here is what to set up once.
The main thing: unrestricted battery
KidPair recognises that the child's phone is a Samsung and shows this maker's special settings under the main permission list, with an "Open" button. More
- Battery → "Unrestricted". On KidPair's app page: "Battery" → "Unrestricted". The switch alone isn't enough: "Optimised" still puts the app to sleep when idle.
- Take KidPair out of the sleeping lists. "Settings" → "Device care" (or "Battery and device care") → "Battery" → "Background usage limits": KidPair must not be in "Sleeping apps" or "Deep sleeping apps". If there is "Put unused apps to sleep", turn it off.
- Keep KidPair open in recent apps. Open the list of open apps, tap KidPair's icon at the top of its card and choose "Keep open" (on some versions, "Lock"). Then "Close all" won't touch it.
Do step 1 before "Uninstall protection": after that Android won't let you change the battery mode. Background work
Steps for any Android phone
- Accessibility → "Installed apps" → "KidPair: breaks and schedules" — without this service breaks and limits don't work. How
- KidPair shows everything in order on the "Still to allow" screen. Permissions
If KidPair is installed from a file rather than from Google Play, Android may grey out Accessibility. Then on the app page tap ⋮ → "Allow restricted settings". Installing from Google Play is simplest.
What about Samsung's built-in parental controls?
Samsung settings have "Digital Wellbeing and parental controls". The parental controls there are Google Family Link: it manages the child's Google account (Google Play purchases, YouTube and Chrome settings). KidPair doesn't manage the Google account; instead the child sees every rule, can ask for more time, and there's SOS and family calls. You can use both, but it's better to set screen-time limits in only one of them. An honest comparison with Family Link
How to tell everything works
On the adult's Home screen the child's card says "Everything works". If the phone stops reporting or protection is turned off, KidPair says so plainly.
To be honest: no Android app can promise it can never be switched off. But with these settings Samsung stops putting KidPair to sleep, and if something changes, you'll know right away.