SCIFText

Keep the app awake.

SCIFText has to keep running to forward texts. Phones pause apps that sit in the background. The ongoing “SCIFText is running” notification is the part Android understands. Leave it in the notification drawer. Swiping it away is how some phones put the app to sleep.

That notification does not hold the processor on. The screen can still turn off. What it does is mark the app as working, so battery savers are less likely to freeze it.

Do this on every type of phone

  1. Open SCIFText and tap Set battery to unrestricted if you see it. That is Android’s own battery optimization. Choose Unrestricted, or Don’t optimize.
  2. Or do it by hand: Settings, Apps, SCIFText, Battery, Unrestricted. On some phones the label is “No restrictions” or “Don’t optimize”.
  3. Leave the SCIFText notification in the shade. Do not force-stop the app. Force stop keeps it dead until you open it again.
  4. Turn off ultra power saving, or add SCIFText to its allowed-apps list. Those modes pause almost everything that is not on the list.

Menu names change with the software version. If a tap below is missing, use the search box in Settings and search for the bold words.

Pixel Samsung Xiaomi Oppo vivo Huawei OnePlus Motorola Sony Nokia Asus Nothing Lenovo TCL Infinix Other Android

Other Android phones

Use the steps at the top. Then check Settings, Battery, Adaptive Battery. Unrestricted on SCIFText is enough. You do not have to turn Adaptive Battery off for the whole phone.

Google Pixel

  1. Settings, Apps, See all apps, SCIFText, App battery usage, Unrestricted.
  2. The same screen is under Settings, Battery, Battery usage, SCIFText.
  3. Settings, Apps, Special app access, Battery optimization, All apps, SCIFText, Don’t optimize.
  4. If Battery Saver is on, either turn it off or expect delays. Pixel’s Battery Saver does not have a per-app exception list.

Samsung Galaxy

Samsung has its own sleeping-apps list on top of Android’s battery setting. Both have to allow SCIFText. After a One UI update, check the lists again. Samsung sometimes puts apps back to sleep.

  1. Settings, Apps, SCIFText, Battery, Unrestricted.
  2. Settings, Battery, Background usage limits. On older One UI this is Settings, Battery and device care, Battery, Background usage limits.
  3. Open Never sleeping apps (some phones say Never auto sleeping apps). Tap +, add SCIFText.
  4. Open Sleeping apps and Deep sleeping apps. If SCIFText is listed, remove it.
  5. Settings, Battery and device care, Memory, Excluded apps, add SCIFText. This stops the memory cleaner from closing it.
  6. Settings, Apps, SCIFText, Mobile data. Turn on Allow background data usage, and Allow data usage while Data saver is on.
  7. If Power saving is on, open it and allow SCIFText if an exception list is there.

Xiaomi, Redmi, POCO (MIUI and HyperOS)

These phones kill background apps unless two switches are on: no battery restriction, and autostart. The Security app has a second copy of the same settings.

  1. Long-press the SCIFText icon, App info, Battery saver (or Battery), No restrictions.
  2. On that same App info screen, turn Autostart on. HyperOS may call it Background autostart. Turn that on too if you see both.
  3. Open the Security app, Battery, App battery saver, SCIFText, No restrictions.
  4. Security, or Settings, Apps, Permissions, Autostart. Turn SCIFText on.
  5. Open recent apps, long-press the SCIFText card, and tap the lock. A swipe from recents otherwise closes it.
  6. If Ultra battery saver is on, add SCIFText to the handful of apps it allows, or turn that mode off.

Oppo and Realme (ColorOS)

  1. Settings, Battery, More battery settings, Optimize battery use, SCIFText, Don’t optimize.
  2. Settings, Apps, App management, SCIFText, Battery usage. Allow background activity. Allow auto launch if it is listed.
  3. Phone Manager, App management, Auto-launch, turn SCIFText on.
  4. Open recent apps, long-press SCIFText, and lock it.

vivo and iQOO

  1. Settings, Battery, Background power consumption management, SCIFText, Don’t restrict.
  2. iManager or Phone Manager, App manager, Autostart, turn SCIFText on. Some models put this under Settings, More settings, Applications, Autostart.
  3. High background power consumption: if a prompt appears for SCIFText, allow it.
  4. Open recent apps, long-press SCIFText, and lock it.

Huawei and Honor

  1. Settings, Battery, App launch, SCIFText. Turn off Manage automatically.
  2. Turn on all three manual switches: Auto-launch, Secondary launch, and Run in background.
  3. Phone Manager, App launch, shows the same list if Settings does not.
  4. Open recent apps, swipe down on the SCIFText card, or tap the lock, so it stays open.

OnePlus

  1. Settings, Apps, SCIFText, Battery, Unrestricted.
  2. Settings, Battery, Battery optimization, three-dot menu if needed, All apps, SCIFText, Don’t optimize.
  3. If you see Advanced optimization or Deep optimization, turn it off for SCIFText, or off entirely if there is no per-app switch.
  4. Older OxygenOS: Settings, Apps, Auto-launch, allow SCIFText.
  5. Lock SCIFText in recent apps if a lock icon is there.

Motorola

  1. Settings, Apps, SCIFText, Battery, Unrestricted.
  2. Settings, Battery, Adaptive Battery can stay on. Unrestricted is the exception for this app.
  3. Settings, Apps, Special app access, Battery optimization, All apps, SCIFText, Don’t optimize.

Sony Xperia

  1. Settings, Apps, SCIFText, Battery, Unrestricted.
  2. Settings, Battery, Stamina mode. If Stamina is on, open Apps active in standby (or Excepted apps) and add SCIFText.
  3. Ultra Stamina mode only runs a few apps. Add SCIFText there or leave that mode off.

Nokia (HMD)

  1. Settings, Apps, SCIFText, Battery, Unrestricted.
  2. Settings, Apps, Special app access, Battery optimization, All apps, SCIFText, Don’t optimize.
  3. Adaptive Battery can stay on.

Asus

  1. Settings, Apps, SCIFText, Battery, Unrestricted.
  2. Mobile Manager, PowerMaster, Auto-start manager, allow SCIFText.
  3. PowerMaster, Battery optimization, or App power saving, set SCIFText to no restriction.
  4. Lock the app in recent apps if Mobile Manager offers a lock.

Nothing Phone

  1. Settings, Apps, SCIFText, App battery usage, Unrestricted.
  2. Settings, Apps, Special app access, Battery optimization, All apps, SCIFText, Don’t optimize.

Nothing OS follows stock Android. There is no separate autostart list.

Lenovo

  1. Settings, Apps, SCIFText, Battery, No restrictions or Unrestricted.
  2. If a Security or Phone Manager app is installed, open its autostart list and allow SCIFText.
  3. Lock SCIFText in recent apps if the card has a lock.

TCL

  1. Settings, Apps, SCIFText, Battery, Unrestricted.
  2. Settings, Battery, Battery optimization, All apps, SCIFText, Don’t optimize.
  3. Phone Manager, if present, Auto-launch or App launch, allow SCIFText.

Infinix, Tecno, itel

  1. Phone Master, Auto-start, turn SCIFText on. Some builds call the app Phone Manager.
  2. Settings, Battery, Power management, App launch, SCIFText. Switch to manual and allow auto-launch, secondary launch, and background running.
  3. Settings, Apps, SCIFText, Battery, No restrictions.
  4. Lock SCIFText in recent apps.

If it still stops

Open SCIFText once after a reboot so the running notification comes back. A force stop, or a swipe from recents on Xiaomi, Oppo, vivo, and Huawei, clears that until the next open. The lock in recents is what prevents the swipe from winning.