Android gives 3rd-party application developers a lot of freedom when it comes to what they can do on the platform. Google is aware that this might not be the best idea when it comes to battery life and they hope to fix some of the worst offenders in the upcoming Android O update. Until then, and for those who own devices that will not receive the update, we will have to look elsewhere for ways to keep applications from running rampant on our devices.

For many, this has resulted in us using a popular application called Greenify. This works by letting the user "hibernate" an application when it's not in use and it has been phenomenal for many of us within the community. If you haven't had a good experience with Greenify in the past, or maybe you're just looking for an alternative, I'd like to point you to an open source application called Brevent from XDA Senior Member liudongmiao.

This developer was known for an Xposed module called Prevent Running, which was recently transferred to a new company. Since then, they have forked an update that doesn't require root, it doesn't required Xposed Framework and it doesn't require an unlocked bootloader. However, for Brevent to work properly without root access, you will need to execute an ADB command each time your smartphone is shut down or restarted.

liudongmiao does go on to say that Brevent has an experimental root mode included and that could let you use the application without having to execute the ADB command after a reboot. However, this is experimental and may not work all the time. If you're curious about Brevent, be sure to check the official XDA thread for the application as the link is down below. The application can be installed for free from the Play Store, and the source code is also published on GitHub right now as well.

Check out Brevent in our Apps and Games forum

Play Store

GitHub