App does not pause in the background

Elsewhere3987

I installed Instagram and gave it network and notifications permission, the latter to verify whether or not it would keep operating in the background.
I disallowed background data and background usage, and toggled on "Pause app activity if unused".
All exploit protections are activated, with the exception of DCL.

However while all these measures are in place, I keep receiving notifications even if the app has been closed for over 1 hour.
Is this to be expected? Is it because of Play Services? Does this mean that Instagram is also effectively running in the background?

Thank you for reading.

Onlyfun

Elsewhere3987 I'm joining with same issue, but in Tor Browser app. And adtnl question, that background data toggle is in the mobile data usage section, so does it allow/restrict only mobile data to be used in background, therefore it is usless for someone with a simless setup?, correct?

tfurthi

Hello there,
while searching the internet I found your topic and would like to join. Maybe someone can help/explain.

I got a banking app installed which I disallowed background data and usage as well as enabled "Pause APP activity".
But still I receive a notification few seconds / minutes after I paid something with my card.

The app is not listed in the running apps (double swipe down on the notification bar)

Kind regards ;)

Probably9857

tfurthi

This is because the app uses FCM push notifications from Play Services. This does not require the app to run in the background.

Play Services runs in the background and receives the notification. In some cases, Play Services can just show you the notification itself without the app ever doing anything. In other cases, Play Services will delegate to the app, including starting the app up if it's not running.

[deleted]

tfurthi to put it bluntly, what is happening is independent on the activity of your app. Notification receipt is controlled by Play Services, which can wake your app if a new event occurs. You are not doing anything wrong.

Probably9857

tfurthi as well as enabled "Pause APP activity"

This setting means that if the app is not opened for some period of time - I'm not sure exactly how long, but it's a pretty long time, weeks or months - then the system will do some things. It's not really relevant to your question.

tfurthi

Wow, amazing how fast the answers come in.
Thank you very much!

So the settings for the banking app are okay.
I did set the same settings for play store and services framework.

But if I understand you correct I can not limit the Apps that use FCM?

Probably9857

tfurthi I can not limit the Apps that use FCM?

Generally not. It is up to the app's developers. However, there are a few things you can control...

Don't install Play Services (in the profile where the app is)
- For some apps, this will prevent notifications from working
- Other apps (for example, Signal) have fallback solutions for this scenario, so notifications may still work, but the app will need to run in the background and will use more battery
Some apps have different builds that include/exclude the Google Play libraries (for example, Molly)