Phone screen turns on after starting flight mode

Sensor66

Since about 3 months there is a peculiar behaviour: every time I turn on flight mode, 5 minutes later the screen turns on.
This time of 5 minutes is absolutely stable. Then if I manually turn off the screen, the situation is back to normal.
Of course this leads to problems when I have the phone in my pocket: several times it started clicking buttons that lead to loss of data.
Is there a log where I can see what happens? Thanks!

DeletedUser495

Sensor66 what loss of data are we talking about here? Any access to data should be prevented when using lockscreen.

other8026

Sensor66 Since about 3 months there is a peculiar behaviour: every time I turn on flight mode, 5 minutes later the screen turns on.

I tried and couldn't reproduce it. Can you give exact steps how to do so?

But even if it's reproducible, it may not be due to a change in GrapheneOS.

Sensor66

DeletedUser495 Ehh, when the screen is on, any button can be pushed in my pocket. In my case, I lost data from map software that was recording a trip, and data from calendar items that were erased.
But the point is: the screen should not turn on, unless I press the "screen on" button. What happens is that the screen turns on 5 minutes after I set flight mode (and then of course I turn off the screen).

DeletedUser495

Sensor66 if you have any persistent notifications active that are regularly updating and wake screen for notifications on this could easily be the case. But reasons may be many. And you should consider using your device with your personal data on in a way that doesn't break your security.

DohnJoe

Sensor66 In my case, I lost data from map software that was recording a trip, and data from calendar items that were erased.

Just to clarify, are you suggesting that also your lockscreen is bypassed?
Or you do not have one?

Maybe this is relevant to reproduce the issue on other smartphones.

Sensor66

DeletedUser495 The issue is not notifications. When after 5min the screen lights up, there is no notification at all. Just the screen turning on.

And you should consider using your device with your personal data on in a way that doesn't break your security.

What do you mean with this? I am just using the device as normal, only since 3 months there is this behavior after activating flight mode.

Sensor66

The problem is still there. Nearly every time when I turn on Flight mode (usually once a day before going to sleep, but it may happen at other times during the day), after 5 minutes the screen turns on.

My question now: can I inspect a log file that tells me what is happening on the phone?

Sensor66

Still the same question: why does my screen turn on, 5 minutes after I have set flight mode. I assume it's not GrapheneOS per se, as others don't have this. But what app could cause this? How do I find out? Can I turn on logging of what happens?

Johnnyloans

Sensor66

Use a safe, secure computer and possibly a thumb-drive, portable OS. (A computer that has been hacked can hack your phone with 'usb debugging' turned on)

On your GOS phone:

USB enabled
Settings > security & privacy > exploit protection > USB-C Port > ON
Enable developer options
Settings > About phone > Tap 'Build number' 7 times in a row
USB debugging
Settings > System > Developer Options > USB debugging > on

Get 'adb' on the computer (linux package is called android-tools or adb i think)
Plug in the phone and accept the connection for usb debugging on the phone.

Repeat your steps to produce the erroneous behavior
After the screen turns on and wakes up run this command:

(linux only? I don't use powershell on windows)

adb shell dumpsys alarm | grep -A 10 'App Alarm history'

or this works too

adb shell dumpsys alarm

Look for an entry that looks similar to this:
(I redacted most of mine. See the bottom line)
Copy and paste the results into a text editor so you can ctrl + F search easily if it is a lot of information.

App Alarm history:
APP, u0: -4
APP, u0: -6
APP, u0: -4
APP, u0: -1
APP, u0: -3
APP, u11: -1
APP, u11: -2
APP, u0: -1
com.android.deskclock, u0: -15s81ms,

u# is the profile.
u0=owner/main profile | u11=private space
I set a clock timer for 3 seconds, turned the screen off, and then did the above check. "com.android.deskclock" confirms this.

-15s81ms = How long ago an alarm event was--15 seconds ago.

Change the settings back:

USB charge only (my preference for security)
Settings > security & privacy > exploit protection > USB-C Port > charge only
USB debugging
Settings > System > Developer Options > USB debugging > OFF
Disable developer options
Settings > System > Developer Options > "use developer options = off" (Very top)

Try to not change any developer settings. Could cause more weird issues.

Cammy

Johnnyloans replying for later use. Thank. Is there a way I can communicate with you somewhere more private? In not seeing an option for direct message

Johnnyloans

What you're experiencing might not be an alarm. A wake up instead. Then do

adb shell dumpsys alarm

And find the most recent time(s) in the latter half.
e.g.

u0a88:com.android.deskclock +80ms running, 2 wakeups:
  +80ms 2 wakes 2 alarms, last -15s81ms:

Not all wake ups will turn the screen on. (e.g. An APP might wake up keep an mqtt connection to a server alive)

If you can't find the culprit, there are other commands to try. Let me know

Sensor66

Johnnyloans
Thanks a lot for your suggestions, I am going to try.
One question: in your second post about the "wake up instead", the adb command

Johnnyloans adb shell dumpsys alarm

is the same. Is that correct?

Sensor66

Johnnyloans Thanks again, I managed to produce the logs.
So what happened: I set flight mode at 03h 23m (am), and about 5 minutes later the screen turned on.
Some 6h 20m later I made the logs. I have to admit that I don't see any clear culprit.
Here are the lines that could be relevant at that time:

1002:
  #1: Reason=alarm_cancelled elapsed=-6h20m58s876ms rtc=2026-02-18 03:16:10.673
    Snapshot:
      type=ELAPSED_WAKEUP tag=*walarm*:BluetoothMetricsLogger
      policyWhenElapsed: requester=-4h44m52s40ms app_standby=-10h44m52s37ms device_idle=-6h27m10s942ms battery_saver=--

(...)
u0a99:
#1: Reason=alarm_cancelled elapsed=-1h42m25s647ms rtc=2026-02-18 07:54:42.637
Snapshot:
type=ELAPSED_WAKEUP tag=walarm:null
policyWhenElapsed: requester=-1h42m16s902ms app_standby=-1h42m26s901ms device_idle=-- battery_saver=-1h42m26s901ms
#2: Reason=alarm_cancelled elapsed=-6h20m58s610ms rtc=2026-02-18 03:16:10.939
Snapshot:
type=ELAPSED_WAKEUP tag=walarm:null
policyWhenElapsed: requester=-6h20m49s223ms app_standby=-6h20m59s221ms device_idle=-- battery_saver=-6h20m59s221ms
(...)

u0a103:
  #1: Reason=pi_cancelled elapsed=-26s705ms rtc=2026-02-18 09:36:41.579
    Snapshot:
      type=ELAPSED_WAKEUP tag=*walarm*:com.android.internal.policy.impl.PhoneWindowManager.DELAYED_KEYGUARD
      policyWhenElapsed: requester=+27m37s218ms app_standby=-2m22s779ms device_idle=-- battery_saver=-2m22s779ms
  #2: Reason=pi_cancelled elapsed=-6h13m32s986ms rtc=2026-02-18 03:23:36.564
    Snapshot:
      type=ELAPSED_WAKEUP tag=*walarm*:com.android.internal.policy.impl.PhoneWindowManager.DELAYED_KEYGUARD
      policyWhenElapsed: requester=-5h50m45s665ms app_standby=-6h20m45s645ms device_idle=-6h15m56s911ms battery_saver=-6h20m45s645ms
  #3: Reason=pi_cancelled elapsed=-6h20m45s640ms rtc=2026-02-18 03:16:23.910
    Snapshot:
      type=ELAPSED_WAKEUP tag=*walarm*:com.android.internal.policy.impl.PhoneWindowManager.DELAYED_KEYGUARD
      policyWhenElapsed: requester=-5h52m49s780ms app_standby=-6h22m49s758ms device_idle=--  battery_saver=-6h22m49s758ms

(...)
u0a103:com.android.systemui +1s264ms running, 27 wakeups:
+1s191ms 26 wakes 26 alarms, last -1h11m33s549ms:
walarm:com.android.internal.policy.impl.PhoneWindowManager.DELAYED_KEYGUARD
+60ms 0 wakes 1 alarms, last -6h21m34s182ms:
alarm:lock_screen_next_alarm
(...)

u0a158:com.google.android.gms +7s536ms running, 48 wakeups:
        (...and then a few lines later:)
+148ms 5 wakes 5 alarms, last -6h15m57s48ms:
  *walarm*:com.google.android.gms.personalsafety.psa.ACTION_CONNECTIVITY_PROTECTION_LOCK

That is all I see around that time.
Any suggestions?

Johnnyloans

Sensor66 is the same.

Ya same command in both posts

Johnnyloans

Cammy

No thank you

Johnnyloans

Sensor66

Hello, apologies for the delay. My previous advice was bad, sorry.

Try this

adb logcat | grep --color=auto -iE 'screen.?on'

I would immediately select the last 3-10 lines so it is easy to see the entire section that is brand new when the screen turns on--everythinig below the block of highlighted text. Try to not cause a commotion or vibrations next to your phone to make it wake up due to movement. Don't have a timer, alarm, calendar interrupt this.

I get the below text from a single screen-on event.
For my example, the culprit is at the end of the first line--an app named Automation.

03-04 13:19:39.388  1443  2886 I PowerManagerService: Allowing device wake-up without android.permission.TURN_SCREEN_ON for com.jens.automation2
03-04 13:19:39.396  1443  1672 I DisplayPowerController[0]: Blocking screen on until initial contents have been drawn.
03-04 13:19:39.427  2263  3431 I SHANNON_IMS: 1389 [PROX] onReceive: intent= [Intent { act=android.intent.action.SCREEN_ON flg=0x50200010 }] (ConnectivityBroadcastReceiver%onReceive:91)
03-04 13:19:39.427  2911  2911 D IwlanBroadcastReceiver: onReceive: android.intent.action.SCREEN_ON
03-04 13:19:39.427  2911  3003 D IwlanDataService$IwlanDataServiceHandler: msg.what = SCREEN_ON_EVENT
03-04 13:19:39.429  3156  4765 I NearbyDiscovery: (REDACTED) ApFastPairScanner: isScreenOn=%s, isLocationEnabled=%s, disableLocationRequirement=%s, isDiscoveryScanningEnabled=%s, during24GhzWifiWarmingUpPeriod=%s
03-04 13:19:39.431  2911  3003 D EpdgTunnelManager[0]: On triggering underlying network validation. Event: SCREEN_ON
03-04 13:19:39.442  1443  1672 I DisplayPowerController[0]: Unblocked screen on after 46 ms
03-04 13:19:39.453  6892  6892 D _BackgroundService$PowerStateLogger: triggeringAction=android.intent.action.SCREEN_ON isPowerSaveMode=false locationPowerSaveMode=0 isDeviceIdleMode=false isDeviceLightIdleMode=false isInteractive=true isIgnoringBatteryOptimizations=true
03-04 13:19:39.464  3156  4765 I NearbyDiscovery: (REDACTED) ApFastPairScanner: isScreenOn=%s, isLocationEnabled=%s, disableLocationRequirement=%s, isDiscoveryScanningEnabled=%s, during24GhzWifiWarmingUpPeriod=%s

Sensor66

DohnJoe
This problem happens exactly 5 minutes after I turn on flight mode. And to turn on flight mode I have to unlock the phone. My unlock period is longer than 5 minutes, so I have never seen this. I can test it though, will try to do that.