Question about apps preventing my tablet from going to sleep

[malcolm k]

I'm new to the Android world, but I just got a new Nexus 7 tablet and was starting to choose a few apps to download, when I came across a funny requirement. Most of the apps I looked at stated that they needed to be able to prevent the device from going to sleep. I can understand this for a movie app like netflix, where you wouldn't want the device to sleep while streaming a movie. But I wonder why news apps, like BBCnews or NYTimes would have this requirement. It makes me worry that it could impact battery life. Can anyone shed some light on how these apps behave in regard to sleeping the device, and whether I should expect any impact on my battery? Thanks.

 

[Scott Kenyon]

If you're reading an article and your screen turns off, you cannot read the article anymore

Sent from my HTC One with MoDaCo.SWITCH Beta 8 using Mobile Nations mobile app

 

[B. Diddy]

A lot of reading apps will prevent sleep. You can imagine that it would be pretty annoying if you were trying to read a long passage of a book or a magazine, or perusing a complex diagram, and the device kept going to sleep. As for impact on battery life--if you open a reader app, start reading, then put the device down to do something else, then forget you were reading, then yes, the battery will likely run down faster since the screen will remain on. It's a trade-off, so just remember to put the device to sleep if you leave it for a bit.

 

[Golfdriver97]

I'm new to the Android world, but I just got a new Nexus 7 tablet and was starting to choose a few apps to download, when I came across a funny requirement. Most of the apps I looked at stated that they needed to be able to prevent the device from going to sleep. I can understand this for a movie app like netflix, where you wouldn't want the device to sleep while streaming a movie. But I wonder why news apps, like BBCnews or NYTimes would have this requirement. It makes me worry that it could impact battery life. Can anyone shed some light on how these apps behave in regard to sleeping the device, and whether I should expect any impact on my battery? Thanks.

Welcome to the forums!
That permission should only be applicable when the app is open. If it is not, the device should go to sleep. You can test it. Download one, open it for a few minutes, end it, then let you device sleep for about 30 minutes. Check the battery stats in Settings>Battery. Click on the chart, and beneath it will have a bar graph showing when the device is awake.