A
Android Central Question
For the last month, my Samsung Galaxy S8 had started having intermittent issues where it would turn itself off. It would sometimes randomly turn itself off a few times in a row, and then seem fine for a while and then eventually do it again.
Yesterday it happened again but didn't stop after a few times. It turned itself off approximately every two minutes. Sometimes it would run a bit longer, but usually just two minutes. It's still happening today.
Weirdly, I eventually noticed that it would not turn itself off while Pokemon Go was running. After my phone turned itself off about ten times, I was playing Pokemon Go for about 40 minutes without any issues. After I closed the app, my phone turned itself off within a few seconds. I tried this a few more times with the same results. It continued to turn itself off every two minutes unless the game was running.
I wondered if there was a problem with the app running in the background, so I turned off background data for the game, but the problem persisted. I uninstalled the game, and the problem persisted.
I tried running other games. The other games also prevented the phone from shutting itself off (but only games with animated graphics). Youtube also prevents it, both the app and in a browser.
Other notes:
-running Android 9
-bought "mint" in November, not under warranty
-The battery is at the same percentage when the phone starts back up as it was when it died the last time. It is draining at a normal pace.
-I tried wiping the cache partition and it didn't help.
-It still happens in safe mode.
-It turns itself off while I'm browsing the internet, using Google maps navigation, playing local videos on the phone storage, using Twitter and most other non-intensive apps, charging, not charging, and even when the screen is off and the phone isn't being used at all. This usually happens every two minutes.
-It does not turn itself off when running a game with animated graphics, or playing youtube videos, or (so far) when making a call. It also doesn't turn off when a game is running but there is nothing moving on the screen (example: when an ad plays in the game and then stops and the screen is still, but the game launcher "drag lock icon to unlock" comes up and the phone does not shut down).
-when I use the pop-up panel while gaming (in advanced game features), if the pop-up window is selected, the phone turns off. If I use the pop-up panel for two seconds and then quickly re-select the game window, it doesn't turn off. I'd have to keep re-selecting the game window every few seconds to avoid shutdown.
-My screen timeout was set to two minutes, and I switched it to five minutes just in case that was related, but the phone still shuts off after two minutes unless I open a game.
-I have not yet tried a factory reset because I don't have a data backup yet.
Please let me know if you have any ideas on how to fix this.
If all else fails, I'd also be open to creative ideas of how to force the phone to keep running by keeping a small popup of a game or something over my main screen, at least for a month or so until I can get a new phone. This might help me back up my data as well.
Thanks.
Yesterday it happened again but didn't stop after a few times. It turned itself off approximately every two minutes. Sometimes it would run a bit longer, but usually just two minutes. It's still happening today.
Weirdly, I eventually noticed that it would not turn itself off while Pokemon Go was running. After my phone turned itself off about ten times, I was playing Pokemon Go for about 40 minutes without any issues. After I closed the app, my phone turned itself off within a few seconds. I tried this a few more times with the same results. It continued to turn itself off every two minutes unless the game was running.
I wondered if there was a problem with the app running in the background, so I turned off background data for the game, but the problem persisted. I uninstalled the game, and the problem persisted.
I tried running other games. The other games also prevented the phone from shutting itself off (but only games with animated graphics). Youtube also prevents it, both the app and in a browser.
Other notes:
-running Android 9
-bought "mint" in November, not under warranty
-The battery is at the same percentage when the phone starts back up as it was when it died the last time. It is draining at a normal pace.
-I tried wiping the cache partition and it didn't help.
-It still happens in safe mode.
-It turns itself off while I'm browsing the internet, using Google maps navigation, playing local videos on the phone storage, using Twitter and most other non-intensive apps, charging, not charging, and even when the screen is off and the phone isn't being used at all. This usually happens every two minutes.
-It does not turn itself off when running a game with animated graphics, or playing youtube videos, or (so far) when making a call. It also doesn't turn off when a game is running but there is nothing moving on the screen (example: when an ad plays in the game and then stops and the screen is still, but the game launcher "drag lock icon to unlock" comes up and the phone does not shut down).
-when I use the pop-up panel while gaming (in advanced game features), if the pop-up window is selected, the phone turns off. If I use the pop-up panel for two seconds and then quickly re-select the game window, it doesn't turn off. I'd have to keep re-selecting the game window every few seconds to avoid shutdown.
-My screen timeout was set to two minutes, and I switched it to five minutes just in case that was related, but the phone still shuts off after two minutes unless I open a game.
-I have not yet tried a factory reset because I don't have a data backup yet.
Please let me know if you have any ideas on how to fix this.
If all else fails, I'd also be open to creative ideas of how to force the phone to keep running by keeping a small popup of a game or something over my main screen, at least for a month or so until I can get a new phone. This might help me back up my data as well.
Thanks.