Question Screen sleeps

[jsampson45]

Re Samsung S7 phone, current Android version: When booting up, the screen starts the session by going black and having to be restarted by pressing the power button. Then it keeps going black and having to be restarted by pressing the power button. It is just the display that behaves this way. After a while it seems to settle down and stay on. Android has always been like this. Is there a way of keeping the screen on without having to press this button again and again all the time? Timeout is set to 10 minutes but that does not seem to mean anything.

 

[B. Diddy]

Just checking -- when you say "current Android version," I assume you mean the last Android version the Galaxy S7 (which was released all the way back in 2016) got, which would be Android 8 Oreo, right?

All phones have a display timeout setting, which is important to preserve battery and screen health. What's your set to?

 

[jsampson45]

I have Android version 14 but this problem is not new nor confined to this phone. It seems to be a feature of Android. As I wrote, timeout is set to 10 minutes, FWIW.

 

[B. Diddy]

Are you talking about the lockscreen only, or also the homescreen?

Are any power-saving modes turned on?

Also, do you have a case with a smartcover that folds all the way back? Or any kind of magnet that might be near the phone? Magnets are used to trigger the smartcover sensor, which turns the screen off.

 

[jsampson45]

I have never heard of a lockscreen. AFAIK I am looking at the homescreen. When the screen goes black all I have to do is press the power button to wake it up. It does not need a PIN or code. There are no magnets near the phone. One guess is that although the phone has booted to a usable state, unseen apps that come with the system are still booting silently. This process may continue to interfere with use of the phone for a while.

 

[B. Diddy]

The lockscreen is what you see when you turn on the phone's screen without unlocking it (with your PIN, password, fingerprint, face, etc.). If you don't have a lockscreen set up, it would be highly advisable to do so; otherwise, if someone were to get hold of your phone, they could easily get a lot of very sensitive information from it.

In case some 3rd party app you installed is interfering, try booting into Safe Mode and see if the issue persists: https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS10003495/

 

[mustang7757]

I have Android version 14 but this problem is not new nor confined to this phone. It seems to be a feature of Android. As I wrote, timeout is set to 10 minutes, FWIW.

Hi
The Samsung s7 phone doesn't have Android 14 , can you clarify which device you have or has it been altered like installing another ROM?

 

[mustang7757]

This is a Samsung s7 phone, yours looks like this ?

 

[jsampson45]

i thought it was S7 but also, or instead, it is A14. How does this relate to my question?

 

[B. Diddy]

It's important to know the actual device model name, so that we know we're not dealing with some kind of knockoff device (which would be more likely to have software or hardware defects). It makes more sense that you say it's a Galaxy A14 -- but to be clear, it's a Samsung Galaxy A14, right? Not some no-name or off-brand device that happens to go by the model number "A14"?

 

[jsampson45]

I am assuming that the issue is with Android, not the device. The device was provided as part of a Vodafone deal. To my knowledge it is a Samsung Galaxy whatever. For the purpose of my question, is repeated blanking of the screen a known part of the booting process of Android, or of other installations by phone service providers such as Vodafone, or not? If it is a fault in the device my remedy is with the shop I got it from. But I have experienced similar blankings after bootup on other devices, too.

 

[mustang7757]

I am assuming that the issue is with Android, not the device. The device was provided as part of a Vodafone deal. To my knowledge it is a Samsung Galaxy whatever. For the purpose of my question, is repeated blanking of the screen a known part of the booting process of Android, or of other installations by phone service providers such as Vodafone, or not? If it is a fault in the device my remedy is with the shop I got it from. But I have experienced similar blankings after bootup on other devices, too.

Can you post a video of this happening? To get a clearer picture if it's normal or not.

 

[jsampson45]

Sorry, no. It would be impractical. If there is no record of this happening to other Android users I will take it that I need to enquire at the shop.

 

[mustang7757]

Yeah best bet is to take it to a shop

 

[B. Diddy]

I am assuming that the issue is with Android, not the device. The device was provided as part of a Vodafone deal. To my knowledge it is a Samsung Galaxy whatever. For the purpose of my question, is repeated blanking of the screen a known part of the booting process of Android, or of other installations by phone service providers such as Vodafone, or not? If it is a fault in the device my remedy is with the shop I got it from. But I have experienced similar blankings after bootup on other devices, too.

It's absolutely not normal for the screen to black out repeatedly upon startup. I'm also not aware of any typical mainstream app causing this behavior either.

Have you tried Safe Mode yet, as I suggested above?