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App Freezing

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sameerasw edited this page Aug 9, 2026 · 1 revision

❄️ App Freezing

App Freezing puts selected apps into a completely suspended state — they cannot run in the background, receive push notifications, or consume battery until you manually unfreeze them or open them.

Overview

ID: Freeze
Permissions: SHIZUKU/ROOT, USAGE_STATS, NOTIFICATION_LISTENER

App Freezing is more aggressive than Android's built-in battery optimization. When frozen, an app is truly stopped — similar to disabling it, but without losing your data or settings.

How It Works

  1. You select apps to freeze
  2. Essentials uses Shizuku/Root to call pm suspend <package> (for root) or the PackageManager suspend API (for Shizuku)
  3. Frozen apps appear grayed out in the launcher and cannot be launched until unfrozen
  4. The NotificationListener monitors for app launches to auto-unfreeze when needed

Freeze vs Unfreeze

  • Freeze: Suspends the app's package via pm suspend <package> — the launcher icon gets a visual overlay
  • Unfreeze: Resumes the app via pm unsuspend <package> — tap the app icon to auto-unfreeze and launch

Setup

  1. Grant Shizuku or Root — see Shell-Providers
  2. Grant Usage Stats permission — Settings → Apps → Special app access → Usage access
  3. Grant Notification Listener — Settings → Notifications → Notification access
  4. Open the App Freezing section in Essentials
  5. Tap Select apps to choose which apps to freeze
  6. Use Freeze all to freeze all selected apps at once

Settings

Setting Key Description
Select apps freeze_selected_apps Choose which apps to include in the freeze list
Freeze all now freeze_all_manual Immediately freeze all selected apps
Auto-freeze when locked freeze_when_locked_enabled Automatically freeze apps when the screen locks
Lock delay freeze_lock_delay_index How long after locking to wait before freezing (immediate / 1 min / 5 min / 15 min)

Auto-Freeze on Lock

When "Freeze when locked" is enabled:

  1. Screen locks → Essentials waits for the configured delay
  2. After the delay, all selected apps are frozen
  3. When the screen is unlocked, apps remain frozen until you tap them

This is ideal for apps you want to prevent from running overnight or draining battery while you sleep.

App Freezing QS Tile

The App Freezing QS tile (AppFreezingTileService) lets you freeze/unfreeze all selected apps with a single tap from the notification shade.

Tags Manager

The App Freezing UI includes a Tags manager that lets you group apps into named collections (e.g., "Social media", "Games") for bulk freeze operations.

Notes

  • Apps frozen via pm suspend will show a warning overlay on their launcher icon — this is expected behavior.
  • Some system apps cannot be frozen — Essentials will skip them silently.
  • Freezing does not delete app data — all your data is preserved when you unfreeze.
  • Root mode uses direct pm suspend/unsuspend shell commands.
  • Shizuku mode uses the IPackageManager binder interface.

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