Android Keep app running in background
#1
Not sure if this is the right platform to raise this request. But the more places it's asked the better.

It would be amazing if the Kodi team could work together with Android to allow for a possibility to always keep Kodi running in the background of Android.
I have 1 big use case for this:
1. On Nvidia Shield TV my kodi application closes in almost 98% of the scenarios where I switch to either the home page or another app, whether it being 5 seconds (accidental home button push) or it being multiple minutes to go to another app. The Kodi app almost always resets itself.

It would be great if I can keep the app running in the background, so if I e.g. accidentally push the home button I can easily continue watching my show without having to find it all over again.

Cheers!
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#2
I can click out of Kodi and back into it on my Ugoos running Android, maybe because it has 4GB RAM. Of course, if I start going into all sorts of other apps Android will kill Kodi to free up RAM, there's nothing the Kodi devs can do about that, it's just how the OS works.

Maybe there's some 'hack' or app to never kill an app in Android, i don't know. But you're asking in the wrong place really, as there's nothing an app developer can do to change how the OS works. If it needs to free up RAM it will kill background processes.
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#3
actually, the developer CAN do something.
no idea why they don't

just like YouTube vanced requres permission to keep running in the background (and so does Spotify),

Kodi could do the same...if the developers put it into the code.

it's not a bug in Android. it's short sight by Kodi team.
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#4
This would be a nice idea. Especially now the Google Chromecast with Android TV allows more people to use Kodi. It might even be useful for Kodi Addons that use services do they can keep on running in the background.
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#5
Reviving this thread since I also have this problem on my 2019 Shield TV Pro.  
I opened a bug report in 2018 when I was using my 2017 Shield TV.  
I've migrated to a 2019 Shield Pro and it still has the same problem.  The bug report is still open.  
I can navigate the Shield menus and stuff without Kodi stopping.  But If I play a stream from another app Kodi will stop.  
Kodi will also stop if my TV/receiver is turned off and/or on depending on some different settings.  If I had the Shield connected to a HDCP 1.4 input or disabled passthrough on my receiver Kodi would keep running but that created other problems.  
The main problem is I use the Zap2EPG addon for my OTA EPG data.  So if Kodi isn't running my EPG data doesn't get updated overnight.  
Right now the way I have it set up Kodi survives my receiver/TV shutdown.  But Kodi stops when I turn them back on.  At least this allows my EPG and library data to get updated as long as I remember to open Kodi before I turn everything off.  

But it sure would be nice to have a way to keep Kodi running in the background all of the time.
2019 Shield TV Pro with Tvheadend Client (Kodi) | Ugoos X3 Cube with CoreELEC as a Tvheadend server
Samsung UN65JS8500 TV | Onkyo TX-NR646 Receiver | HD Homerun Quatro Tuner
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#6
(2021-02-14, 00:10)RKCRLR Wrote: Reviving this thread since I also have this problem on my 2019 Shield TV Pro.  
I opened a bug report in 2018 when I was using my 2017 Shield TV.  
I've migrated to a 2019 Shield Pro and it still has the same problem.  The bug report is still open.  
I can navigate the Shield menus and stuff without Kodi stopping.  But If I play a stream from another app Kodi will stop.  
Kodi will also stop if my TV/receiver is turned off and/or on depending on some different settings.  If I had the Shield connected to a HDCP 1.4 input or disabled passthrough on my receiver Kodi would keep running but that created other problems.  
The main problem is I use the Zap2EPG addon for my OTA EPG data.  So if Kodi isn't running my EPG data doesn't get updated overnight.  
Right now the way I have it set up Kodi survives my receiver/TV shutdown.  But Kodi stops when I turn them back on.  At least this allows my EPG and library data to get updated as long as I remember to open Kodi before I turn everything off.  

But it sure would be nice to have a way to keep Kodi running in the background all of the time.
Android probably kills it when it needs the RAM, not sure what you can do about that. Aren't there third-party apps which can keep apps alive in the background?
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#7
(2021-02-14, 00:40)FXB78 Wrote:
(2021-02-14, 00:10)RKCRLR Wrote: Reviving this thread since I also have this problem on my 2019 Shield TV Pro.  
I opened a bug report in 2018 when I was using my 2017 Shield TV.  
I've migrated to a 2019 Shield Pro and it still has the same problem.  The bug report is still open.  
I can navigate the Shield menus and stuff without Kodi stopping.  But If I play a stream from another app Kodi will stop.  
Kodi will also stop if my TV/receiver is turned off and/or on depending on some different settings.  If I had the Shield connected to a HDCP 1.4 input or disabled passthrough on my receiver Kodi would keep running but that created other problems.  
The main problem is I use the Zap2EPG addon for my OTA EPG data.  So if Kodi isn't running my EPG data doesn't get updated overnight.  
Right now the way I have it set up Kodi survives my receiver/TV shutdown.  But Kodi stops when I turn them back on.  At least this allows my EPG and library data to get updated as long as I remember to open Kodi before I turn everything off.  

But it sure would be nice to have a way to keep Kodi running in the background all of the time.
Android probably kills it when it needs the RAM, not sure what you can do about that. Aren't there third-party apps which can keep apps alive in the background?

I don't think it is Android killing it, at least not in the case where it is running with my receiver and TV off and then it stops when I turn them on.  And I've run Kodi on cheap Android streaming boxes without it stopping.  
I think (personal opinion) it has something to do with the HDCP 2.2 getting disconnected and/or reconnected.  And when the resolution gets changed.
2019 Shield TV Pro with Tvheadend Client (Kodi) | Ugoos X3 Cube with CoreELEC as a Tvheadend server
Samsung UN65JS8500 TV | Onkyo TX-NR646 Receiver | HD Homerun Quatro Tuner
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#8
Bumping the thread because I face the same issue. I want to play music on my Shield TV Pro with the tv turned off, but it's not possible.

Other apps (Netflix, Youtube) don't have this issue, so I'm not sure it's (entirely) HDCP related.
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#9
Same sh-t. Android tv 12 kill kodi background process. Other apps ok, but not kodi. Power optimization is off. So why android tv kill only kodi?
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#10
@Heptanas 3 posts in different threads all about the same thing, don't spam the forum. Please read the forum rules and keep the language down. Official:Forum rules (wiki)

Don't expect developers to entertain limited hardware for a select few. The feature request thread is the place to articulate the issues and present the problem in a fashion that would accumulate support, and if enough people are behind this then someone will find time to make it happen.
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#11
Android is free to terminate apps. Kodi might be more prone to that, as it is likely to consume more memory than other apps.
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#12
Kodi nerds maven 21 build works fine in background. But not original kodi 21. So it is big bug in kodi. Please fix it. Sad
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#13
(2024-05-27, 11:28)Heptanas Wrote: Kodi nerds maven 21 build works fine in background.
I doubt that very much because, as said before, it's controlled by Android, not individual apps.
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