Why your pomodoro timer stops when you leave the app — and how to fix it

You will leave the app while you work

Nobody studies by staring at a timer. You open a lecture PDF, answer a message, look something up. Reviews say it over and over: "It stops working when I leave the app." "The moment you leave the app, the timer stops." "Students often need to leave the app and get a glance at PDFs."

A stopped timer costs you twice. You miss the end-of-session alert, so the break never happens on time, and the minutes you worked never reach your log. The tool that was supposed to protect your focus ends up making you check on it.

Cause 1: a timer that only runs on screen

Some timer apps simply subtract a second while their screen is visible. Switch apps and Android pauses that screen — and the timer with it. No setting fixes this.

A properly built timer runs as a foreground service and shows a countdown in your notifications. If you can see the countdown in the notification shade, time is still passing. Good timers also calculate from the start time, so even after a hiccup the remaining time is correct when you come back.

Cause 2: battery optimization kills the app

Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo and others aggressively close apps to save battery. If the notification disappears or the end chime arrives late, this is why. Menu names vary a bit by phone, but the steps are similar.

• Open Settings → Apps → your timer app → Battery.
• Choose "Unrestricted" or "Don't optimize".
• On Samsung, also check Settings → Battery → Background usage limits and make sure the timer isn't in "Sleeping apps" or "Deep sleeping apps".
• Make sure the timer's notification permission is on. No notifications means no end-of-session alert either.
• Test it: start a session, lock the screen for five minutes, then check the countdown is still right.

How to pick a timer that keeps running

It takes a minute after installing. Start a session, go to your home screen and check for a countdown notification. Use another app, come back, and see if the time is right. Stop a session halfway and see whether those minutes are logged.

Also watch for heavy permissions. Some apps ask to draw over other apps; a timer doesn't need that to keep counting.

How Brewdoro handles it

Brewdoro keeps running when you leave, with the countdown in your notifications, and asks for no overlay permission. The home-screen widget starts or pauses a session without opening the app. If you stop a session midway, the minutes you focused are saved as partial time.

If your phone still closes it, apply the battery optimization exception above to Brewdoro.