Android reminders not going off? Check battery

If reminders on your Android phone arrive late, arrive in a bunch when you unlock it, or never arrive, a battery saver is the most likely cause. Android and the phone maker's own power manager both pause apps that run in the background, and a paused app can't ring on time. Allow notifications, allow exact alarms, take the app off battery restrictions, and keep cleaner apps away from it.

The steps below use Buzzley as the example, but the same settings decide whether any reminder or alarm app rings on time.

Why reminders go quiet on Android

A reminder app does not run all day. It asks Android to wake it at a set minute, and Android decides how strictly to keep that promise. Three things get in the way:

• Notifications turned off for the app. Nothing shows, at any time.
• Exact alarms not allowed. Since Android 12, an app needs the "Alarms & reminders" permission to ring on the minute. Without it, Android may hold the reminder back and deliver it later.
• Battery optimization. Android's own optimization and the extra power managers that Samsung, Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, Huawei and others add can stop an app in the background, so its alarms are delayed or dropped.

On top of that, phone cleaners, task killers and "boost" buttons close apps by force. A force-stopped app loses its scheduled alarms until you open it again.

How to fix it on any Android phone

Labels differ between Android versions and phone makers. The paths below are the ones stock Android uses; if your phone has its own power manager, also follow the page for your brand.

1. Turn notifications on

Open Settings > Notifications (or Settings > Apps > Buzzley > Notifications) and make sure notifications are allowed. Also allow pop-ups and showing them on the lock screen. Some phones hide notifications from the lock screen by default.

2. Allow "Alarms & reminders"

Open Settings > Apps > Special app access > Alarms & reminders, pick Buzzley and turn on Allow setting alarms and reminders. On some phones this page sits under a different menu; searching Settings for "alarms" usually finds it.

3. Remove battery restrictions

Open Settings > Apps > Buzzley, then the battery page (called App battery usage or Battery, depending on the version) and choose Unrestricted. On older versions, open the battery optimization list instead, show all apps, pick Buzzley and choose Don't optimize.

4. Keep cleaner apps away from it

If you use a phone cleaner, a task killer or your phone's own boost feature, add Buzzley to its exceptions. Swiping Buzzley away from recent apps is fine on most phones. Force stop in app info is not: it cancels the app's alarms until you open it again.

5. Follow the steps for your brand

Several phone makers add a second layer of battery management on top of Android's. Their settings have their own names and live in their own menus. Guides for the common brands:

• Samsung: sleeping apps and background usage limits
• Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO: Autostart and battery saver
• OnePlus and OPPO or realme: background activity and auto launch
• vivo: background power consumption and Autostart
• Huawei and Honor: App launch
• Google Pixel and Motorola: close to stock Android

Phones from other makers that run close to stock Android, such as Nothing, usually need only steps 1 to 4.

What Buzzley checks for you

Buzzley's Android app looks at these settings itself, so you don't have to remember them.

• When you first set it up, the Enable notifications & alarms button asks for notification permission and then for exact alarms.
• If notifications are off or exact alarms are not allowed, a banner on the home screen says so. You can't dismiss those two, because they stop every reminder.
• The Alarm not ringing? screen lists four checks: "Notifications are off", "Reminders may ring late", "Alarms can't fill the lock screen" (Android 14 and later) and "Battery saver may delay reminders". Each has a Fix button that opens the right settings page.
• Under Still not ringing? it shows the steps for your phone's brand, with Open settings buttons that jump to the maker's battery or autostart screen where the phone allows it.

You reach that screen from the banner's Help button, or from Settings > Full-screen alarms > Alarm not ringing?.

For the background on exact alarms and why Android delays reminders, read why Android reminders are late.

Common questions

Does Buzzley ring after the phone restarts?

Yes. On Android, Buzzley sets its alarms again after a restart, and they ring even before you unlock the phone for the first time.

Why does Android not ask me about battery optimization?

Buzzley does not show Android's "ignore battery optimizations" dialog. It opens Buzzley's app info page instead, where you choose the setting yourself. That page also holds the other battery options some phones add.

Will turning off battery optimization drain my battery?

The setting lets Android wake Buzzley at the minute a reminder is due instead of holding it back. Most of the time a reminder app has nothing to do between reminders. If you use location reminders, the phone's location system watches your saved places, and that does use some battery.

Can the web app ring instead?

No. The web app lets you add, edit and complete reminders, and they sync to your phone, but the web app sends no browser notifications. Your phone does the ringing.