~5 minutes Xiaomi · Redmi · Samsung · Huawei No app update needed

A VPN has to stay running in the background. Many phone makers add extra “battery optimizations” that silently kill background apps. Stock Android (Pixel and most Android One phones) rarely does this. Xiaomi / Redmi / POCO, Huawei, Samsung, OnePlus, Oppo, Vivo and realme are the usual culprits.

What is happening

GreatFireVPN keeps a tunnel open so your traffic stays protected. To do that, the app must stay alive after you leave it — with the screen off, in another app, or after you swipe Recents.

On many phones the manufacturer’s software treats that as “wasting battery” and force-stops the app. The VPN notification disappears, the connection drops, and sites fail or fall back to the censored network. It looks like the VPN “just stopped working.”

This is a phone setting, not a GreatFireVPN outage. Changing a few battery and autostart options usually fixes it.

Typical signs: the VPN works while the app is on screen, then dies after you lock the phone, switch apps, or wait a few minutes. After a reboot it often does not come back. Chat apps may be killed the same way.

Fixes that work on most phones

1Set battery use to Unrestricted

This is the single most useful change on recent Android:

Open Settings → Apps and tap GreatFireVPN.
Open Battery (sometimes App battery usage).
Choose Unrestricted or No restrictions — not Optimized or Restricted.

Menu names differ by brand. If you cannot find Battery, search Settings for GreatFireVPN or battery.

2Allow Autostart / start from background

Xiaomi, Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and realme often hide a separate Autostart or Background autostart permission. If it is off, the VPN cannot come back after the phone kills it or after a reboot. Turn it on for GreatFireVPN. On Xiaomi this is often under Settings → Apps → GreatFireVPN → App permissions → Background autostart, or in the Security app under Permissions → Autostart.

3Lock or pin the app in Recents

Open the Recents / recent-apps tray, find GreatFireVPN, and lock or pin it (padlock icon, or drag the card down on many Xiaomi phones). A locked app is less likely to be cleared when you swipe everything away. Do not swipe GreatFireVPN out of Recents if you want the VPN to stay up.

4Turn off extra battery savers — or exclude the VPN

Ultra / extreme battery saver, “Boost speed,” and third-party cleaner apps will kill a VPN.

Leave GreatFireVPN on No restriction in any App battery saver list.
Uninstall third-party battery or “phone booster” apps if you can — they usually do more harm than good.
Keep the GreatFireVPN notification; swiping it away can stop the tunnel on some phones.

These four steps fix a large share of cases. If the VPN still dies, use the brand-specific page below — those menus are often hidden and named differently on each phone.

Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO

⚠

MIUI and HyperOS are the usual problem

Xiaomi phones (including Redmi and POCO) are among the most aggressive at killing background apps. Default settings break VPNs. Android One Xiaomi phones are much better; the issue is MIUI / HyperOS.

After the general steps above, also check Autostart, lock the app in Recents, and set App battery saver to No restriction. Some of these switches live in the Security app, not in Settings.

Xiaomi steps on Don’t kill my app

Guides by phone brand

Don’t kill my app! keeps up-to-date, brand-by-brand instructions. Menu names change with each Android skin, so use their page for your exact model after you have done the general steps above.

Xiaomi / Redmi / POCOworst Huawei / Honorworst Samsungworst OnePlusworst Oppo Vivo realme Meizu Asus Motorola Tecno Other brands

Questions

?Is this a GreatFireVPN bug?

Usually no. If the app connects and stays up while it is on screen, then dies in the background, the phone is stopping the process. The same thing happens to other VPNs and to messaging apps on these devices.

?My Pixel / Nokia / Android One phone is fine

That is expected. Stock Android rarely kills a VPN that the user started. The problem is extra manufacturer software (MIUI, HyperOS, EMUI, ColorOS, One UI, and similar).

?Will Unrestricted battery drain the phone?

A VPN uses some power because it stays connected. Unrestricted only stops the phone from force-closing the app. That is required for a VPN to work. The extra drain is small compared with losing the connection.

?I did all of this and it still drops

Open the Don’t kill my app page for your brand and go through every switch they list — some are two or three menus deep. Then write to [email protected] with the phone model, Android version (and MIUI / HyperOS version if Xiaomi), and whether the VPN dies on lock, after a few minutes, or after a reboot.

Android is killing the VPN — usually to save battery

What is happening

Fixes that work on most phones

Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO

MIUI and HyperOS are the usual problem

Guides by phone brand

Questions

Access open internet with GreatFireVPN

Quick links

Legal

About