Force map-like app to keep screen on

Question

How can I force my phone (Motorola One / Android 10) to stay up and not turn off the screen (as it does after 2 minutes), if I have a map-like app in the foreground:

• Strava,
• Google Maps -- just watching map and my location.

So far I only figured out that when Google Maps are in actual navigation mode then screen never sleeps. But, when I just want to watch my location (in GM or Strava) then it turns itself off as usual.

Is there anything I can do (like some way to register app as "never sleeping" in system configuration?). Or is this per application and only developer can add needed feature?

Answer 1

On non-rooted devices, it is the app that needs to request that the screen stay on.

The screen is a major source of battery drain which means that mobile apps need to request from the Android framework a wake lock which informs the system that something important to the user is going on such as navigation, an on screen timer, or media playback. So yes developers have to specifically ask to keep the screen on.

Answer 2

This is entirely per application / developer:

1. Strava: ⊙ Record → ⚙ → Screen Display → ☑ Keep Screen On
2. Google Maps with navigation: screen doesn't goes black by default
3. Google Maps without navigation (just map and your location): not possible

When looking from Android system perspective, there is no such thing like "keep screen on" setting per single application. You can either disable screen timeout entirely (for every app) or you need to use whatever given application can offer you.