Why didn't Dont You Do It block anything last night?

There are five causes: a permission was revoked, the phone killed the watcher, exact alarms were denied so the window started late, the app was reached through a notification reply rather than by opening it, or the app in front covered the shield. Open Settings, then Diagnostics, in the app: it names which one it was.

Why does my phone keep switching the app off?

Xiaomi, Huawei, Honor, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme and Vivo ship with battery rules that stop background apps regardless of the Android setting. Each needs autostart enabled and the app locked in recents. The steps per manufacturer are on this page.

Subscriptions are refunded by Google Play under their own rules. Anyone who bought Pay once and asks within 30 days gets a refund, no questions asked. Email hello@dontyoudoit.app.

Help

It didn't block anything last night

Q: What data do you have about me?

None. The app has no internet permission, so nothing it records can leave the phone. If you send a diagnostics report it contains permission states, event types and times, and what phone you have. No app names, no messages, no names.

Five things can cause that. The app can tell you which one it was, and four of the five are fixed in under a minute.

Android · Updated 24 September 2026 · A person answers email within two working days

Start here

Open the app, go to Settings, scroll to "If a night went wrong", and open Diagnostics. Every line on that screen is one of the five causes below. If any of the five permission rows says no, that is your answer. Tap Copy diagnostics and send it to [email protected] if you want us to read it with you.

1. A permission was taken away

The app needs two things to shield anything: permission to see which app is in front (usage access) and permission to draw over other apps. Losing usage access is the quiet one. Android does not warn you and the app does not crash, it simply stops seeing anything, so the night looks clean because nothing was noticed.

This happens on its own more often than you would think. Android removes permissions from apps you have not opened for a few months, and reinstalling the app clears them too.

Fix: open the app, and if the home screen shows a red line tap it. Otherwise: Android Settings → Apps → Dont You Do It → Permissions, and check usage access and "display over other apps". Then turn off "Remove permissions if app is unused" for this app in the same place.

2. Your phone killed the watcher

The shield is a small service that has to stay running all night. Most phones let it. Xiaomi, Huawei, Honor, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme and Vivo ship with their own battery rules on top of Android's, and those rules stop background apps whether or not you told Android to leave it alone.

If the app was killed, the morning report says so and tells you how long the gap was. That is deliberate: the app cannot stop this, so it tells the truth about it rather than pretending.

Fix: find your make below. Do all of the steps for it, not one.

Xiaomi, Redmi, Poco (MIUI, HyperOS)

Settings → Apps → Manage apps → Dont You Do It → Autostart: on
Same screen → Battery saver → No restrictions
Recents → hold the app card → padlock so it survives "clear all"
Settings → Battery → turn off MIUI optimisation if your build has it

Huawei and Honor

Settings → Battery → App launch → Dont You Do It → Manage manually, then all three switches on (auto-launch, secondary launch, run in background)
Recents → hold the card → padlock

OnePlus, Oppo, Realme (OxygenOS, ColorOS)

Settings → Battery → Battery optimisation → Dont You Do It → Don't optimise
Settings → Apps → Dont You Do It → Allow auto launch
Settings → Battery → Advanced → turn off Sleep standby optimisation and Deep optimisation
Recents → lock the app card

Samsung

Settings → Battery → Background usage limits → make sure the app is not in "Sleeping apps" or "Deep sleeping apps"
Settings → Apps → Dont You Do It → Battery → Unrestricted

Vivo and iQOO

Settings → Battery → High background power consumption → allow the app
Settings → Apps → Autostart → on

These menus move between versions. If yours does not match, dontkillmyapp.com keeps the current path for every make.

3. The window started late

The shield goes up on an alarm. Android 14 and later put precise alarms behind a permission, and if it is off the phone is allowed to run the alarm whenever it suits, which can be twenty minutes after your window opened. The diagnostics screen shows this as Can set exact alarms: no.

Fix: Android Settings → Apps → Dont You Do It → Alarms & reminders → allow. The app also checks the clock on its own every minute, so a late alarm costs you minutes, not a night.

4. You replied from the notification

Android lets you answer a message straight from the notification, without opening the app. Nothing running on the phone can see that happening, including us, and no app in this category can stop it. This is the one cause that is not a fault and not fixable in the app.

Fix: turn off notifications for the apps you shield, for the hours you shield them, or use a Sleep or Do Not Disturb schedule so they do not arrive. A shield on the door is not much use if the letterbox has a keyboard.

5. The app in front covered the shield

A few apps, and most games, ask Android to keep anything else from drawing on top of them. The shield still counts the attempt and the morning report still names it, but you may not have seen the screen.

Fix: there is no complete one. If it happens with a particular app, tell us which app and which phone, and we will say plainly whether we can do anything about it.

What we cannot do, and will not claim

We cannot stop you uninstalling the app. Android has no consumer setting for that.
We cannot block websites. We can shield every browser on the phone, which is not the same thing and is described that way everywhere.
We cannot see what you type, what you send, or which apps you use. The app has no internet permission at all, so there is nowhere for any of it to go.

Other things people write in about

How do I cancel?

Google Play → your profile picture → Payments and subscriptions → Subscriptions → Dont You Do It → Cancel. Cancelling stops the next payment; everything that happens during the night keeps working either way, on every plan, including the free one.

Can I get a refund?

Subscriptions are handled by Google Play under their rules, and Play will usually do it for you in the first 48 hours. If you bought Pay once and ask us within 30 days, you get it back, no questions. Email [email protected].

What data do you have about me?

None. There is no account, no server and no internet permission in the app. A diagnostics report, if you choose to send one, carries permission states, event types with times, and what phone you have. No app names, no message text, no names.

Is there an iPhone version?

Not yet. It is being built on Apple's Screen Time framework and needs a permission from Apple that takes as long as it takes. Android first, iPhone after.

The shield opened early, my clock says it's morning

It didn't. Moving the phone's clock forward does not end a night: the app runs on the time that has actually passed, and the morning report says the clock was moved. The vault stays shut until the real morning too.

Still wrong?

Send the diagnostics text to [email protected] with one line about what you expected to happen. A person reads it and answers within two working days. If a night went badly wrong, say so in the first line and it gets answered first.