Guides

Keep scanning in the background

Last reviewed: 2026-10-07 · Requires: Silver, Gold or Platinum

By default, phones pause apps you're not looking at. With a Silver, Gold or Platinum subscription, DroneScout can keep scanning for drones in the background — with the screen off or while you use other apps — and alert you when a new drone shows up. On the free plan, scanning stops when the app leaves the screen.

Step 1 — Check the app setting

1. Tap the ⋯ menu (three horizontal dots) and open Preferences.
2. Open the Notifications tab.
3. Make sure Background Task is set to On. It is on by default for subscribers.

Set it to Off if you want DroneScout to stop scanning as soon as you leave the app, for example to save battery.

Step 2 — Get notified about new drones (optional)

On the same Notifications tab:

• Switch on SEND PUSH NOTIFICATIONS. The first time, your phone asks permission to show notifications — allow it.
• Narrow down which drones trigger an alert:
• Distance range (meters): from 0 up to 2,500 m from you, or no limit
• Altitude range (meters): from 0 up to 1,000 m, or no limit

A drone that is first seen outside the range still triggers an alert when it flies into it. With Platinum, the ADS-B tab has separate alerts for new manned aircraft — but ADS-B only works while DroneScout is open on screen, not in the background.

Step 3 — Allow background activity on your phone

The app setting isn't enough on its own: the phone also has to let DroneScout run.

iPhone and iPad

1. Open Settings → General → Background App Refresh.
2. Switch it on, and make sure DroneScout pro is on in the list.
3. Keep Bluetooth and Location permissions allowed for DroneScout (Settings → DroneScout pro).

iPhones can't receive Wi-Fi Remote ID or Bluetooth Long Range at all — in the background or not. A DroneScout Bridge fixes that.

Android

While DroneScout scans in the background, Android shows a permanent "DroneScout running" notification. That's normal — Android requires it — and its Stop button ends scanning.

Then stop Android from putting the app to sleep:

1. Open Settings → Apps → DroneScout pro → Battery (or Battery usage).
2. Change Optimized or Restricted to Unrestricted.
3. Under Mobile data, allow background data / unrestricted data use — needed for sending detections to a server or CalTopo.
4. Optionally, lock DroneScout in the recent-apps screen so it isn't closed when you clear your apps.

Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei and other brands

Some phone makers add their own battery savers on top of Android's:

• Samsung: Settings → Battery → Background usage limits — make sure DroneScout pro isn't under Sleeping apps or Deep sleeping apps; add it to Never sleeping apps.
• Xiaomi / Redmi / POCO: in the app's settings, set Battery saver to No restrictions and switch on Autostart.
• Huawei / Honor: Settings → Battery → App launch — set DroneScout pro to manage manually and allow it to run in the background.
• OnePlus, OPPO, realme: in the app's battery settings, allow background activity and switch off battery optimisation.

Menu names differ between models and Android versions; the site dontkillmyapp.com keeps up-to-date steps per brand.

What changes in the background

Background scanning is never quite as good as scanning with DroneScout open on screen. iOS and Android deliberately limit what apps may do in the background:

• Less Bluetooth scanning. The phone scans less often and less intensively, so a drone may be detected later, its position updates less often, and a drone that passes by quickly can be missed.
• ADS-B stops. Manned aircraft (ADS-B) only update while DroneScout is open.
• The phone decides. Battery savers, low battery or a long time without using the app can make the phone reduce or stop background activity anyway.

For complete coverage — at an event, during an operation or when you're actively watching the airspace — keep DroneScout open on screen, ideally with the phone on a charger.

Battery use

Background scanning can drain the battery noticeably faster: Bluetooth (and on Android, Wi-Fi if you switched Wi-Fi scanning on) keeps running, and the settings in Step 3 stop the phone from saving power on DroneScout. Switch Background Task off, or tap Stop on the Android notification, when you don't need it.

Check that it works

Start scanning, lock the phone for a few minutes near a drone that broadcasts Remote ID, then unlock it. The drone should have been detected and its track continued — with fewer position updates than with the app open — and with notifications on you'll have received an alert.