Samsung apps running in the background

[JRStewart]

Galaxy Wearable Music, SOS, etc randomly run in the background on Galaxy Watch 4 even when I don't use the apps. I stop them from running in the background and lo and behold, they show up just minutes later running in the background again. This was never an issue before this one UI 5/Wear OS4 update. Samsung please, please fix this ASAP. 

[LongHiker]

@JWill22 What do you mean by "pods continue to play on watch"? 

Do you mean the music is coming out of the watch instead of the buds? 

Or do you mean the little musical note is displaying at the bottom of the watch screen?I still see those with "Show media controls" turned off. That truly isn't a big factor in battery usage. 

[crundle]

The media note stays on on my watch 6 classic as long as I'm tuned into YouTube, pandora Sirius, etc. on my S24 Ultra. I've turned off the media controller but that doesn't do anything and this continual media note appearing on my watch is a Huge battery drain. Please fix this Samsung

[realaud]

There is some other reason for your battery drain.  The media note showing on your watch is normal as long as your watch is connected to your phone. As @LongHiker says, it does not in and of itself cause battery drain.  If your battery is being drained, it could be because your buds are paired with your watch and your podcast is coming through the watch to the buds.  The media controller does not cause battery drain either, it is only a controller so you can move between tracks, control volume, etc.  There is nothing in its makeup that would cause battery use. 

Have you looked at your battery statistics in the Wear App? Visiting battery & device care and looking at your usage statistics may help in seeing what's eating your battery.

[crundle]

The Media controller on my watch 6 classic does use battery on my watch every time I watch a YouTube video or play music on my phone so I don't know why you say it doesn't use battery.

[realaud]

The you tube video and the actual playing of the music on the watch uses the power, NOT the controller itself. 

If you are not doing those things ON the watch, the media controller/player does not use battery power.  The music note will show on the watch as long as you are connected to your phone, as does the phone icon when you are using the phone. regardless of whether you are calling from your watch or phone.  

If you are not playing music ON your watch or watching YouTube videos ON your watch, then it is not using the watch's battery power.  If it is, then that's a problem for Samsung Tech Support. In the meantime you should check what's really draining your battery by going to the Wear App watch settings and visiting Battery  clicking on the battery section and reviewing what is using up your battery.  If you untether your watch from your phone by turning off BT on your watch, you won't see the media control musical note, and you will be able to listen/view on your phone without draining your watch.  Untethering your watch from your phone temporarily might help you determine who is right in this situation.

I still suspect you have your buds connected to your watch and, therefore, your podcasts, etc. are playing through your watch rather than your phone, and that could be what's draining your battery.  Remember BT accessories re-connect to the last device they were connected to, and you have to actively disconnect from one device and connect to the other.

[Mr_Calamitous]

It's not just a notification icon. It's a remote connection to your phone. You are able to skip forward, backwards, play, pause, and change the volume on your phone via you watch- using the media controller app. It 100% uses more battery than if you were not remotely connected to your phone. I don't have VLC installed on my watch and yet, as I watch a video on my phone, I can control everything from my phone. "Show media controls" option is disabled. Samsung broke something.

[crundle]

I would love to disable the Media Controls on my Galaxy Watch 6 classic but even when the media controller is turned off, that dang media key icon and the controller actually still works whenever I play a youtube video or listen to music.  This is such a nuisance and a battery drain to have this media controller on when I never use it on my watch.  Please let me know how to fix this issue so that I can completely disable the media controller on my watch.

[Rob77]

I recall on my GW6C, there was a bug, when I would finish a workout in Samsung health, and check later, Samsung health would be running in the background, and I couldn't end the running application unless I reboot watch. The same with is happening with the Galaxy watch ultra too. It stays stuck in the background and only way to close it is by rebooting the watch. It causes HR to always be running in the background and somehow HR jumps up tremendously. So I placed my apple watch ultra on my other hand just to test it out and that's when I found out that it is buggy. So sad, I really like this watch, but if samsung doesn't address it fast, I'll be returning it and sticking with apple. 

[HeathenHalflings]

Following Dot .

[acc3d]

On my Galaxy Watch7, using the stopwatch even for a short period of time causes really high battery drain. In the attached screenshot, I used the stopwatch for about 20 minutes. AOD is turned off on my watch.

This seems like a bug in the app. How can I report it?

Version 1.2.00.34