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Device guide

Keep your Android screen on in Chrome

Chrome 84 and later can keep your Android screen on while the AwakeTab tab is showing. Start a session and the screen stays lit for as long as you can see the tab. Leave Chrome and your normal screen timeout comes back, with nothing to undo and no app to install.

Sources checked Saturday, 26 September 20263 min readBy Soubhik Biswas
Open AwakeTab

Set it up on your Android phone

Four steps. The screenshots are placeholders until real-device captures are recorded.

  1. Step 1: Open AwakeTab in Chrome and tap Start

    Chrome › awaketab.com

    Pick a length or an "Until…" time, then tap Start. Wait for the pill to say "Screen awake".

  2. Step 2: Keep the tab on screen

    No Home, Recents or other apps

    Leaving Chrome or the tab ends the lock straight away, and the pill changes to "Paused — tab hidden". Come back and AwakeTab asks again.

  3. Step 3: Optional: use split screen

    Recents › app icon › Split screen

    Put your recipe or notes in one half and AwakeTab in the other, so the tab stays on screen. The steps differ by phone maker.

  4. Step 4: Optional: change the phone's own timeout

    Settings › Display › Screen timeout

    On a Pixel with Android 16, the path is Settings › Display & touch › Screen timeout. It covers every app, and the longest choice depends on your phone.

Which Android setups keep the screen on

Support claims come from browser documentation and automated tests. Real-device results appear in the matrix once recorded. Sources checked 26 September 2026.

Chrome 84 or later, tab on screenResult: SupportedWhat to know: The screen stays on while you can see the tab.
Samsung Internet 14 or laterResult: SupportedWhat to know: Built on Chromium 87. See keep screen on in Samsung Internet.
Home, Recents, another app or another tabResult: PausesWhat to know: The lock ends at once. AwakeTab asks again when you return.
Split screen with AwakeTab in one halfResult: Not yet testedWhat to know: The tab stays on screen, so it can keep the display lit while you read the other app.
Older browser, or a plain http pageResult: Video fallbackWhat to know: No Screen Wake Lock API there. You can choose "Tap to use the fallback".

What turns the screen off anyway

If the screen still goes dark, one of these is usually the reason.

  • Sleeping-apps listsSome makers, Samsung's "sleeping apps" for example, can close Chrome after you leave it. They do not touch a tab you are looking at.
  • Battery SaverChrome does not refuse the wake lock because of it. It may shorten your timeout or dim the screen once you leave the tab.
  • One timeout for the whole phoneStock Android has no per-app timeout, so a long one also drains the battery in your pocket.Android screen timeout for one app
  • The power buttonPressing it turns the screen off, whatever the tab asked for.
Try it hereTry itStart a session, switch tabs, then come back and watch the pill. Ends at … if you start now.Start a 30-minute session

Questions

Not on stock Android: Screen timeout is one setting for the whole phone. AwakeTab gets close to a per-app timeout for the browser, because the screen stays on only while its Chrome tab is on screen and your normal timeout returns when you leave.

Soubhik Biswas · Builds AwakeTab. Sources checked Saturday, 26 September 2026. About AwakeTab