How to prevent Pokemon GO from keeping my screen on?

Question

I am having an issue with Pokemon go where I will set my phone down with the app open accidentally and it will drain my battery to 0 because it keeps the screen from timing out. I have searched high and low on google to try and find this setting but to my dismay it always interprets my question as the literal opposite and shows me results for "how to keep your android screen on". The only relevant question I could find was here, where the answer is either incorrect or out of date. I tested this myself, screen set to 15 second time out works normally on my android home screen but then when I open the app the screen stays on.

Does there exist a setting that changes this?

Answer 1

While there is no option to have your phone turn itself off or lock the screen automatically while the app is open, there is a battery saver option in the game. It will have the game turn the screen off while staying open in the background as long as the phone is upside down, and sometimes while the phone is horizontal. It will not prevent your phone from draining the battery and dying, but it will slow down that process.

You can find the battery saver option by clicking on the pokeball icon from the main screen (open world map screen), then clicking the gear icon for settings in the top right corner, and then scrolling down until you find the "Battery Saver" option. Make sure it is checked to enable it.