Android: Set When the Screen Saver Starts

Android lets you decide the trigger moment for the screen saver instead of relying on idle timeout alone. This matters if you dock your phone overnight or leave it charging on a desk and expect a photo screen saver or clock display to appear automatically.

By default, the trigger condition might not match your setup. If you charge your phone without a dock, the screen saver may never activate unless you switch the setting to include plain charging.

To change it, open Settings ➔ Display ➔ Screen saver ➔ When to start. From there, choose While charging if you want the screen saver whenever the device is plugged in, or While docked and charging if it should only appear when both conditions are met.

Picking While charging is the better choice for phones that spend more time on a cable than in a dock. Picking While docked and charging keeps the screen saver reserved for dedicated docking stations, which can save a bit of battery when the phone just sits on a random charger.

Turning the screen saver off entirely happens in the same menu, separate from this starting-time setting, if the animation itself is not wanted at all.