Running in the background

An agent can take several minutes on a task. You don't have to watch it. Horus runs your sessions in a separate part of the app that keeps going when you switch apps, when the screen turns off, and when Horus locks.

What you'll see

• One notification per running session. Android requires this for anything running in the background. It's also how you know what's still running.
• "… is waiting for you" when an agent finishes a turn and needs your reply.
• ACTIVE SESSIONS on the home screen, where you can go back into a session or TERMINATE it.

Help Android leave it alone

Android saves battery by pausing or killing apps in the background. Two settings stop it from interrupting your sessions. Horus asks for both during setup.

1. Notifications allowed. Without them, Android is quicker to stop background work.
2. Unrestricted battery use. In Android's settings: Apps → Horus → Battery → Unrestricted. The exact words vary by phone maker.

Long builds on Android 12 and newer

Android 12 added a limit on how many background processes all apps together can start. Builds and agents start lots of small processes, so a big task can get cut off partway, even with the settings above.

The fix needs a computer once. With the horus CLI installed and the phone plugged in, run:

horus tune

This lifts the limit for the whole phone until a factory reset. It uses Android's documented developer commands and shows each one as it runs. Details.

How many at once

Every running session uses memory. Horus lets 1 run at a time by default. Change it in SETTINGS → Concurrent apps (1 to 4). If your phone starts closing things, lower it.