What is the difference between disable and force stop on mobile

What is the difference between disable and force stop on mobile phones, or maybe the two terms are the same and do the same job on both android phones and iphones.

Looking at the two terms, “force stop” and “disable,” you may think the two are the same, but in a true sense, these two terms are completely different.

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In this post, we will be looking at the difference between force stop and disable on mobile phones, and this includes both android and the iPhone.

What is the difference between disable and force stop

The difference between disable and force stop is that disable will completely close an app on a mobile phone, and the app will also disappear from the app drawer, while force stop merely stops an app from running in the phone’s background.

A disabled app will never receive updates, while a forced app will receive updates even though the app is forced stopped and prevented from running in the phone background.

Let me explain a bit more about the difference between force stop and disable.

When you disable an app from your mobile phone, the app will be completely shut off from your phone in the sense that it won’t run in the phone background, and you won’t see the app in the app drawer.

It will look as if you have completely removed the app from your mobile phone, and you can only see the app when you go to the app manager. I’m saying this based on my experience disabling an app on my Android phone.

New Update on Android 16: On new Android phones, especially on Samsung phones, apps will be automatically disabled if they’re not in use for a long period of time. The app will be put to sleep; you will see the icon in the app drawer, but the app is completely turned off on your phone or tablet and won’t receive automatic updates.

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When you force stop an app on your mobile phone, the app will be stopped from running in the phone background, but you will see the app in both the app drawer and the app manager.

Another difference between force stop and disable is that when you disable an app from your mobile phone, you will have to go to the app manager to open the app. While in force stop, you can open the app right from the app drawer or even from the app manager.

Disable completely closes an app on a mobile phone; you won’t be able to see the app in the app drawer, and you have to use the app manager to open the app.

While in force stop, the app will be stopped from running in the phone background; you will be able to see the app in the app drawer, and you can reopen the app from the app drawer.

In disable, you have to turn on the disabled app in order to start using the app, while you don’t have to turn on an app if you force stop an app on your mobile phone.

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Having answered the question of what is the difference between disable and force stop, let me further explain how the two phone features works.

What does force stop mean on an app

Force stop of an app simply means to stop the app from running in a phone background, and this helps to save battery life of a mobile phone.

If you have an app that you rarely open or use on your mobile phone, it is good to simply force stop the application and equally stop battery consumption from the mobile app.

To force stop an app is similar to putting an app to sleep, and if you’re using the samsung galaxy phone, you will definitely come across the sleeping apps and deep sleeping apps mode on your samsung phone.

It works similarly to force stopping an app, as sleeping apps and deep sleeping apps close the app from running in a phone background, and in turn save the battery life of the mobile phone.

If you have an app that sends tons of annoying notifications on your mobile phone, and you don’t open or use the app very often, you should force stop the app and it will put off the app on your mobile phone.

You won’t receive any of the notifications until you open the app.

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HOW TO FORCE STOP AN APP

ON ANDROID

Open the settings app on your Android phone, scroll down to apps, and tap to open it. Scroll down to the app you want to force stop and open the app, look below you will see force stop.

what is the difference between disable and force stop

Tap on force stop, select OK to successfully force stop the app on your android phone.

FOR IPHONE

Swipe up from the bottom of the iPhone screen (the Home bar). As you get closer to the center of the screen, keep your finger on the monitor.

Lift your finger to open the App Switcher when you see a card-size preview of the app. Swipe up on the preview of the app you want to close when you see it.

The card should be able to pass through the display’s top. If you’re using an iPhone X with iOS 11, you’ll need to tap and hold the app preview, then hit the red “-” (minus sign) button to close it.

If your iPhone has a physical Home button, double-press it to bring up the App Switcher, then slide up on the app preview to close it.

What does disable mean on an app

Disable simply means to complete shut off an app in a mobile phone, and it will looks as if the app no longer exist in the phone.

Learning more about disable on an app will help you to know more on what is the difference between disable and force stop.

On android phone, you can only disable pre-installed apps like the Google apps. You cannot disable apps you you downloaded from the Google play store or any other third party website.

Immediately you disable any of the pre-installed apps from your Android phone, the app will be partially removed from your phone. This simply means that you cannot see the app in the app drawer, but rather when you go to the app manager.

This defines the difference between force stop and disable on an Android phone.

For example, you want to disable the Google Play Store on your Android phone. You get started by opening the settings app, scrolling down to apps, and clicking to open it.

Locate Google play store on the list and tap to open, below you will see three options which includes open, disable and force stop.

difference between force stop and disable

Tap on disable, and it will give you a warning notice. Tap disable app, and that’s it. The Google Play Store will be disabled from your Android phone.

If you go to your app drawer, you will see that the Google Play Store won’t be there, and if you search the Play Store app on your Android phone, you still won’t find it.

You can only view the play store app when you go to settings >> apps, and locate the google play store app. On opening the app, you will see turn on below your screen just like on the picture below.

what does force stop mean on an app

Turn on the play store app, and it will start running in your android phone, and you will see the app in the app drawer.

What is the difference between disable and force stop?

You have to turn on a disabled app to start using the app, while you don’t have to turn on a forced stopped app to start using the app on your android phone.

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What happens when you force stop instagram

When you force stop instagram app, the app will no longer run in a phone background, and the user will no longer receive notifications or messages from instagram app.

On android phone, you can only force stop instagram app but wont be able to disable the app because it is not a pre-installed app.

Kindly note that force-stopping an Instagram app doesn’t delete any data from the app or your Instagram likes, shares, and followers. Everything will remain intact, but the app won’t run in your phone’s background until you open the app again on your mobile phone.

These are the differences between disable and force stop. All in all, I don’t recommend disabling an app, especially Google Play Services, because most of your apps will stop working on your Android phone.

Is better to disable or force stop an app

It is better to force stop an app on a mobile phone than to disable it because disabling an app is close to removing an app from a mobile phone, while force stopping will only stop the app from running in the phone’s background.

Once you disable an app, it will not receive any updates whatsoever from the play store or maybe the galaxy store.

I don’t recommend disabling an app at all unless you have a valid reason to do so.

This is where I draw the line on the topic of the post, what is the difference between disable and force stop on mobile phones.

About Kennedy

I'm Amaechi Uchenna by name, a mobile tech enthusiast who love writing articles about tips and tutorials especially relating to gadgets.

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