With Android Pie, Google instituted a more heavy-handed approach to how apps can scan for WiFi networks. That irked some developers in some very legitimate use cases, since the limit effectively broke how some apps worked if they relied on multiple WiFi scans.
Google isn't backing down from that, either. Those WiFi scanning limits are here to stay in Android Q.
Despite all of these complaints, Google has put off really doing anything to “fix” the issue. Now they've fully come out and said that the limits aren't a bug so much as a feature; they're still going to be a part of Android Q, and short of rooting your device, there's no way for an end user to get around it.
The limits will only allow a foreground app to scan for WiFi networks four times every two minutes, which averages out to a scan every 30 seconds. Background apps only get a single scan every half hour.
- Here's everything we know about Android Q so far
Google's defense of these limits is that it will greatly improve battery life of Android devices, and they're not wrong. Errant apps that scan too often, whether in the background or foreground, can drain a phone's performance, and it's not always clear to the user why that's happening.
But for apps that do indoor navigation or signal strength measurement, this is a deal breaker, and basically just means that you won't be able to use them on Android Q. A user toggle with some big scary warning signs (or utilizing Android's excellent permissions system) would make way more sense.
via: Android Police
