Greenify has been around for some time and long-time Android power users should be familiar with it. The app serves to improve battery life and system performance by hibernating apps that are misbehaving. This can save on data, resources, and power usage. Since Doze came to Android, I have found less use for Greenify on my devices, but it still has a loyal following.

The update brings a few new additions, which are listed in the changelog below:

  • NEW: "Prescriptions (beta)", the community-driven flexible behavior blocking mechanism, precisely targeted with open rules. (Learn more:https://greenify.github.io)
  • NEW: Integration with "Island" to freeze app without root. (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.oasisfeng.island)
  • NEW: App shortcuts for Android 7.1.
  • Wake-up monitor and cut-off now works on Android 7.x in root mode.
  • No longer fall back to normal hibernation if shallow hibernation is temporarily unavailable.

App shortcuts are neat to see, but what is most interesting are the first two notes. Prescriptions is an open-source, community-driven targeted ruleset that restricts the unwelcome behavior of certain apps. Any Greenify user can import these rules and super users/developers are encouraged to contribute.

The other bit there is the integration with Island, another offering from Greenify's developer. It lets you separate and isolate apps, effectively freezing them, without root. This could be useful with the pre-installed bloatware you find on some phones (looking at you, Huawei).

Greenify is a free app and is pretty cool. It has non-root, root, and Xposed modes, all of which have their own abilities, features, and limitations. Check it out in the Play Store if it sounds interesting to you.