Android phone ignores screen timeout setting - help!

Problem: In my particular case no matter how many times I reset my screen timeout to a time other than 2 minutes, the phone resets on its own to 2 minutes.

Reports of Android phones ignoring whatever their screen timeout setting may be and reverting on their own to some other time, is not something new.

Users have speculated that the problem may be caused by an interfering app or preference setting.
In my case it may be more than speculation because I don't experience the problem when operating my phone in safe mode.
If it is an interfering app or preference settings I haven't been able to target the offender.

Here are my attempts to correct the problem:

1. Have performed trials of uninstalling every app that I have downloaded and installed. However, that did not resolve the problem.

2. There are also apps in my downloaded apps folder that cannot be uninstalled, only disabled. Disabling them did not resolve the problem.

3. Wiping the system cache did not resolve the problem.


Have any of you had this problem and resolved the problem? Anyone have any ideas how to correct the problem without having to resort to a factory reset or rooting my phone, neither of which I want to do?

Thanks!

Edit 9-17-201 at 3:10 AM
- Unrooted Moto X (2014), Kitkat 4.4.4
- Location of screen timeout setting: Settings / Display / Sleep
- Unable to find a screen timeout app that can override the problem.

Edit 9-18-201 at 5:13 PM
Problem Resolved
Found the culprit hiding in a third party app's advanced settings section.
My NotifierPro app contained settings for "Lock Screen" and "Home Screen" timeouts. I found them set for 30 seconds and 2 minutes, respectively. There was no need to uninstall the app. I only had to tweak the timeout times to my liking.

If it's happening in safe mode, it's an app. Safe mode will still load android settings and preferences.

lloose said:

If it's happening in safe mode, it's an app. .

Click to expand...

Meaning if it is happening in safe mode than it is an Android app? (Safe mode disables only the 3rd party apps)
Regardless, it is not happening in safe mode.

lloose said:

Safe mode will still load android settings and preferences.

Click to expand...

Does that then make it more likely that an Android setting and not an app is the cause of my problem?
If that is so, then the problem becomes more complex, when I looked through all my Android settings the only one that mentions screen timeout is the "Settings / Display / Sleep" setting that I am using.

I'd focus on 'Attentive display' setting which overrides screen timeout or disable the Moto Assist app then reboot to see if it behaves normally.

Worst case try the Lollipop update which I believe is out for the 2014 Moto X.

mi7chy said:

I'd focus on 'Attentive display' setting which overrides screen timeout or disable the Moto Assist app then reboot to see if it behaves normally.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll try that later tonight and report how it went.

mi7chy said:

Worst case try the Lollipop update which I believe is out for the 2014 Moto X.

Click to expand...

You noted that I am still clinging to Kitkat. Yeah, updating to Lollipop would definitely be the worst case scenario for me. I don't want to even think about the reported problems that Lollipop has wrought.

Have you double checked power saving options under battery settings?

May want to try setting power saving on. Test. Reboot. Reenable normal non power saving settings. Test. Reboot. Test.

Had a problem like this where setting an option against what you want then rebooting and reenabling back to your preferences made the feature stick. Not on a motoX but worth a try. GL

mi7chy said:

I'd focus on 'Attentive display' setting which overrides screen timeout or disable the Moto Assist app then reboot to see if it behaves normally.

Click to expand...

Attentive display housed two modes: "Stay on while looking" and "Battery saver".
--> Whether they are set to on or off, the problem persists.

Moto Assist
Moto Assist had a "Turn my screen off while sleeping" function, turning it off did not fix the problem

MrkXCeL said:

Have you double checked power saving options under battery settings?

Click to expand...

Toggling the "Battery saver mode" on or off did not fix the problem.

MrkXCeL said:

May want to try setting power saving on. Test. Reboot. Reenable normal non power saving settings. Test. Reboot. Test. Had a problem like this where setting an option against what you want then rebooting and reenabling back to your preferences made the feature stick. Not on a motoX but worth a try. GL

Click to expand...

Thanks for the idea, unfortunately doing that didn't resolve the problem.

Am still open to suggestions. In the interim I'll look on Play Store for an app that can override the problem.

EDIT: Have tried 6 different screen timeout apps, none of them were able to override my problem. Phone still reverts to a 2 minute timeout.

Are you rooted? Maybe give this a try to determine if it's an offending app. There's also a link if you're unrooted.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.uzumapps.wakelockdetector

For what it's worth I wasn't able to replicate this behavior on a 2013 Moto G running stock unrooted Kit Kat 4.4.4.

Thanks mi7chy.
Am unrooted, will check out the Wakelock Detector you pointed me to.

Yeah, my first thought was a setting in the "Moto Assist" app, but you already checked that.

There's a toggle for screen timeout in the notification shade on some phones, have you tried toggling it there to see if it overrides it somehow?

Also, go to your app manager (native or a 3rd party one if you like) and look at every app that's running in the background and kill anything that might affect display settings (car dock apps maybe), then immediately try to set the timeout again to see if it sticks. Kill everything if you have to until you find it, hah.

Worst case scenario, factory reset should fix it... until you download the offending app again if that's causing it.

Thanks T4rd. I tried your idea and killed every process that was running. Well not really, if it was one with the green android character I didn't mess with it. No luck just yet...

Looks like I may have to do a factory reset. Will start by taking screenshots of all my app settings, that will help me when it comes time to reinstall apps.

I got lucky...
Found the culprit hiding in a third party app's advanced settings section.

My NotifierPro app contained settings for "Lock Screen" and "Home Screen" timeouts. I found them set for 30 seconds and 2 minutes, respectively. There was no need to uninstall the app. I only had to tweak the timeout times to my liking.

Thank you all for taking the time and effort to respond with such helpful suggestions!