[Fix] Display Over Other Apps Feature Not Available on Android Smartphones

If you are trying to install and use an app in your Android smartphone and after the installation when you open the app, your smartphone is showing “Display over other apps feature not available” error message, this article will help you in fixing this annoying issue and installing the app successfully in your mobile phone.

Following screenshot shows the error message appearing on an Android smartphone while setting up an app which requires display over other apps permission:

NOTE: If you are an advanced or expert user, you can direct jump to Solution 4 which will work 100% in enabling display over other apps permission for any app in any Android smartphone.

Problem: Android Mobile Shows Display Over Other Apps Feature Not Available Error

Recently one of my friends purchased a low-budget Samsung Galaxy smartphone and while trying to install an app in his smartphone, he received following error message on full screen:

The person was trying to install a parental lock or application lock app in his smartphone to restrict or block apps and other stuff in his mobile phone. He tried various locking apps such as AppLock from SpSoft, Norton App Lock, etc but every app installation failed at the “Display over other apps feature not available” error screen and he was unable to use the app.

Similar error message might also occur during installation of Truecaller or other caller ID apps, social media/chat/messaging apps for Android smartphones.

Reason: Screen Overlays Functionality Disabled by Smartphone Manufacturer

If you are receiving display over other apps error message while trying to install an app in Android phone, first you should understand the reason behind the error message. Display over other apps feature is also known as “Draw over other apps” “Appear on Top” or “Screen overlays” which allows 3rd party apps to appear on full screen and top of other apps. This feature should be used by system apps only.

Some apps such as Truecaller, App Lock, instant messaging apps require screen overlay feature as they need to appear on top of other apps and when the app detects that screen overlay feature is restricted in the phone, it displays the error message about screen overlay feature disabled or turned off.

In past, many malicious apps have used this functionality to restrict or prevent users from accessing their mobile phone, that’s why sometimes smartphone manufacturer companies disable or block screen overlay functionality to improve users safety.

Sometimes screen overlay feature is disabled to improve mobile phone performance. It has been observed that screen overlay functionality consumes lots of CPU and RAM amount and slows down the phone. That’s why smartphone companies disable screen overlay functionality on their low-end budget friendly mobile phones which come with average processor and lower amount of RAM.

Most of the times, display over other apps error message occurs on Android Go edition smartphones which come with limited amount of RAM and CPU resources.

PS: Older versions of Android didn’t contain display over other apps feature.

Solution 1: Enable Display Over Other Apps Permission Manually Using App Info Page

Most of the times, this problem can be solved by manually enabling the required display over other apps permission for the problematic app.

Following steps will help you in turning on the screen overlay permission for an app in your Android smartphone:

STEP 1: Go to Home Screen or App launcher screen where the app shortcut is placed. Now press and hold on the app shortcut to access the tool-tip or flyout which contains various options such as uninstall, remove, etc. Now tap on the small Info (i) icon present at the top-right corner of the fly-out. It’ll open App Info screen.

Alternatively, you can access App Info screen using mobile phone Settings -> Apps page.

STEP 2: Now look for “Appear on Top” or “Display over other apps” option on App Info page or under Permissions page.

STEP 3: If you find the option, set the toggle button to ON and it’ll immediately turn on the missing display over other apps permission for the app.

Now you can use the app without any issue in your smartphone.

Solution 2: Enable Screen Overlays Setting Using Developer Options Page

If you can’t find screen overlays or display over other apps setting on App Info page, you can forcefully enable the option using hidden secret Developer Options page.

STEP 1: First of all you’ll need to activate Developer Options page in your smartphone settings. It’s a hidden secret feature which comes disabled by default. You can enable Developer Options by tapping on “Settings -> About phone -> Build number” option 7 times and it’ll activate and enable Developer Options menu.

Following articles contain full step-by-step instructions for enabling Developer Options in Android smartphones:

[Tip] Enable Hidden Secret “Developer Options” Menu in Android Mobile Phones

[Tip] Speed up Your Slow Android Mobile Phone, Make it Run Faster

STEP 2: After enabling Developer Options, open it and you’ll see several options inside it. Scroll down and look for following option:

STEP 3: Set the toggle button given next to the option to ON and now you’ll be able to enable/disable screen overlay or display over other apps permission for any app.

Solution 3: Enable Appear on Top Permission Using Special Access Screen

You can also enable display over other apps or appear on top permission for an app using Special Access setting page with the help of following steps:

STEP 1: Open main Settings page in your smartphone and type Special Access in the search box given at the top.

STEP 2: Select Special Access option in search results.

Alternatively, you can manually open Special Access screen by going to Settings -> Apps -> 3-dots Menu -> Special Access option.

STEP 3: Now select “Appear on Top” or similar option such as display or draw over other apps.

STEP 4: You’ll see separate toggle options given next to all installed apps. Find the app which is causing the issue and enable the toggle option given next to it.

It’ll immediately enable display over other apps permission for the app and will resolve the issue.

Solution 4: Manually Grant SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW Permission Using ADB Command

If everything fails and your Android smartphone is blocking you from enabling display over other apps permission for an app, you can forcefully grant the required permission by connecting your phone with PC and using ADB command.

We’ll use ADB (Android Debug Bridge) command-line tool to connect the smartphone with a PC and manually activate screen overlay functionality for the problematic app.

STEP 1: First of all, you’ll need to download and install ADB tool on your Windows, Linux or Mac PC. Google provides official Android SDK Platform-Tools kit for free download for developers which contains ADB command-line tool.

You can download the tool using following official page:

Download Android SDK Platform-Tools

STEP 2: Extract the downloaded ZIP file using a file archive software such as 7-Zip and you’ll get “Platform-Tools” folder.

STEP 3: Now you’ll need to enable USB debugging option in your smartphone to be able to use ADB command on it. You can enable USB debugging using Developer Options page which we activated in Solution 2.

STEP 4: Now connect your smartphone with PC using USB cable. Your mobile phone will display a message asking for permission to connect to your computer for debugging purposes. Select “Always allow from this computer” option and tap on Allow button.

STEP 5: Now go to Platform-Tools folder, press and hold SHIFT key on keyboard and right-click on empty area in the folder. Select “Open Command Prompt Window here” or “Open PowerShell Window here” option from the context menu.

It’ll open Command Prompt window activated in Platform-Tools folder. If it opens PowerShell window, type cmd and press Enter key and it’ll switch to Command Prompt window.

STEP 6: Now type adb devices command to check the connection working between your smartphone and PC. It’ll display your Android smartphone listed under attached devices.

STEP 7: Now we’ll run a command to enable screen overlay functionality for the app using Command Prompt. But first we’ll need to find out app’s package name which will be used in the command syntax. The command format looks as following (don’t run the command, it won’t work):

adb shell pm grant package_name android.permission.SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW

You’ll need to replace package_name in syntax with the correct package name. Now you’ll ask how to find package name of the app? Here is a very simple way to find package name of the app.

Open app’s Play Store page in your web browser and look at the URL in the address bar. It contains app’s package name after ?id= parameter.

For example, URL of AppLock by SpSoft is as following:

So the package name will be com.sp.protector.free.

STEP 8: Now you can run the final command in Command Prompt window by replacing the package_name string with the real package name obtained from the Play Store URL. In our case, the package name obtained from the URL is com.sp.protector.free, so we’ll use the same in the command syntax:

adb shell pm grant com.sp.protector.free android.permission.SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW

That’s it. As soon as you run the correct command, it’ll forcefully enable screen overlay or display over other apps permission for the selected app and you’ll be able to use the app without any problem in your Android smartphone.

BONUS TIP: If you use popular ScrCpy screen mirroring utility to cast your Android smartphone screen on PC, you can also use its ADB command-line tool.

[Tip] How to Mirror or Cast Android Mobile Phone Screen on PC

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