Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

KeepScreenOn VS Essentials

Compare KeepScreenOn VS Essentials and see what are their differences

KeepScreenOn logo KeepScreenOn

An Android screen timeout quick settings tile. Contribute to elastic-rock/KeepScreenOn development by creating an account on GitHub.

Essentials logo Essentials

Essential tools and mods for Android nerds. Contribute to sameerasw/essentials development by creating an account on GitHub.
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KeepScreenOn features and specs

  • Simple and focused functionality
    KeepScreenOn does one thing well โ€” it keeps the screen on. The app is minimal and purpose-built, using a Quick Settings tile for easy toggling, which avoids unnecessary complexity or bloat.
  • Open source and transparent
    The app is fully open source on GitHub, allowing users to inspect the code for privacy and security. It is written in Kotlin and users can verify there is no hidden tracking or data collection.
  • No permissions required
    KeepScreenOn operates without requiring special or dangerous permissions, which is a significant advantage for privacy-conscious users. It uses a simple foreground service mechanism to keep the screen awake.
  • Quick Settings tile integration
    The app integrates directly into the Android Quick Settings panel, making it extremely convenient to toggle the keep-screen-on feature with a single tap without needing to open the full app.
  • Modern Android development practices
    The app is built using Jetpack Compose and follows modern Android development patterns including Material 3 design, making it well-structured, maintainable, and visually consistent with current Android design guidelines.

Possible disadvantages of KeepScreenOn

  • Very limited feature set
    The app is extremely minimalistic with essentially just one feature. There are no advanced options like per-app settings, timers, schedules, or brightness controls that some competing keep-screen-on apps might offer.
  • Small community and limited support
    As a relatively niche open-source project, it has a small user base and contributor community, which means slower issue resolution, fewer updates, and limited community-driven support compared to more popular alternatives.
  • No automation or scheduling
    The app lacks the ability to automatically enable or disable the keep-screen-on feature based on conditions such as time of day, specific apps being open, or battery level, requiring manual toggling each time.
  • Potential battery drain
    Keeping the screen on indefinitely can lead to significant battery drain if the user forgets to toggle it off. The app does not include built-in safeguards like auto-off timers or low-battery detection to mitigate this risk.
  • Limited documentation
    The GitHub repository provides minimal documentation beyond basic usage instructions. There is limited information on architecture, contribution guidelines, or troubleshooting, which could make it harder for new contributors or users encountering issues.

Essentials features and specs

  • Clean and Minimal Design
    Essentials provides a clean, minimal browser startpage/new tab experience that focuses on simplicity and aesthetics, reducing visual clutter compared to default browser homepages.
  • Customizable
    The project allows users to customize various aspects of their startpage, including links, bookmarks, and visual elements, making it adaptable to individual workflows and preferences.
  • Open Source
    Being hosted on GitHub and open source, users can freely inspect, modify, and contribute to the codebase, ensuring transparency and community-driven improvements.
  • Lightweight
    The project is built with simple web technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript), making it fast to load and easy to deploy without heavy dependencies or frameworks.
  • Self-Hosted Friendly
    Users can easily host and run the startpage locally or on their own servers, maintaining full control over their data and not relying on third-party services.

Possible disadvantages of Essentials

  • Limited Documentation
    The project has relatively limited documentation, which may make it harder for new users or contributors to understand setup, configuration options, and how to extend the project.
  • Niche Use Case
    As a browser startpage, it serves a very specific niche purpose and may not appeal to users who are satisfied with default browser new tab pages or more feature-rich alternatives like Notion or other dashboard tools.
  • Small Community
    The project has a relatively small user and contributor base, which can mean slower development, fewer feature additions, and limited community support for troubleshooting issues.
  • Manual Configuration
    Customization often requires directly editing code or configuration files rather than offering a user-friendly settings interface, which can be a barrier for less technical users.
  • Limited Feature Set
    Compared to more established startpage projects (like Homer, Heimdall, or Flame), Essentials may lack advanced features such as service health monitoring, integrations, or weather widgets that power users might expect.

Analysis of KeepScreenOn

Overall verdict

  • KeepScreenOn is a lightweight, open-source utility that reliably prevents your screen from sleeping, making it a solid choice for users who need a simple, no-frills solution without unnecessary bloat or permissions.

Why this product is good

  • Open-source and transparent, so you can inspect the code and trust what it does
  • Lightweight with minimal resource usage and few or no intrusive permissions
  • Does one thing wellโ€”keeps the screen awake without complicated configuration
  • Free to use with no ads or hidden costs typical of many closed-source alternatives
  • Community-driven development allows for contributions, issue reporting, and improvements

Recommended for

  • Developers and power users who prefer open-source tools
  • People who need to keep their screen on during reading, presentations, or monitoring tasks
  • Users wary of granting excessive permissions to closed-source apps
  • Anyone wanting a simple, single-purpose utility without bloat

Analysis of Essentials

Overall verdict

  • Essentials is a well-regarded, popular Minecraft server plugin (and its modern fork EssentialsX) that provides a comprehensive suite of core commands and features for server administration, making it a solid foundation for most Bukkit/Spigot/Paper servers.

Why this product is good

  • Offers hundreds of essential commands and features out of the box, covering teleportation, homes, warps, kits, and economy
  • Actively maintained through the EssentialsX fork with regular updates and compatibility for modern Minecraft versions
  • Open source and free, with a large community providing support, documentation, and tutorials
  • Highly configurable with granular permissions integration for fine-tuned server control
  • Widely adopted, so it integrates well with many other popular plugins

Recommended for

  • Minecraft server administrators setting up a new survival or multiplayer server
  • Server owners who need a reliable all-in-one plugin for basic management commands
  • Communities wanting economy, homes, and warp systems without installing many separate plugins
  • Beginners looking for well-documented, beginner-friendly server tooling
  • Developers building on Bukkit, Spigot, or Paper who want a stable core plugin foundation

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to KeepScreenOn and Essentials)
Utilities
54 54%
46% 46
System Utility
54 54%
46% 46
Windows Tools
46 46%
54% 54
OS & Utilities
55 55%
45% 45

User comments

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What are some alternatives?

When comparing KeepScreenOn and Essentials, you can also consider the following products

ScreenAwake - ScreenAwake keeps your screen on while you work, read, or present. Prevent your device from sleeping with just one click - no downloads required.

Caffeinate - Caffeinate is an App that helps android developers Keep their phone's screen On while developing - abdalmoniem/Caffeinate

Caffeine for Windows - Prevent your computer from going to sleep

Tasker - Tasker is an application for Android which performs Tasks (sets of Actions) based on Contexts...

Caffeine for Mac - Caffeine is a tiny program that puts an icon in the right side of your menu bar.

Automate - Automate various tasks on your Android smartphone or tablet.