Whether you’re running digital signage in a school hallway, displaying a menu board in a restaurant, or keeping dashboards visible on a factory floor, there’s one universal frustration: your screen goes dark. Devices are designed to save energy by timing out or switching to screensaver mode, which is great for a living room TV but a dealbreaker when your display needs to stay on 24/7.

This guide covers step-by-step instructions for preventing timeout and screensaver mode on every major platform: ChromeCast, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Tizen, LG WebOS, and Apple TV.

1. ChromeCast

ChromeCast devices can enter standby mode after a period of inactivity, which can cause interruptions. Here’s how to keep your ChromeCast active:

Method: Using the “Stay Awake” App

1. Download and install a screen-saving app like “Stay Awake” from the Play Store on your paired device (e.g., your phone or tablet).
2. Open the app and start casting through the ChromeCast as you normally would.
3. Ensure that the app is set to prevent your device from sleeping during casting.

Alternatively, using ChromeCast built-in options:

1. Open the Google Home app on your mobile device.
2. Tap your ChromeCast device.
3. Select Settings (gear icon).
4. Scroll to find Ambient Mode settings. Here, you can reduce the frequency of the timeout by customizing the interval or turning off Ambient Mode entirely.

By adjusting these settings, you can prevent the ChromeCast from prematurely entering a screensaver mode or timing out.

2. Android TV

Most Android TVs have a default timeout setting that causes the display to dim or go into screensaver mode after a period of inactivity. Here’s how to disable it:

Method 1: Disable Screensaver

1. From your Android TV home screen, navigate to Settings (gear icon).
2. Scroll down to Device Preferences and then to Screen Saver.
3. Set the screensaver to None or increase the delay before activation by adjusting the “Start after” time.

Method 2: Disable Sleep Timer

1. Go to Settings from the home screen.
2. Navigate to Device Preferences.
3. Find and select Power or Sleep Timer.
4. Set it to Never or the longest available time option.

3. Amazon Fire TV

By default, Fire TV devices may go into screensaver mode after a certain period of inactivity. Here’s how to stop this from happening:

Method: Adjust Display and Screensaver Settings

1. Go to the Settings menu from your Fire TV’s home screen.
2. Scroll to Display & Sounds.
3. Select Screensaver and change the Start Time to the longest available time (e.g., 2 hours) or set it to Never.
4. To completely prevent sleep, navigate back to Settings > Preferences > Data Monitoring and turn off Data Collection. This may help reduce sleep mode behavior.

4. Samsung Tizen TV

Samsung’s Tizen-powered smart TVs come with a built-in screensaver that activates after a period of inactivity. Here’s how to disable or delay it:

Method: Adjust Eco Solution Settings

1. Press the Home button on your Samsung remote.
2. Navigate to Settings > General > Eco Solution.
3. Disable the Auto Power Off or set it to the longest time available (such as 4 hours).
4. Additionally, ensure that Screen Saver Time under General > System Manager > Time is set to Off or to the maximum time limit.

Alternative Method: System Settings

1. Go to Settings > General > System Manager > Auto Protection Time.
2. Set Auto Protection Time to Off or increase the time to the longest setting.

5. LG WebOS TV

LG WebOS TVs also have a built-in screensaver function that activates after periods of inactivity. Here’s how to keep the display on and prevent timeouts:

Method: Disable Screensaver

1. Press the Home button on your remote and go to Settings.
2. Scroll down to General.
3. Select Screensaver and turn it Off.

Method 2: Adjust Energy-Saving Settings

1. Go to Settings > Picture > Energy Saving.
2. Set Energy Saving to Off to prevent the screen from dimming.

Method 3: Turn off Auto Power Off

1. Go to Settings > General > Timers.
2. Select Auto Power Off and set it to Off or choose the maximum duration.

6. Apple TV

An Apple TV running tvOS has two separate timers that will blank a signage screen: a sleep timer and a screen saver. Both are set on the Apple TV itself rather than in CastHub, so a replacement or factory-reset unit needs them set again.

Method: Turn off sleep and the screen saver

1. Open Settings from the Apple TV home screen.
2. Go to Settings > General > Sleep After and choose Never.
3. Go to Settings > General > Screen Saver > Start After and choose Never.
4. Check the television’s own eco or standby timer as well, because a display that switches off on a schedule is doing so independently of tvOS.

For the full Apple TV signage picture, including which models CastHub documents and what an Apple TV cannot do as a player, see the Apple TV digital signage guide.

Pro-Tip: Use a Keep-Alive App or Screen-Wake App

If you’re still having trouble keeping your device from going into standby or screensaver mode, there are two approaches depending on your situation:

For occasional use (like keeping a slideshow running during an event): install a keep-alive or screen-wake app from the Google Play Store or Fire TV Store. These will keep the screen on during active use.

For ongoing use (like a lobby display, menu board, or announcement screen that runs every day): you’re essentially building a digital signage setup, and consumer device settings weren’t designed for this. Dedicated digital signage software like CastHub handles screen management automatically and ensures your content stays running without manual configuration. Get started with CastHub →

Why Screens Keep Timing Out (And How to Stop Fixing It Manually)

If you’re reading this guide, you’ve probably already changed these settings once. Maybe twice. The problem is that firmware updates can reset them, devices can restart unexpectedly, and there’s no way to know a screen went back to screensaver mode until someone walks by and notices.

For one or two screens, the manual settings above work fine. For anything more, there are two approaches worth knowing about.

The Amazon Signage Stick ($99.99) is a commercial media player built specifically for 24/7 digital signage. Unlike consumer Fire TV Sticks, it boots directly into kiosk mode, auto-launches your signage app, and doesn’t have the screensaver and timeout behaviors that bring you to guides like this one. It also exposes a Remote Management API that lets you monitor device health, restart devices remotely, and control the display power via HDMI-CEC, all without touching the hardware. Learn more about the Amazon Signage Stick →

If you’re managing screens across a building or multiple locations, CastHub’s AI-powered control plane lets you manage all your screens from any AI assistant, including Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT, through natural conversation. Check screen status, push content, set schedules, and troubleshoot device issues without logging into a dashboard. Every action is previewed before it executes and every change is reversible. See how CastHub MCP works →

Keep Your Screens Running

By following the device-specific steps outlined above, you can prevent screens from timing out or entering screensaver mode, ensuring that your digital signage or other continuous content remains uninterrupted. This is essential for maintaining professional and seamless displays on ChromeCast, Android TV, Fire TV, Samsung Tizen, LG WebOS TVs, and Apple TV.

The device settings above will solve the immediate problem, but if you’re managing more than one or two screens, or if you need content running reliably every day, the manual approach doesn’t scale well. Settings can reset after firmware updates, devices can restart unexpectedly, and there’s no way to know a screen went dark until someone walks by and notices.

That’s the problem digital signage software is designed to solve. CastHub lets you manage content and monitor screen status from a single dashboard, whether you have 2 screens or 200. It works on Fire TV, Android TV, Samsung Tizen, LG WebOS, Apple TV, and Windows.

Plans start at $12/month, and unlike most digital signage providers that charge per screen, CastHub uses flat-rate pricing so your costs don’t multiply as you add displays.

→ Start a free trial → Watch a 2-minute demo → See setup guide

If you’re evaluating digital signage costs, see our pricing comparison