First steps

Time limits and how many devices you get

When a device is taken back, how to keep it with Extend, and what the device pool and per-person limits mean.

Why: devices are shared. Knowing when one is taken back saves you from losing a half-reproduced bug when you come back from lunch.

What happens

Active sessions on the Apps page lists every running device, and the bar above it shows the pool: green devices are free, amber ones are busy.
Each card shows how long until the device stops. Two clocks run at once:
- idle time: a device nobody uses is stopped after 30 minutes by default;
- maximum lifetime: every device is stopped after 8 hours by default, used or not.
Extend restarts the idle clock. It’s also in the session header.
When you’re done, press Stop: the device goes back to the pool right away.

clicks, typing, scrolling or touches anywhere on the session page, while the tab is visible;
changing a setting, switching the location, restarting the app, pressing a phone key, using the clipboard;
pressing Extend.

A tab that is just open in the background does not keep the device alive.

Your server may use other values than 30 minutes and 8 hours; the countdowns always show the real ones.
Your server may limit how many devices one person runs at once. Your limit is in Account and passkeys in the user menu.
When the pool is full, a launch waits in line and starts as soon as a device frees up, as long as you stay on its page.

“You already run as many devices as you may; stop one first”: you hit your limit. Stop a device you no longer need.
The device disappeared while you were away: it was idle too long. Next time press Extend before you leave, and save the app data if signing in again is tedious.
Extend and Stop are greyed out: it’s someone else’s session; only its owner and admins can manage it.