diff --git a/res/values/strings.xml b/res/values/strings.xml
index a95eb3d4748..5b6321a3d86 100644
--- a/res/values/strings.xml
+++ b/res/values/strings.xml
@@ -9889,6 +9889,11 @@
     <!-- UI debug setting: preference summary - describes the behavior of forcing full raw GNSS satellite measurements [CHAR LIMIT=NONE] -->
     <string name="enable_gnss_raw_meas_full_tracking_summary">Track all GNSS constellations and frequencies with no duty cycling</string>
 
+    <!-- UI debug setting: preference title - allow background activity starts [CHAR LIMIT=60] -->
+    <string name="allow_background_activity_starts">Allow background activity starts</string>
+    <!-- UI debug setting: preference summary - describes the behavior of allowing background activity starts [CHAR LIMIT=NONE] -->
+    <string name="allow_background_activity_starts_summary">Allows all background activity starts</string>
+
     <!-- UI debug setting: preference title - show all crash dialogs [CHAR LIMIT=60] -->
     <string name="show_first_crash_dialog">Always show crash dialog</string>
     <!-- UI debug setting: preference summary - describes the behavior of showing a dialog every time an app crashes [CHAR LIMIT=NONE] -->
@@ -10254,4 +10259,4 @@
     <string name="contextual_card_feedback_send">Send feedback</string>
     <!-- String for contextual card feedback dialog [CHAR LIMIT=NONE] -->
     <string name="contextual_card_feedback_confirm_message">Would you like to give us feedback on this suggestion?</string>
-</resources>
\ No newline at end of file
+</resources>
diff --git a/res/xml/development_settings.xml b/res/xml/development_settings.xml
index cc724b8e56e..a0f019d3ff3 100644
--- a/res/xml/development_settings.xml
+++ b/res/xml/development_settings.xml
@@ -484,6 +484,11 @@
             android:fragment="com.android.settings.applications.appops.BackgroundCheckSummary"
             android:title="@string/background_check_pref" />
 
+        <SwitchPreference
+            android:key="allow_background_activity_starts"
+            android:title="@string/allow_background_activity_starts"
+            android:summary="@string/allow_background_activity_starts_summary" />
+
         <SwitchPreference
             android:key="show_first_crash_dialog"
             android:title="@string/show_first_crash_dialog"
diff --git a/src/com/android/settings/development/AllowBackgroundActivityStartsPreferenceController.java b/src/com/android/settings/development/AllowBackgroundActivityStartsPreferenceController.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ea47f35159f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/com/android/settings/development/AllowBackgroundActivityStartsPreferenceController.java
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2018 The Android Open Source Project
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package com.android.settings.development;
+
+import android.content.Context;
+import android.provider.Settings;
+
+import com.android.settings.core.PreferenceControllerMixin;
+import com.android.settingslib.development.DeveloperOptionsPreferenceController;
+
+import androidx.preference.Preference;
+import androidx.preference.SwitchPreference;
+
+public class AllowBackgroundActivityStartsPreferenceController
+        extends DeveloperOptionsPreferenceController
+        implements Preference.OnPreferenceChangeListener, PreferenceControllerMixin {
+
+    private static final String BACKGROUND_ACTIVITY_STARTS_ENABLED_KEY
+            = "allow_background_activity_starts";
+
+    public AllowBackgroundActivityStartsPreferenceController(Context context) {
+        super(context);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String getPreferenceKey() {
+        return BACKGROUND_ACTIVITY_STARTS_ENABLED_KEY;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean onPreferenceChange(Preference preference, Object newValue) {
+        writeSetting((boolean) newValue);
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    private void writeSetting(boolean isEnabled) {
+        Settings.Global.putInt(mContext.getContentResolver(),
+                Settings.Global.BACKGROUND_ACTIVITY_STARTS_ENABLED, isEnabled ? 1 : 0);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void updateState(Preference preference) {
+        final int mode = Settings.Global.getInt(mContext.getContentResolver(),
+                Settings.Global.BACKGROUND_ACTIVITY_STARTS_ENABLED, 1);
+        ((SwitchPreference) mPreference).setChecked(mode != 0);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected void onDeveloperOptionsSwitchDisabled() {
+        super.onDeveloperOptionsSwitchDisabled();
+        writeSetting(false);
+        ((SwitchPreference) mPreference).setChecked(false);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/com/android/settings/development/DevelopmentSettingsDashboardFragment.java b/src/com/android/settings/development/DevelopmentSettingsDashboardFragment.java
index 932c0c7cd38..762686ad51f 100644
--- a/src/com/android/settings/development/DevelopmentSettingsDashboardFragment.java
+++ b/src/com/android/settings/development/DevelopmentSettingsDashboardFragment.java
@@ -454,6 +454,7 @@ public class DevelopmentSettingsDashboardFragment extends RestrictedDashboardFra
         controllers.add(new ProfileGpuRenderingPreferenceController(context));
         controllers.add(new KeepActivitiesPreferenceController(context));
         controllers.add(new BackgroundProcessLimitPreferenceController(context));
+        controllers.add(new AllowBackgroundActivityStartsPreferenceController(context));
         controllers.add(new ShowFirstCrashDialogPreferenceController(context));
         controllers.add(new AppsNotRespondingPreferenceController(context));
         controllers.add(new NotificationChannelWarningsPreferenceController(context));
diff --git a/tests/robotests/src/com/android/settings/development/AllowBackgroundActivityStartsPreferenceControllerTest.java b/tests/robotests/src/com/android/settings/development/AllowBackgroundActivityStartsPreferenceControllerTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8b9b14f1e58
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/robotests/src/com/android/settings/development/AllowBackgroundActivityStartsPreferenceControllerTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2018 The Android Open Source Project
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package com.android.settings.development;
+
+import static com.google.common.truth.Truth.assertThat;
+
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
+
+import android.content.Context;
+import android.provider.Settings;
+
+import com.android.settings.testutils.SettingsRobolectricTestRunner;
+
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.mockito.Mock;
+import org.mockito.MockitoAnnotations;
+import org.robolectric.RuntimeEnvironment;
+
+import androidx.preference.PreferenceScreen;
+import androidx.preference.SwitchPreference;
+
+@RunWith(SettingsRobolectricTestRunner.class)
+public class AllowBackgroundActivityStartsPreferenceControllerTest {
+
+    @Mock
+    private SwitchPreference mPreference;
+    @Mock
+    private PreferenceScreen mPreferenceScreen;
+
+    private Context mContext;
+    private AllowBackgroundActivityStartsPreferenceController mController;
+
+    @Before
+    public void setup() {
+        MockitoAnnotations.initMocks(this);
+        mContext = RuntimeEnvironment.application;
+        mController = new AllowBackgroundActivityStartsPreferenceController(mContext);
+        when(mPreferenceScreen.findPreference(mController.getPreferenceKey()))
+            .thenReturn(mPreference);
+        mController.displayPreference(mPreferenceScreen);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void onPreferenceChange_settingEnabled_allowBackgroundActivityStartsShouldBeOn() {
+        mController.onPreferenceChange(mPreference, true /* new value */);
+
+        final int mode = Settings.Global.getInt(mContext.getContentResolver(),
+                Settings.Global.BACKGROUND_ACTIVITY_STARTS_ENABLED, 1 /* default */);
+
+        assertThat(mode).isEqualTo(1);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void onPreferenceChange_settingDisabled_allowBackgroundActivityStartsShouldBeOff() {
+        mController.onPreferenceChange(mPreference, false /* new value */);
+
+        final int mode = Settings.Global.getInt(mContext.getContentResolver(),
+                Settings.Global.BACKGROUND_ACTIVITY_STARTS_ENABLED, 1 /* default */);
+
+        assertThat(mode).isEqualTo(0);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void updateState_settingDisabled_preferenceShouldNotBeChecked() {
+        Settings.Global.putInt(mContext.getContentResolver(),
+                Settings.Global.BACKGROUND_ACTIVITY_STARTS_ENABLED, 0);
+        mController.updateState(mPreference);
+
+        verify(mPreference).setChecked(false);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void updateState_settingEnabled_preferenceShouldBeChecked() {
+        Settings.Global.putInt(mContext.getContentResolver(),
+                Settings.Global.BACKGROUND_ACTIVITY_STARTS_ENABLED, 1);
+        mController.updateState(mPreference);
+
+        verify(mPreference).setChecked(true);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void onDeveloperOptionsSwitchDisabled_shouldDisablePreference() {
+        mController.onDeveloperOptionsSwitchDisabled();
+
+        final int mode = Settings.Global.getInt(mContext.getContentResolver(),
+                Settings.Global.BACKGROUND_ACTIVITY_STARTS_ENABLED, 1 /* default */);
+
+        assertThat(mode).isEqualTo(0);
+        verify(mPreference).setChecked(false);
+        verify(mPreference).setEnabled(false);
+    }
+}
+