Joe Maring / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google has released new app quality guidelines to prevent apps from excessively draining your phone’s battery life.
- Starting March 1, 2026, if an app excessively retains wakelocks, it will be penalized on the Play Store.
- Apps responsible for excessive battery drain will display a warning label on the Play Store and may lose visibility on important discovery pages, such as recommendations.
Google just took some welcome steps to combat apps that are particularly harmful to your phone’s battery life. The company announced a new Play Store policy which will identify and penalize apps that cause unnecessary battery drain.
As part of its technical quality guidelines for developers, Google is introducing new performance checks for Android apps. These controls focus on a behavior known as wake locks. Wakelocks keep your phone awake even when the screen is off. They are useful for things like playing music or downloading files, but also one of the main culprits of rapid battery drain when implemented carelessly by apps.
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Starting March 1, 2026, if an app is found to be excessively maintaining wakelocks, meaning it prevents your phone from resting for long periods of time without a valid reason, Google may penalize it on the Play Store. The company says such battery-draining apps could lose their visibility in Play Store recommendations. They would also display a warning label on their app listing, informing users that the app might drain their phone’s battery faster.
This new policy builds on Google’s existing “core technical quality metrics,” which already track things like app crashes and insensitive behavior. Now, battery efficiency joins that list as a key quality factor.
Google wants developers to create smarter, more power-efficient apps, and give users more transparency about which apps are silently draining their phone or watch battery.
On phones, an app is flagged for excessive battery drain if it keeps the device awake for more than two cumulative hours in a 24-hour period without good reason. On wearables, Google already reports excessive battery usage when an app consumes more than 4.44% of the watch’s battery per hour during active sessions. Apps that exceed these thresholds may lose visibility in the Play Store or include a public warning about battery drain.
Google says it worked closely with Samsung to develop this new battery metric.
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