Joe Maring / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google has issued new app quality guidelines to prevent apps from excessively draining your phone’s battery life.
- Starting March 1, 2026, if an app is found to be holding wake locks excessively, 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 prominent discovery pages, such as recommendations.
Google just took some welcome steps to address apps that are particularly harmful to your phone’s battery life. The company has announced a new Play Store policy that will identify and penalize apps that cause unnecessary battery drain.
As part of its technical quality directives for developers, Google is introducing new performance checks for Android apps. These checks focus on a behavior known as “wake locks.” Wake locks are what keep your phone awake even when the screen is off. They are useful for things like music playback or downloading files, but also one of the biggest culprits behind fast battery drain when implemented by apps carelessly.
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Starting March 1, 2026, if an app is found to be holding wake locks excessively, i.e., preventing your phone from resting for long stretches without a good reason, Google may penalize it on the Play Store. The company says such battery-draining apps could lose visibility in Play Store recommendations. They would also display a warning label on their app listing, informing users that the app may drain their phone battery more quickly.
This new policy builds on Google’s existing “core technical quality metrics,” which already track things like app crashes and unresponsive behavior. Now, battery efficiency joins that list as a key quality factor.
Google wants developers to build smarter, more power-efficient apps, and give users more transparency about which apps are quietly 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 a valid reason. On wearables, Google already flags excessive battery usage when an app drains more than 4.44% of the watch’s battery per hour during active sessions. Apps that cross these thresholds will risk losing visibility on 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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