Google Play to warn users about apps that excessive battery drain

Starting March 2026, Android apps that overuse wake locks may lose Play Store visibility or get labelled for excessive battery drain

Google is tightening rules for Android apps that quietly drain your phone’s battery. From March 2026, the Play Store will penalise apps that misuse “wake locks,” the feature that keeps devices awake when the screen is off. As noted on the Android Developers blog, such apps could lose visibility in rankings or carry warning labels about excessive battery use. Developed with Samsung, the new policy aims to make apps more power-efficient and give users clearer insight into which ones drain their battery the most. According to Google, these new battery performance checks were developed in collaboration with Samsung to ensure consistent standards across devices.

Tighter rules for Android apps: What changes

According to the blog, the new policy focuses on apps that misuse “wake locks.” These are needed for tasks such as playing music or downloading files, but when not managed properly, they can lead to unnecessary battery drain. The policy builds on Google’s existing “core technical quality metrics,” which already track issues like app crashes, freezes and responsiveness. Battery performance will now be added as a key factor in determining overall app quality. 

 

  Under Google’s updated technical quality guidelines, if an app is found to be holding wake locks for long periods without a valid reason, more than two cumulative hours within 24 hours, it could lose visibility in Play Store rankings and recommendations. An app is flagged for poor performance if five per cent of its user sessions in the past 28 days show excessive battery use. If this happens, developers will receive an alert on their Android Vitals overview page. Users might also see a warning label on the app’s listing, alerting them that it could drain their phone’s battery more quickly than usual. 

  The move is designed to make app performance more transparent to users while encouraging developers to optimise power usage. On Android smartwatches, Google already flags apps that drain more than 4.44 per cent of the watch’s battery per hour during active use, and similar monitoring will now extend to phones.