Google has announced a new initiative to warn users about Android apps causing excessive battery drain due to wake locks. This change follows the introduction of a new technical quality metric in Android Vitals, focusing on excessive wake locks—a mechanism that prevents devices from entering sleep mode, effectively draining battery life.
Developer Guidance and Changes
The new metric, which has been co-developed with Samsung, was tested earlier this year with feedback from developers. Based on this feedback, Google has refined the metric and made it generally available through Android Vitals.The company outlined a bad behavior threshold for wake locks: if more than 5% of an app’s user sessions in the last 28 days are considered excessive, developers will be warned directly. Exceeding the threshold could lead to these apps being excluded from Google Play's discovery surfaces from 2026 onward.
Impact on App Discovery
From 2026-03-01, Android apps that fail to meet the specified quality threshold may receive a warning on their Play Store listings, indicating potential battery drain issues. Developers will be motivated to optimize their apps to avoid these warnings, thus ensuring a better user experience. Google states that excessive battery usage remains a top user concern and aligning developers' practices with these metrics will enhance overall app performance. Only system-held wake locks with clear user benefits, such as audio playback, will be exempt from penalties.
