Play Store adds warning for apps that may drain battery
What's the story
Google has introduced a new warning system in the Play Store to alert users about apps that could potentially drain their device's battery. The notification reads, "this app may use more battery than expected due to high background activity." The move comes as part of Google's efforts to make Android devices more efficient and user-friendly.
Developer tool
New metric for developers
Along with the warning system, Google is also introducing a new metric for developers. This will help them keep track of how often their apps are waking up a device. If an app keeps a device awake for over two hours in total with non-exempt wake locks in 24 hours, and this happens in 5% of user sessions over the last 28 days, it gets flagged as potentially battery-draining.
Consequences
Impact on app visibility
Apps that regularly exceed the "Excessive Partial Wake Lock" threshold in Android vitals could see a direct impact on their visibility in the Play Store. This could include warnings appearing on their store listing or being excluded from discovery surfaces like recommendations. However, apps that offer clear user benefits such as music playback, location access, and user-initiated data transfers are exempted from this warning system.
System benefits
Developer notifications
Developers will be notified about potential battery-draining issues through the Play Console, giving them a chance to rectify these problems before they become public knowledge. If they fail to do so, their app could receive public warnings or see a drop in its ranking on the Play Store. This way, users can identify power-hungry apps early on and keep their devices running longer.