- Google will highlight apps that drain battery with a label and reduce their visibility in the Play Store.
- The technical threshold is set at more than 2 hours of non-exempt wake locks in 24 hours and that it occurs in at least 5% of sessions in 28 days.
- The measure, developed in conjunction with Samsung, will come into effect on March 1, 2026.
- Wearables are also considered: excessive use if an app consumes 4,44% of battery per hour during activity.
Google has focused on the apps that consume a lot of battery will be visible directly in the Play Store.The store will display notices on the product page of those applications with anomalous background activityso that any user in Spain and Europe be able to identify at a glance whether a discharge might trigger a spike in energy consumption.
In addition to the warning, these applications will lose presence in the discovery and recommendations sectionsWith this move, which Google has prepared in collaboration with Samsung, the Energy efficiency becomes a key quality criterion from 1 March 2026.
What's changing in the Play Store
Play Store will add a visible warning on app pages that display a High consumption due to its background activityThe notification will inform you that the app may use more battery than usual, helping to decide whether to install it or look for alternatives more optimized.
Next to the label, Google will limit the visibility of these apps in featured listings and personalized recommendations. The measure is part of the technical quality metrics with which the company already evaluates closures, errors and overall performance in the Play Store.
The threshold and how consumption is measured
The new technical reference considers a session excessive when it accumulates more than two hours of non-exempt wake locks within a 24-hour period. Wake locks keep the device active with the screen off and, if overused, drain the battery quickly.
For an application to be flagged, that pattern must be repeated in at least the 5% of user sessions over the last 28 days. Thus, a single peak will not suffice: the system seeks sustained behaviors that affect a significant volume of use.
There are justified cases that are exempt, such as the audio playback or user-initiated data transfers. Conversely, a service that unnecessarily prevents the system from resting or that does not release correctly Wake locks will result in penalties.
Wearables will also be monitored: it will be considered abnormal consumption when a watch app uses up around 4,44% of battery per hour of activity. With this, Google wants to protect the limited autonomy of wrist devices.
Impact on users and developers in Spain
For users, the novelty means more transparencyBefore installing an app on your mobile phone, We will see if it has a history of high energy consumption.This will help avoid surprises and prioritize applications that respect the suspension mode of the System.
For developers, Google will send quality alerts and will reduce visibility in the Play Store if consumption patterns are not correctedOptimizing background processes and properly managing wake locks will be key to maintaining positioning and downloads in the shop.
The timeline is clear: public signage and visibility penalties will begin on March 1th 2026Until then, the company will continue to refine this metric, which it has already tested with support from Samsung to adapt it to real-world scenarios.
What can you do if you see the high consumption warning?
If an app appears with the high resource consumption label, you can choose to look for one more efficient alternativeYou can either write to the developer to request improvements or wait for an update that fixes the problem. In the meantime, it's advisable to monitor background usage from the mobile phone's battery settings.
With this policy, Play Store aims to The apps that are most careful with energy consumption have greater prominence and that those that overuse background processes be optimized. The practical consequence for most users will be a more stable experience and more predictable autonomy In day to day.
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