Google begins calling out battery-killing Android apps
Engadget • • general
Key Points:
- Google has begun rolling out warning labels on apps that excessively drain battery due to high background activity, as announced earlier for a March 1 launch.
- The warning label states, “This app may use more battery than expected due to high background activity,” and will be gradually applied to affected apps over the coming weeks.
- In addition to warning labels, Google may exclude these battery-draining apps from Play Store discovery features such as recommendations.
- The company targets apps abusing Android’s “partial wake lock” mechanism, which keeps the processor active when the screen is off, though some legitimate uses like audio playback and location access are exempt.
- This initiative aims to improve user experience and prevent users from blaming hardware issues, which could lead
