According to Phone Arena, Google is working with Samsung to strengthen its fight against underground apps that sabotage your battery life. Starting from March 1, 2026, the Google Play Store will start adding flags to apps that cause excessive battery drainage.
As part of the latest technical quality guidelines, Google is adding new performance tests, focusing on a feature calledwake lock - a mechanism that helps the phone stay active even when the screen is turned off.
The feature is essential for things like playing music or downloading files in background mode. However, if app developers do not handle it properly, it can become a factor that causes rapid battery drain on the phone. Google said that apps will be flagged if more than 5% of users in the last 28 days believe that this feature is in excess of the allowed limit.
Not stopping there, apps that fail this new test could lose their ability to display in Play store recommendations and receive a public warning message to users that their apps "can run out of battery faster".
This policy expands Google's existing technical quality metrics, which have tracked incidents, suspensions, and other bad app behaviors. Now, battery performance is officially included in that list. According to experts, this is a welcome thing because battery life is a very important issue for users.
So, Google's final take of developers to account for poor optimization is a significant step forward. After all, smooth performance is meaningless if your phone is mid-source down.
In general, with these new policies, Google has given a clear message, developers should optimize their apps to avoid limitations.
If developers ignore this, their apps will not only be warned but could also be downgraded or reduced in visibility. In reality, users will be vigilant when downloading an application that is at risk of spoiling their phone's battery.
In general, developers have many reasons to refine their applications to suit new requirements. For users, the new action from Google will bring many benefits.
