As of March 1, 2026, Google Play will introduce a new policy that will penalize apps that unnecessarily drain smartphone batteries.
According to Google, these changes are prompted by a new metric called "excessive wake locks". Wake locks are functions that allow apps like Spotify to play music in the background even when the smartphone screen is off. However, if misused, they can significantly impact battery life.
The company defines a session as "excessive" if it includes more than 2 hours of total wake locks in a 24-hour period.
"These excessive sessions considerably drain the battery. A wake lock is considered exempt if it is a system wake lock after sleep that provides clear user benefits that cannot be further optimized, such as audio playback or user-initiated data transfer", – states Google in their blog.
Apps that exceed the harmful behavior threshold for wake locks will face penalties. Specifically, they will receive less promotion in recommendations, and users will be warned about the risk of rapid battery drain due to the app during downloads.
