Starting March 1, 2026, Google Play will implement new policies aimed at penalizing applications that unnecessarily drain smartphone batteries.
According to Google, these changes are prompted by the introduction of a new metric for excessive "wake locks." Wake locks are a feature that allows applications, like Spotify, to play music in the background even when the smartphone screen is off. However, if not implemented correctly, it can significantly affect battery life.
The company defines "excessive" as any session that includes more than 2 hours of total wake locks in a 24-hour period.
"These excessive sessions greatly deplete battery life. Wake locks are considered exempt if it is a system wake lock after sleep that offers clear benefits to the user, which cannot be further optimized, such as audio playback or user-initiated data transfer," the Google blog states.
Applications that exceed the harmful behavior threshold for wake locks will face penalties. Specifically, they will be less promoted in recommendations, and users will see warnings about the potential for rapid battery drain when downloading the app.