Determining whether a phone is nearing the end of its lifespan or if an app is draining battery excessively can be a challenging task. Google has recently unveiled plans to assist users in resolving such issues, as outlined in a recent Android Developers Blog post.

The tech giant has announced the rollout of a novel metric aimed at monitoring battery consumption by app developers. Should a developer consistently violate Google’s battery usage regulations, a notification will appear in the Play Store to alert end-users.

This new metric will focus on monitoring wake locks, which occur when power-hungry apps prevent smartphones from entering sleep mode to run background tasks when the screen is off. Google emphasizes that wake locks significantly contribute to battery drain and has established a threshold for acceptable background app activity.

According to Google, a user session is considered excessive if it accumulates more than two hours of non-exempt wake locks within a 24-hour period. Exceptions are made for background processes that provide clear benefits to users, such as audio playback and user-initiated data transfers.

Failure to address wake lock issues will result in a visible warning for developers. The Play Store warning states that “this app may use more battery than expected due to high background activity,” potentially deterring potential users from downloading such apps.

Google will take additional steps in some cases by excluding offending apps from certain discovery sections within the Play Store. These guidelines will be enforced starting March 1, prompting users to witness the impact of swift battery depletion on Android devices.