Google has launched a new “excessive partial wake locks” metric for Android app developers that will result in Play Store warnings for end users.
Apps can hold wake locks to prevent the user’s device from entering sleep mode, letting the apps perform background work while the screen is off.
This Android vitals metric was co-developed with Samsung by combining the OEM’s “deep, real-world insights into user experience with battery consumption” with Android platform data. Since the beta launch in April, Google has used app developer input to make the algorithm “even more accurate and representative.”
Now generally available, Google is putting it into action with a new bad behavior threshold for excessive wake locks that are a “heavy contributor to battery drain.” A user session is considered excessive “if it holds more than 2 cumulative hours of non-exempt wake locks in a 24 hour period.”
A wake lock is exempted if it is a system held wake lock that offers clear user benefits that cannot be further optimized, such as audio playback or user-initiated data transfer.
Google defines the bad behavior threshold as “when 5% of an app’s user sessions over the last 28 days are excessive.” More details for developers are available here, with new tools for debugging.
Exceeding the bad behavior threshold for excessive wake locks will see applications excluded from “prominent discovery surfaces such as recommendations” in the Play Store. Additionally, listings might be accompanied by a red “This app may use more battery than expected due to high background activity” warning.
In some cases, we may display a warning on your store listing to indicate to users that your app may cause excessive battery drain.
These Google Play changes will begin March 1, 2026.
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