By TOI Tech Desk
Publication Date: 2025-11-16 14:38:00
Google is rolling out a significant update to the Play Store aimed at saving smartphone battery life by cracking down on apps that prevent devices from properly entering Sleep mode. In collaboration with Samsung, the company announced a new measure called “excessive partial wake locks” to monitor and penalise apps that force a phone’s CPU to remain awake for prolonged periods in the background. Apps can hold Wake Locks to prevent the user’s device from entering Sleep mode, allowing the apps perform background work while the screen is OFF. Google defines the bad behavior threshold as “when 5% of an app’s user sessions over the last 28 days are excessive.”
New rules for Android apps take effect March 1, 2026
Starting March 1, 2026, Google will begin penalizing apps that hold a non-exempt wake lock for more than two hours within a 24-hour window. Wake locks are a necessary function, allowing apps…
