Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google says they’ve sped up how fast phones enter doze mode by 50% in Android 15.
- The result is that some devices are seeing up to 3 hours longer standby power on the latest OS.
- This improvement will be coming to all devices that receive the Android 15 update.
Each major Android update introduces a few noticeable features for users, but also includes important behind-the-scenes changes that impact user experience. For example, the upcoming Android 15 update was announced at Google I/O 2024 with features like Private Space, App Pairs, and improved theft detection services. It was also revealed that Android 15 improves standby battery life by up to three hours on certain devices without much fanfare.
During Google I/O, Dave Burke, VP of Engineering for the Android Platform, and Sameet Samat, President of the Android Ecosystem, discussed the battery life improvements in Wear OS 5. They highlighted optimizations that led to a 20% power consumption reduction during runs on Wear OS 5 compared to Wear OS 4. One specific optimization involved reducing the time it takes for the device’s main applications processor to return to sleep after processing health data.
Samat further elaborated on how Wear OS 5 defers more background tasks to when the watch is charging, which poses a challenge for power management across all of Android. Android strives to efficiently manage background tasks during ‘maintenance windows’ while the device is idle, a state known as doze mode. Android 15 enhances this feature by entering doze mode 50% faster than in Android 14, resulting in up to three hours of additional standby power on tested devices.
Burke confirmed the power-saving improvements in Android 15 and emphasized that this enhancement will apply to all devices receiving the update. While the upcoming Wear OS 5 update is based on Android 14, the battery-related enhancements will carry forward to Wear OS 6 in the future. Other additions like a grid-based app launcher and privacy dashboard will also be included in the update.
“For Android 15, we’ve sped up the time to doze (doze is when we go into a quiesce state) by 50%. So we get into doze 50% faster, and the result is on some devices we tested up to 3 hours longer standby power. And that’s sort of a general improvement in 15 that applies to all devices.” Dave Burke, VP of Engineering for the Android Platform.
Overall, the improved standby battery life in Android 15 will benefit users across all devices receiving the update, including Wear OS devices in future updates.