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How to find out what apps are draining your Android phone's battery
For some Android users, battery life can be a constant problem, especially when working with a non-flagship device (where batteries tend to be smaller and less capable of making it through the day) or with apps that aren’t optimized for battery life.
You’ve seen this plot play out in many films or TV series. A character is in a very tough situation and has to make a life-saving phone call… only to find out their phone battery has 1% remaining.
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This might have even happened to you in real life — and it can be a hair-pulling experience.
To that end, how do you find out what apps are guilty of draining your battery? Let me show you.
How to check for battery-draining apps
What you need: To follow along, the only thing you’ll need is a relatively modern Android phone. I’ll be demonstrating on a Pixel 9 Pro running Android 15, but I’ve tested this feature back to a Pixel 6 Pro. The device and operating system version you use might require you to modify the process slightly.
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With that said, let’s get to it.
The Settings app launcher in the Android App Drawer.
Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET
Once in Settings, tap Battery.
The Battery entry in the Android Settings app.
Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET
In the resulting screen, tap Battery Usage.
Here you’ll see how much battery you have left and several other configuration options.
Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET
Once in the Battery Usage window, you’ll see a list of installed apps and the battery percentage they’ve used over the past 24 hours.
The listing of app battery usage in Android 12.
Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET
If you find an app that’s using a considerable amount of energy, you should either close it (from the App Overview), stop it (by tapping the app’s listing and tapping Force Stop), check for an update, or consider uninstalling it.
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If I find an app with double-digit battery usage, I always dig deeper to discover why. That issue often happens when something goes awry with an app and can be resolved by closing the app or restarting the phone.
If, after either closing the app or restarting the phone, I find the app in question continues to do the same thing (after another 24 hours), I uninstall the app.
How to force stop an app
If you’re using an older version of Android, while in the Battery Usage window, tap the suspected app, and you’ll see a few options, one of which is Force Stop.
An app page within Battery Usage.
Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET
Tap Force Stop to close the app. On older versions of the OS, you can also configure this app for Optimized Battery Usage (which is highly recommended). Most of your installed apps should already be set for Optimized battery usage. If you’re using an older version of Android, you can enable individual apps for Optimized Battery Usage.
That setup has changed with more recent iterations and now the only option is to enable or disable an app for background usage (which is taken care of in Settings > Apps > X, where X is the app in question).
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On that page, you can flip the On/Off switch to Off to prevent the app from running in the background (thereby using less battery).
Remember, if you disable background usage, the app will not get real-time updates. That’s perfectly fine with some apps, but you’ll want real-time updates to work properly for tools like your email client or a messaging app.
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And that, my friends, is how you can check up on your Android apps’ battery consumption. Use this trick to ensure no apps go rogue and start draining your battery too quickly, and you’ll find yourself able to stretch out the time between charges.
