The battery is one of the first things that is likely to deteriorate in your smartphone. So if you want to use your device for a long time (and not constantly be on the charger), it is important to maintain its health. Google may be developing a new feature to help you with this.
Android Authority has found a new “charging optimization” page hidden in the latest Android 15 beta. We say hidden, because it’s not actually active and accessible without tinkering with the code.
But the site did just that, discovering within the page a new option to limit your phone’s charge to 80%, as you can see in the images below. An 80% limit can be useful, as only charging to 80% is better for a battery than going all the way to 100%.
It’s unclear exactly which phones this feature will appear on, but we’d expect it to roll out to the Pixel 8 line and other recent Pixel models. It may not be coming to other Android brands, but some, like Samsung, already offer such a feature, as does Apple for its iPhones, so it makes sense for Google to catch up and do the same.
That said, it doesn’t appear that the charging limit will be customizable, based on what Android Authority has discovered. However, with iOS 18, users will be able to opt for an 80%, 85%, 90%, or 95% limit.
An alternative to adaptive
Still, it would be a step in the right direction, and a nice alternative to the adaptive charging feature already available on Pixel phones, which learns your charging patterns and only charges from 80% to 100% right before it expects you to unplug your phone.
It looks like adaptive charging will still be available as well, so you’ll likely be able to choose between adaptive charging or an 80% limit.
However, Android Authority notes that this feature likely won’t launch with Android 15, as it hasn’t been enabled in any Android 15 beta yet. Rather, it could be part of the first Android 15 QPR (Quarterly Platform Release), which is likely to roll out towards the end of the year.
Android 15 itself could be coming as early as August, so we’ll know soon whether this charging limit is part of it or not.