Android will be able to natively provide information about the device’s battery health. Analysis of the code of the latest update of Pixel smartphones shows that Google has already put the basic elements in place to show this data.
Pixel phones get new features independently of major Android updates. These are called Pixel Feature Drops. The December 2023 edition brought a page in the settings with information about the battery. It shows date of manufacture and count of charge cycles.
Battery health doesn’t show up yet, but it seems like it’s only a matter of time. It already appears in Android 14 QPR2 Beta 2 — QPR is the technical name for the mid-tier system updates, which bring Pixel Feature Drops.
In addition, Android 14 already has the necessary APIs to get battery information. All that’s missing is for the system itself to gain the resources to display them on a status page.
So far, Android doesn’t have a built-in feature to check this information — all the system does is tell you if it’s good or not. In the competing system, this is easier: the iPhone has shown this data since iOS 11.3, from 2018.
One way to get an estimate of battery health on Android is to use standalone apps like AccuBattery.
Battery health indicates time to change
Battery health is a number that indicates how much of the original capacity is preserved. If a device has a 5,000 mAh battery and it is at 80% battery health, this means that, in practice, it can only store 4,000 mAh.
Like other electronic components, the battery wears out over time as it charges and discharges. Health also serves to identify if it’s time to take the cell phone to the technical assistance and change the battery for a new one. When the number is less than 70%, substitution is recommended.
