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Google Photos App Could Soon Bring New Battery Saving Feature, Suggests APK Teardown

Google Photos App Could Soon Bring New Battery Saving Feature, Suggests APK Teardown

The 'Optimize backup for battery life' toggle was reportedly spotted in version 7.59 of the Google Photos app.

Written by Nithya P Nair, Edited by Ketan Pratap | Updated: 15 January 2026 18:37 IST

Google Photos App Could Soon Bring New Battery Saving Feature, Suggests APK Teardown

Photo Credit: Google

Google Photos app's new feature will reportedly restrict background syncing to conserve battery life

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Highlights

Google Photos backups are known to drain the battery of the device
Google appears to be working on a fix for this problem
New feature is reportedly designed to reduce how often backups run

Google Photos backups drain the phone's battery, especially since the app doesn't let users schedule them. Google now appears to be working to address this issue. A recent APK teardown of the Google Photos app suggests that Google is adding a new battery-preserving feature that would limit how often backups run. This Google Photos feature is expected to help users to conserve power during daily use. This feature might restrict background syncing when you are not using the app.

Google Reportedly Working on a New Battery-Friendly Feature

During an APK teardown of Google Photos Version 7.59, Android Authority discovered a new battery-saving feature currently in development. The Google Photos' backup settings reportedly include a new toggle called "Optimize backup for battery life." When turned on, these settings will limit how often Google Photos runs in the background and reduce battery usage.

A screenshot of the feature shared by the publication shows the description "your device may back up less often when you're not using the app" under the toggle. This indicates that backup of photos and videos will be done when you open Google Photos instead of syncing in the background.

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After the rollout of the feature, new photos and videos taken during the day will not appear on other linked devices or on the Web right away. However, this could bring better battery life.

The Optimize backup for battery life feature is expected to be beneficial for users who spend time outdoors or travel more, where conserving battery life is crucial. It is unclear if Google plans to roll out this feature in the stable public version of the Photos app.

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Google Photos has gained multiple new features recently. It recently launched a redesigned video editor and video editing tools, like templates for both Android and iOS platforms. It allows users to add custom text and soundtrack to their videos. In November last year, it gained new AI tools and Nano Banana's AI-powered image editing feature through a new “Help me edit” button.

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Further reading: Google Photos, Google Photos Feature, Google Photos Update, Google Photos App, Google

Nithya P Nair

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Nithya P Nair is a journalist with more than five years of experience in digital journalism. She specialises in business and technology beats. A foodie at heart, Nithya loves exploring new places (read cuisines) and sneaking in Malayalam movie dialogues to spice up conversations. More