Android
Android 15 may allow third-party apps to access battery health data
Google is reportedly working on a new feature for Android 15 that would allow third-party apps to access the battery state of health, which is the percentage of the remaining full charge capacity.
This value is currently only accessible to system apps and requires special permission that can only be granted manually through ADB, a tool for developers.
According to tipster @MishaalRahman, Android 14 brought the API for reading the measured battery state of health, but it was restricted to system apps only. Google explained that this was not due to privacy concerns, but rather to engineering reasons, as there were no use cases where an application would require this permission.
Notably, the feature may not work on every device even if Android 15 opens it up as a public API. It may depend on whether the device’s battery charging IC is configured to report this data to Android’s health HAL, which is then read by the OS and apps.
It remains to be seen how Google will implement this new feature in Android 15, and how it will affect the battery performance and user experience of Android devices. We will keep you updated on any further developments on this topic.
